Mississippi State Out-Muscles Arkansas in Blowout Victory

No. 24 Mississippi State defeated Arkansas 40-17 behind… (checks notes)… a dominant rushing game??

Coach Mike Leach is the master of the air raid offense, but Saturday Leach proved he’s willing to win with a balanced attack.

Arkansas was forced to play with a three-man front the entire game due to injuries in their secondary and the Bulldog offense made them pay. The cushion allowed Mississippi State to rush for a Leach-tenure high 173 yards averaging nearly five yards per carry.

“They ran over us,” Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said after the game. “We couldn’t get them on the ground.”

Jo’quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson combined for 152 of those yards and had huge holes to run through all game. Marks was also the leading receiver for the Bulldogs with 80 yards on 11 receptions. Not to be left out of the fun, Johnson chipped in 49 yards on two catches.

Arkansas did everything it could to take away the Bulldog receivers early on, but the two multi-purpose backs gave Barry Odom and the Razorback defense nightmares and eventually opened up the rest of Leach’s dangerous offensive attack.

Mississippi State out-muscles Arkansas in blowout victory

Although Mississippi State ran the ball phenomenally, the Bulldog offense didn’t forget its roots as Will Rogers completed 31-of-48 passes for 395 yards and three touchdowns. It was a record breaking day for Rogers as he passed former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray to become the all-time completions leader in SEC history with 922 career completions. He did it in 24 less games.

The Bulldog defense was shaky at times giving up 483 yards of offense to an Arkansas team led by backup quarterbacks Malik Hornsby and Cade Fortin. But they made the big plays when it mattered.

Mississippi State stuffed the Razorback offense three times on 4th down including a goal line stand in the third quarter that prevented the Hogs from getting back in the game. They also picked Hornsby off twice.

“We kept playing every play,” Leach said. “If somebody gets a long play, we’re going to tackle them anyway. We’re going to go ahead and tackle them and make them earn every bit of it.”

The Bulldog defense did a lot of bending but they held strong when they needed too. You could argue that Arkansas would have capitalized more with starting quarterback KJ Jefferson healthy and while that might be the case, the Bulldog offense was so efficient, it might not have mattered.

The only thing that slowed down Mississippi State was place-kicking. Ben Raybon had been perfect going into the game but he missed a field goal and an extra point on Saturday. The Bulldogs lost a few games last year due to kicking struggles, and while this is possibly an anomaly, it’s still something to watch for if/when the Bulldogs find themselves in a close game.

Mississippi State is surely kicking themselves for their second half collapse against LSU. With that win they would be 6-0 and tied for first in the SEC West with Alabama and Ole Miss. However, with matchups against the Crimson Tide and the hated Rebels looming, the Bulldogs still very much control their own destiny in the division.

With Leach’s explosive (now balanced!) offensive attack and an opportunistic defense, Mississippi State is one of the most dangerous teams in the conference. The Bulldogs are a match-up nightmare and are New Years Six Bowl good.

With high profile match-ups against No. 13 Kentucky, No. 2 Georgia, No. 1 Alabama, and No. 9 Ole Miss coming up they will have plenty of chances to show it.

It’s time to start paying attention to the Bulldogs, and rest assured, they’re going to put on a show.