Mississippi State (1-6, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) continues its homestand Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium against Arkansas (4-3, 2-2) for an 11:45 a.m. kickoff on SEC Network. The Razorbacks are coming off a lopsided home loss to a top-10 LSU team, but two weeks earlier, they earned a signature win over then-No. 4 Tennessee.
Here are five keys to victory for the Bulldogs as they look to snap a six-game skid, their longest losing streak since 2005.
Make Taylen Green beat you
Green is the first true dual-threat quarterback MSU will have faced in several weeks, but he has been mistake-prone. Arkansas’ star running back, Ja’Quinden Jackson, was listed as doubtful on Wednesday night’s initial injury report after injuring his ankle last week. If he is unavailable, the Bulldogs can focus on slowing down Green, who can make plays with his legs but completes just 58.2 percent of his passes and has thrown as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns.
MSU has generated next to no pass rush all season, giving quarterbacks time to find receivers who are often wide open thanks to soft coverage in the secondary. But the Bulldogs did intercept Georgia’s Carson Beck and Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman twice each, and those two have taken care of the ball much better than Green has this year.
Protect Michael Van Buren
The true freshman quarterback is MSU’s most important player for not just the present but the future, and the Bulldogs have had problems keeping him upright. Texas A&M’s pass rush was relentless in the second half and Van Buren took hit after hit, looking a little woozy at times.
The Razorbacks have been inconsistent when it comes to generating pressure on quarterbacks, but whether it’s Makylan Pounders or Luke Work at left tackle, MSU needs improvement in pass protection. Arkansas does have two experienced defensive linemen in Landon Jackson and Eric Gregory, who each have 2.5 sacks this season, so containing that duo will be crucial.
Get off the field on third down
The Bulldogs’ defense made some progress last week, containing Aggies star running back Le’Veon Moss and forcing Texas A&M into undesirable third down situations. But thanks in large part to MSU’s inability to pressure Weigman, the Aggies kept on converting. Texas A&M converted nine of its first 10 third downs, including a third-and-23 early in the second half.
What ended up as a 10-point game would look very different if the Bulldogs could have cut some of those early Aggie possessions short. They cannot allow Arkansas to keep extending drives in the same way.
Capitalize on your breaks
MSU took over in plus territory down by four in the second quarter last week following an interception. But the Bulldogs quickly faced a fourth-and-6, and Van Buren threw an interception that was returned inside MSU’s 30-yard line to give Texas A&M a short field. The MSU defense has struggled enough to string together stops, so on the rare occasion the Bulldogs get one, the offense cannot waste it.
Stay within the game plan
As desperate and hungry as MSU is for a win, the Bulldogs cannot be overly aggressive to the point where it defies logic and reason. The fake punt last week reeked of desperation at a time when MSU did not need to be desperate. As an offensive-minded head coach, Jeff Lebby likes to be aggressive and push the envelope, but if the Bulldogs truly expect to win this game, they need to trust that they can do so without going too far off script.
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