Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Western Carolina Catamounts Complete Game Preview

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After two straight physical games against some of the SEC’s best, Alabama needs a little bit of a break. It will get that this week.

FCS Western Carolina will roll into Tuscaloosa for a glorified scrimmage on Saturday and give Alabama a tuneup before another high-stakes Iron Bowl.

The Crimson Tide are riding high after a 25-20 win against what was at the time the No. 1 team in the country. Western Carolina has won seven games this year after winning just four total in the last three seasons.

This week, Alabama coach Nick Saban is more worried about making sure his team continues to improve rather than just beating the Catamounts.

“So if I say what do we have to do to win this game, I might think, 'Well, I don't have to practice as hard this week. The guy's not quite as big as what I'm used to having to play against, or whatever,’” Saban said.

“Are you going to get better that way or not? Taking advantage of the opportunity that you have is much bigger than that. ‘I need to play better. I need to improve. I need to help my teammates play better. We didn't execute these plays properly. We need to start getting these plays right.  We've got to do a better job, whether it's covering, blocking, carrying out fakes, catching balls, whatever it is.’ The major thing for me is stay focused on what you need to do to improve, so you take advantage of the opportunity. And that's for every player.”

Here’s everything you need to know:

Date: Saturday, November 22

Time: 3 p.m. CT

Place: Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

TV: SEC Network

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network, Catamount Sports Network

Spread: None.

Alabama Keys to Victory

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Nothing fancy

You don’t have to be told that Alabama has a significant talent advantage in this game. It is one of the best teams in college football, while Western Carolina plays in the FCS. The Crimson Tide can overpower just about every FBS team, let alone a weaker opponent. So there’s no need for Alabama to do anything different or fancy in this game. Just line up, and play its game.

Minimize mistakes

The only way a team like Alabama could lose to a team like Western Carolina is to mess up and mess up a lot. The Crimson Tide would do well to eliminate turnovers as much as possible to avoid what would be a historic upset.

Western Carolina Keys to Victory

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Get all the bounces

Western Carolina needs everything to go right and then some. Any break the Catamounts can get, they need to capitalize on—loose balls, interceptions, crazy tipped passes. Anything.

Pray for a miracle

Let’s be honest, that’s what it’s going to take. A “victory” for Western Carolina on Saturday would probably consist of two things: staying healthy and collecting the paycheck. Otherwise, the Catamounts would have to mount an upset for the ages.

Alabama Players to Watch

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Jake Coker and the other QBs

Coker, the preseason favorite for Alabama’s quarterback job, has been relegated to bench duty this season. But he should get an opportunity to play a good amount Saturday. Last year in this penultimate game, Blake Sims played almost two-and-a-half quarters, running the offense for an extended period of time. Coker, and possibly another quarterback or two, should get to do the same.

The rest of the backups

The good part of these types of games is getting to see a glimpse of the future of sorts. Some of Alabama’s No. 1 2014 recruiting class should get to see some action in the second half of this one. Fans will get to see players that could be stars next year or the year after.

Western Carolina Players to Watch

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Troy Mitchell

The junior quarterback has started every game for WCU this year, throwing for 2,320 yards and 18 touchdowns. Mitchell is second in the conference in passing yards per game.

Christon Gill

WCU’s senior linebacker is second on the team in tackles with 101, which is good for second in the SoCon. He’s logged 11 tackles for loss, three sacks and one interception.

What They're Saying

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Alabama coach Nick Saban, on saying this was a fun team to coach:

"Basically, what I mean by that is as a head coach when you have energy vampires on your team who never do what they're supposed to do and take all your energy as a coach. So you've got five guys who take all your energy and never get to enjoy the other 95 guys who do everything right.

"We just don't seem to have those guys on our team, and we seem to have a lot more guys that sort of like each other, buy in, try to help each other, want to do what's best for the team, a pretty selfless group of guys when it comes to everybody willing to be all in and do what they have to do to try to help the team.

"That's always more fun to deal with as a coach."

Alabama tight end Brian Vogler on how to stay focused this week:

"I think it's more about how do we motivate each other. Just as players, we know we're never going to overlook a team. This is another team that's standing in between what we want as a team, our long-term goal, and we know that if we come out and execute on every single play like we're supposed to, then things will take care of themselves. But if we're not locked in to every single snap of practice, if we're not locked in on meetings, then we can't go out and execute every single play. Those little things are what's gonna help us succeed in this game."

Prediction

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Alabama 49, Western Carolina 0

Alabama can name its score in games like this but never seems to want to do so. Saban rarely scores more than 50 points in any game, so don’t expect 70- or 80-point scores in this one. Alabama’s starters will play three or four series in this one before emptying the bench and resting up for a big Iron Bowl next week.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.