Mississippi State is back on the road in SEC play this week, still searching for its first conference win for two years.
The Bulldogs (4-4, 0-4 SEC) can’t afford to dwell on what could have been. Their next opponent is as hungry and desperate for a conference win as they are, and recent history is indicative of the struggles both programs have faced.
Arkansas’ last SEC win came in 2024, a 58-25 throttling of MSU in Starkville to secure bowl eligibility. MSU’s last SEC win came in 2023, a 7-3 outing in Fayetteville during a season that both fanbases are happy to leave in the past.
The 2025 season is in danger of becoming just that once again, as both teams are running out of chances to turn things around.
Shootout
Like the Bulldogs, the Razorbacks have had their own struggles this year and have yet to get in the win column in conference play. At 2-6, 0-4 in SEC play, Arkansas has turned to former head coach Bobby Petrino as interim coach after parting ways with Sam Pittman in September.
It’s not a successful football program at the moment, but it is still a program that has scored 30 or more points in all but two games.
Taylen Green, the Razorbacks’ QB1, has had an impressive campaign despite the six straight losses. He has thrown for at least 200 yards in every game this season, with two games of at least 300 yards.
In total, Green has 2,178 yards through the air with 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Three of those interceptions came last week in a 33-24 loss to Auburn, and the Razorback offense will look to rediscover its best form against a Bulldog secondary that capitulated to big plays in a big spot last weekend.
“We’re playing the best 2-6 football team in the country this week,” Lebby said of Arkansas. “They have a quarterback that is elite at everything he does. They’ve played well offensively, Auburn did a good job defensively, created some turnovers, Arkansas struggled in the red zone a bit… but their ability to score and play great offensively is very well documented. Defensively, they’ve played better. They haven’t been great against the run, but they were better this past week.”
Lebby also noted that he sees the Razorback defensive setup as completely different since Petrino took over as interim head coach, but feels like he has a good grasp of what to expect after looking over the three-game sample size.
No time for feeling sorry
Perhaps the biggest issue for MSU this week is continuing to push ahead after yet another disastrous end. The team said last week that they should have been a 6-1 team, and certainly, the Texas game has the opportunity to become another specter of what could have been.
As the losses continue to come, the comparisons to last season have popped back up, but Lebby made a point of separating this year’s team on Monday. He said flat out that the difference is “night and day” from last year to this year, and that the feeling in 2024 was more of a hope that “the ball will bounce the right way and somehow we’ll win a football game.”
The head coach and players have continued to echo the same sentiment of keeping their heads down and getting back to work.
“I think we have a pissed off football team,” Lebby said. “A team that isn’t hanging their head, is not feeling sorry for themselves, a team that is ready to prove we’re a good football team.”
In terms of numbers, the team is clearly better than it was a year ago. There is more talent, and there are playmakers on both sides of the ball who could help make most teams in the country better.
The issue is not talent or even motivation; the issue is the end product. MSU could, and should, be closing out these games against beatable opponents, but instead, they’re running out of chances to get back into the postseason. Lebby realizes as much and understands the only way to fix the problem is by finishing games.
“That’s my charge, because we have a good football team, a tough football team,” he continued. “I hate that we don’t have the ability to feel that and the success. I hate our fan base doesn’t have the ability to feel that, the way they showed up, our student section, the energy and passion. It’s as good a gameday experience as you can have, and I hate our fan base, our people so invested, don’t get to feel good about winning a big game. It’s everybody involved, but our guys are going to be ready to play on Saturday, and there won’t be any feeling sorry for ourselves.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
