Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Arkansas Football: Preview, prediction, live stream vs. Colorado State

By Justin Heisey

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - SEPTEMBER 1: Dee Walker #33 of the Arkansas Razorbacks jogs off the field after losing his helmet during a game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Razorback Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Panthers 55-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
FAYETTEVILLE, AR - SEPTEMBER 1: Dee Walker #33 of the Arkansas Razorbacks jogs off the field after losing his helmet during a game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Razorback Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Panthers 55-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Arkansas football is set to take on Colorado State in Week 2 and here’s everything you need to know for the big matchup.

It hasn’t been a banner year for Colorado State thus far.

The Colorado State Rams were 0-2 before most teams played a single game and looked miserable in their loss to Colorado. The defensive line has allowed an average of six yards per carry to opposing running backs in their two games and the defense as a whole has allowed 1,213 yards which is almost seven-tenths of a mile. On a brighter note, the offense shined in the second half of their matchup against Hawaii and wide receiver Preston Williams has been as good as advertised.

Arkansas had an interesting game last week. Chad Morris named Cole Kelley the starting quarterback exiting fall camp and he played okay as the starter. However, when Kelley went down with an injury Ty Storey came in and went 12-for-17 with 261 yards and three touchdowns against Eastern Illinois. However, the run game needs a solution. Devwah Whaley to the bulk of the carries with ten but only managed 28 yards while JUCO-transfer Rakeem Boyd took six carries for 12 yards.

With Week 1 in the books, let’s take a look into this Week 2 matchup.

Date: Saturday, Sept. 8
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Fort Collins, Colo.
Venue: Canvas Stadium
TV: CBS Sports
Live Stream: CBS Sports Network or FuboTV

Players to Watch

Arkansas

Colorado State

Keys to Victory

Arkansas needs to run the ball effectively and play good defense. Colorado State’s run defense is dreadful this season, having allowed 228 yards on average over their two contests. The leading three tacklers for the Rams are two linebackers and a safety, so they aren’t anywhere close to stopping the run at the line. Defensively, the Razorbacks need to take advantage of this poor offensive line and get after KJ Carta-Samuels before he can get the ball into stud receiver’s Preston Williams or Olabisi Johnson’s hands.

Colorado State needs to improve almost everywhere. They didn’t look all that great in the first half of the Hawaii game and couldn’t get anything going against Colorado a week ago. First things first, put at least some pressure on the Razorback quarterback. Currently, the sack leaders for the Rams are Devin Phillips and Richard King and both have half a sack each. Also, if the Rams are looking to avoid a third straight loss they need to improve on the line. Give KJ Carta-Samuels time to link up with the talent on offense instead of making him get rid of the ball so hastily.

Betting Odds

Provided by OddsShark

Line: Arkansas -11
Over/Under: 65.5

dark. Next. Top 30 breakout candidates for 2018 season

Prediction

Colorado State hasn’t given me any reason to believe in them going into this game. Their defense has played poorly in both games they’ve played and their line can’t give Carta-Samuels enough time to hit their power five talent receivers. Arkansas takes this one home with room to breath and hopefully land on their quarterback going forward.

Final Score: Arkansas 42, Colorado State 24

Home/Arkansas Razorbacks