Despite the many problems that have plagued Mississippi State the last few weeks, I think a good number of us, yours truly included, forgot how truly terrible Arkansas is.
Playing the Razorbacks in Fayetteville was just the remedy the Bulldogs needed for their road woes, as they flat out dismantled Arkansas 54-24 Saturday.
In their last three games, the Razorbacks have now been outscored 153-41.
I don’t want to completely dismiss MSU’s performance, because it was a terrific all-around effort. But it would be silly to ignore how incomptent Arkansas has been lately.
Anyway, enough of that. Mississippi State gave fans a stress-free game for the first time since the Southern Miss contest, Kylin Hill had a performance for the ages, and the Razorbacks showed Starkville that it can ALWAYS be worse.
As always, a quick programming note for those who are new here: Bulldog Bullets will be a weekly recurring article filled with short observations and commentary written throughout Mississippi State football games that posts shortly after the final gun.
To the Bulldog Bullets:
– At approximately 2:58 p.m., Mississippi State Twitter was in an uproar. The announcement had been made that Tommy Stevens would start at quarterback in place of the injured Garrett Shrader. Even some of the kinder fans wanted Joe Moorhead fired on the spot. That stopped about 10 minutes later. Stevens had himself a day, passing for 172 yards and two touchdowns while adding another 74 yards on the ground. He managed the game efficiently and delivered a strong performance that had to feel good considering his relatively disappointing season to this point.
– Arkansas coach Chad Morris is probably going to go winless in the Southeastern Conference in back-to-back years. I don’t like to see anyone lose their job, but man, I don’t know how you can give that guy another year if that happens.
– Hill became the 16th player in Mississippi State history to surpass 2,000 career rushing yards Saturday. After notching a career-high 234 yards on 21 carries with three touchdowns, Hill has put together back-to-back dominating performances. He had 198 yards and three touchdowns at halftime. Pencil him in as SEC Player of the Week.
– How about backup running back Nick Gibson? Twelve carries for 129 yards and one touchdown. Not every day you see two tailbacks with 100-yard performances in the same game.
– Of course, I knew Arkansas’ run defense was bad, but goodness, MSU had 312 rushing yards at halftime. The Bulldogs finished with 460 yards on the ground and outgained Arkansas 640-285.
– Considering slow starts have buried the Bulldogs the last few weeks, MSU’s opening-drive touchdown must have eased some tension. It was the first opening drive touchdown for Bulldogs since Week Two against Southern Miss.
– Osirus Mitchell’s touchdown catch was flat out impressive, going over the defender to make the play. Also, Arkansas defensive back LaDarius Bishop could use a hug.
– After Mississippi State jumped out to a 17-0 lead, the Bulldogs were outgaining Arkansas 230-27.
– Yet another week with a special teams miscues following Malik Dear’s muffed punt in the second quarter. The defense bailed out Dear by holding the Hogs to a field goal, but it still reduced the lead to 24-10.
– West Point product Marcus Murphy delivered the dagger to Arkansas, returning an interception for a touchdown with 2 minutes left before halftime. What a moment for the sophomore.
– The dream of earning six wins en route to making a program-record 10th straight bowl stays alive. All of us are probably reasonable enough to assume the next matchup against Alabama in two weeks is a guaranteed loss and the contest against Abilene Christian the week after should be a lock in the win column. That means MSU’s postseason fate is going to come down to the Egg Bowl Thanksgiving night. Guess I can get a head start on that column now.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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