College football analyst explains why he's 'scared' for the Tennessee Vols

CBS Sports college football analyst/host Josh Pate says he's "scared" for the Tennessee Vols this weekend against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

And it's not necessarily because he thinks Arkansas is on Tennessee's level. It's because the Razorbacks could easily be 5-0 going into their matchup against Tennessee on Saturday night.

"I am scared for Tennessee," said Pate. "Not too proud to admit it. I'm putting it out there right now. I'm scared for Tennessee. Because there's a real world where Arkansas is 5-0. There is a real world where that's true. The Oklahoma State game, I still have no idea how they lost. And they played (Texas) A&M last week and that's always a nip and tuck, back and forth game. And they found a way to lose that one/A&M found a way to win. But games are not played in the rear view mirror. So don't let a team that has 5-0 potential about itself fool you into thinking they're just an above .500 team. Any given night, especially with home crowd at your back....I'm very, very concerned."

"I think you need to treat this thing like it's a marquee game, I don't think they'll overlook this at all," added Pate. "I'm mainly talking to people in my social circle who I know good and well are already talking about the Bama game in two weeks. And I'm like 'y'all play Arkansas and Florida don't you, boy wouldn't it make their season to take a bite out of you'. Don't let it happen, guys. Tennessee is not established enough where they can afford to start thinking that way."

Pate is right (except for the last line in the quote above, which we'll get to in a second). Arkansas is better than their record indicates. And if the Vols don't show up completely focused on the Razorbacks, then they could definitely drop this game to Arkansas. Just look at Ole Miss last weekend against Kentucky.

As for Tennessee not being established enough to where they can "think that way (about future opponents)", well that's true of every program in the nation.

If you're an elite competitor, you're never thinking ahead -- you have to be focused only on the moment. There isn't a team on the planet that's "established enough" to "think that way". Anyone who makes that mistake runs a high risk of running into an unexpected loss.

Related: Peyton Manning explains why one popular request from Tennessee Vols fans is likely never going to happen