LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Mississippi State finally finished.
For the first time this season the Bulldogs football program did exactly what their head coach had been preaching for them to accomplish: Finish. MSU finished off a struggling Arkansas team in a state they’d never won in for a 24-17 overtime victory leaving their bowl hopes still alive for the final week.
A win on Thanksgiving night against Ole Miss and then a subsequent bowl appearance would mark the first time in program history the Bulldogs would be invited to four straight postseason games.
For the first time in 34 tries, MSU (5-6, 2-5 in Southeastern Conference) recorded a come-from-behind win after trailing entering the fourth quarter. MSU coach Dan Mullen was 0-25 before entering War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock Saturday morning when his team was down after three quarters of play.
“They had 113 years of history going against them out there today and they found a way to win,” Mullen said. “113 years of history that they refused to let stop them in the end.”
The triumph snapped a three-game losing streak. Under Mullen, the Bulldogs have never lost four consecutive
contests. The last four-contest losing streak was seven-straight defeats from Sept. 24-Nov. 19, 2005.
In that overtime period, Mullen turned to a seldom used true freshman quarterback for a 25-yard touchdown run to give MSU its only and last lead of the game. Damian Williams, a three-star late signee from MSU’s recruiting class, followed the lead blocking of sophomore running back Josh Robinson for a one-play scoring drive to open up the overtime period. Hard to picture a more dramatic way to score your first career college touchdown.
“I love to be in those type of situations and that’s the type of guy I am,” Williams said. “I knew the offensive line and my teammates would help me through that situation and they did.”
Robinson insisted after the game that he “was not a fullback” suggesting that label was worse than anything else he could be called. He proceeded to prove the fact he was a tailback in the second half by totaling 101 yards on 17 carries after seeing no action in the first half.
“I had the flu in the beginning of the week and I didn’t practice one day so I guess that took a toll,” Robinson said when asked why didn’t play in the first 30 minutes. “I just did what I was supposed to do, nothing special.”
Robinson sophomore from Franklington, La., said it wasn’t a surprise to him that he and Williams, a Metairie, La., native, combined to make the game-winning offensive play.
“Let me tell you something, that’s what Louisiana boys do,” Robinson said. “That’s what we do. He trust me and I brought him to the house.”
After fourth quarter failures at Auburn and against LSU, Mullen had been preaching to his young football team to finally finish out a victory in a late game situation. In the definition of a must-win situation Saturday in Little, Rock, Ark., the Bulldogs defense got a four-down stop to ensure the win.
“We were trying to make history tonight and we did that,” MSU junior defensive tackle P.J. Jones said. “We got a lot of young guys on this team and none of us can wait to see what we’ll be in the next few years.”
The victory marked the first time MSU had won consecutive contests against the Razorbacks since taking three-straight meetings in 1916, 1939 and 1992. Mullen addressed the streaks that ended in Arkansas Saturday afternoon by suggesting his program was starting new traditions with his 34th win since taking over in Starkville.
“Now it’s one in a row,” Mullen said about the 33-game losing streak when down after three quarters. “You look at where we are headed…these young guys are learning what it takes to win under any circumstances.”
While eliminating more frustration in Arkansas, MSU managed to win its first overtime game against the Razorbacks after losing similar style games in 1996, 2000 and 2010.
In order to drop a eight-game losing streak away from Davis Wade Stadium, MSU had to trust a player with only 27 passing attempts and 20 rushing attempts before Damian Williams created his arrival moment in the 11th game of his career.
In a week where Williams described as “stressful”, the 18-year-old was taking all of the first-team snaps in practice and still didn’t know if he would see much action. The nervous energy was disguised well as he finished with 74 yards in only a handful of snaps Saturday. He is the fourth player in program history to score a game-winning TD in overtime (Wayne Madkin, Omarr Conner and LaDarius Perkins).
“Just getting back to practice (Sunday) will be stressed (and) I’m stressed out now,” Williams said with a smile. “I just needed to get the guys to trust me, a freshman quarterback, in that situation.”
With its first double-digit lead in the first quarter since a loss at Florida on Oct. 5, Arkansas thought it was one step close to ending the program’s losing streak in SEC games, which has now climbed to 11 in a row.
For Arkansas, the streaks still continue that Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema are desperately trying to get stopped in his first year running the program.
“I’m not surprised,” Bielema said “Unfortunately, it’s taking longer than we want, than you want, than all of my coaches, all of my players and all of our fans want.
“You know, I get it. I don’t think any of us do. If you were in athletics, you wouldn’t be wired like that.”
On Saturday afternoon, Mullen was finally not forced to sit down and discuss the all the statistics MSU won except what was on the scoreboard. All the fifth-year coach did when leaving War Memorial Stadium was point to that scoreboard.
“We can show our guys what we have to do to take the next step and become a championship winning team,” Mullen said. “For us to find a way to win on the road in the SEC in overtime is a step forward for us. We needed this.”
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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