It was another spirited effort by Mississippi State last week against a top 15 team in Texas A&M, but the Bulldogs lost for the sixth game in a row. Saturday presents another chance for State to get back in the win column as it welcomes in Arkansas.
Who: Â Arkansas Razorbacks (4-3, 2-2 SEC) vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-6, 0-4 SEC) Â Â Â
Where: Starkville, Miss.; Davis Wade Stadium (60,311)
When: October 26, 11:45 a.m. CT (SEC Network)
Series: Arky leads, 18-15
The Last Time: MSU 7, Arky 3; 2023 in Fayetteville
In a game that could only be rivaled by State’s 3-2 loss against Auburn back in 2008, the Bulldogs and Razorbacks put up a real stinker last season in Fayetteville.
Both teams were in the middle of an identity crisis in offense with coordinators that would be one and done and the Razorbacks played disinterested in defeat.
After Arkansas was able to hit a field goal on the opening possession of the game, it would go back and forth with defensive stops. State produced a nine-play, 69-yard drive from the end of the first quarter into the second that was capped by a Woody Marks touchdown catch that would provide the only touchdown drive of the game.
State’s offense was led by Mike Wright as Will Rogers dealt with a shoulder injury and Wright was 8-of-12 for 85 yards with a touchdown and interception. Wright also rushed 11 times for 60 yards. Marks rushed 17 times for 42 yards and was hampered with injury.
On defense, the Bulldogs were spearheaded by the SEC’s top tacklers as Bookie Watson and Jett Johnson combined for 25 tackles and Watson had 2.0 sacks. Corey Ellington had a forced fumble, seven tackles and a sack of his own and Shawn Preston came up with an interception.
With the win, State won its ninth games against the Razorbacks in the last 12 contests. Arkansas had won 12 of 13 games before that dating back to 1999.
Coaching:
Since the loss of Bobby Petrino back in 2011, the Razorbacks have been searching for someone to get them out of being towards the bottom of the SEC.
Petrino had three seasons of eight or more wins during his four-year career and had back-to-back double digit win years before he had a motorcycle wreck and was caught having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer and misleading the administration about it.
After being fired in 2011, Arkansas went through the wilderness with Bret Bielema and Chad Morris. Bielema had just one season over seven wins and was 11-29 in SEC play. Chad Morris proved to be a disaster after him with a 4-20 record overall and zero conference victories.
Enter Sam Pittman, a veteran SEC coach who had been one of the keys to Georgia’s recruiting efforts. Pittman took over a total rebuild in 2020 and faced the country’s toughest schedule before making the Razorbacks competitive in a 3-7 season against an SEC-only schedule.
He produced a 9-4 season in year two but hasn’t been able to replicate it with seven wins in 2022 and a 4-8 season last year. The return of Petrino as the team’s offensive coordinator has rejuvenated the team this year as the Razorbacks are back in the hunt for a season with  eight or more wins.
With two more wins, the Razorbacks will be bowl eligible for the fourth time in his five years as head coach. Â
A former Pittsburg State NAIA All-American defensive end, Pittman has been in the coaching profession for nearly 40 years. He started his career coaching high school football as head coach at Princeton and Trenton in Missouri. He coached offensive line at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas before taking over as the team’s head coach for two seasons in 1992.
Pittman coached the offensive tackles and tight ends for Cincinnati in 1996 before becoming an offensive line coach for 18 years. Pittman coached at Oklahoma, Western Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, Northern Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia.
Offense:
There’s no doubt about it – Petrino has changed things for the Razorback offense.
It helps that the team brought in an experienced and dynamic transfer quarterback like Taylen Green, but the entire scheme for the Razorbacks have made them more dangerous than they were the last two years. Arkansas is currently fourth in the SEC and 22nd nationally with 455.1 yards per game. The team is fourth in the SEC in rushing (176.4) and fifth in passing (278.7) while coming in second in the conference in 3rd down conversions at 52%.
For the Boise State transfer Green, things have gone well. He’s rushed for 316 yards and four touchdowns on 87 carries and had 1,741 yards and six touchdowns passing. He’s shown the ability to get a little erratic with his six interceptions, but the big play ability and big games are there for him as he had the fourth highest passing total in school history with 416 yards against Oklahoma State.
The Hogs’ rushing attack does take a hit this week with the loss of Ja’Quinden Jackson at running back. The Utah transfer had rushed for 592 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven games before going down with an ankle injury against LSU and he is ruled out for Saturday’s contest.
This season, Jackson has had three games of 100 or more yards and at least one touchdown in the first six games this year. He’s currently second in the SEC in touchdowns and fourth in yards.
In his absence, Pittman said freshman Braylen Russell will get a lot of carries. He’s currently third on the team with 27 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns this year. Rashod Dubinion is the only player returning from the backs last year but he and Florida State transfer Rodney Hill have a combined 24 carries this season.
The wide receivers are led by two players as Andrew Armstrong returns after a big year last season when he had 764 yards and five touchdowns and he’s set to shatter his production in year two. A former Texas A&M Commerce player, Armstrong has 45 catches this season with 646 yards and has caught a pass in 34-straight games with 29-straight games with multiple receptions.
Sophomore Isaiah Sategna was a freshman All-SEC member last year as a return man but has become a major weapon for the Hogs with 25 catches for 367 yards. He has a background in track and was the state of Arkansas’ Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year coming out of high school.
Sophomore Luke Hasz had a promising season end last year at his tight end position when he broke his collarbone in the fifth game of the year. He had 16 catches for 253 yards and three touchdowns early before going down with that injury and he has 10 catches for 131 yards and a score this year.
Pittman has had good offensive lines more often than not and there is some beef and talent on this one. It starts at left tackle in San Jose State transfer Fernando Carmona Jr. He has already earned SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors twice this season.
Three more transfers make up the line of scrimmage with Jr. Keyshawn Blackstock from Michigan State, So. Addison Nichols from Tennessee at center and right guard Joshua Braun from Florida. Braun was a commitment to Pittman and Georgia out of high school and was second-team All-SEC for the Hogs last year.
Devin Bale handles the team’s punting and the California native has helped make that unit one of the best in the country. The Razorbacks lead the SEC and are third nationally in net punting at 45.7 and they averaged 48.5 yards per punt total on the year.
Razorback kickers have had their struggles with a 9-of-15 start for the year. All six misses have been from within 40-49 yards with 2-2 from 50 or longer.
Defense:
Travis Williams has brought a spark to the Arkansas defensive unit this year after the Razorbacks had their moments a year ago.
The former Auburn Linebacker was the co-DC for the Tigers under Gus Malzahn for two seasons and ran his defense at UCF for two years before coming back to the SEC. This year’s unit has some good pieces on the line and the defensive backfield leading the way.
DE Landon Jackson is the unquestioned leader of the defensive unit. The former LSU lineman was a preseason All-American and is up to 28 tackles, 4.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks this season as he leads the team on those negative plays a year after having 13.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks.
FCS All-American Anton Juncaj from Albany came in after having an incredible 21.5 TFL and 15.0 sacks last year but has just 1.0 TFL this year.
At linebacker, UGA transfer Xavian Sorey is the team leader with 49 tackles and he also had 4.0 TFL and 1.0 sack. Sr. Stephen Dix comes from Marshall after playing at FSU and has made 33 tackles. Dix has become a big part of the defense as he’s started the last four games after Brad Spence began the season. Both will play.
The corners will be run by Marquise Robinson and Jaheim Singletary. Robinson is a South Alabama transfer who had a career-high nine tackles a week ago while Singletary is a former five-star recruit that transferred from UGA.
TJ Metcalf is the big play man in the back of the defense. The sophomore safety has 37 tackles and three interceptions with two of those coming when he was SEC Defensive Player of the Week at Auburn. Metcalf has ties to the state of Mississippi with an older brother, Tarrus, that played at Ole Miss and he is a cousin to DK Metcalf.
TJ’s younger brother, Tevis, plays the Nickle position for the Hogs.
Sr. Jayden Johnson also plays safety and has 34 tackles this season with an interception. Doneiko Slaughter will start at the Nickel as a senior and the Tennessee transfer has 45 tackles on the year; second on the team.
