Last week was a good one for SEC football in the state and brought back memories of Mississippi mayhem in 2014.
This week, Mississippi State is at home against an Arkansas team that slid out of the national rankings while the Bulldogs jumped in.
Ole Miss is at Vanderbilt to take on a traditional opponent that has sometimes surprised the Rebels — but not since 2018.
Arkansas (3-2, 0-2 SEC) at No. 23 Mississippi State (4-1, 1-1 SEC)
The Bulldogs played their best game of the year against Texas A&M.
They’ll face a better quarterback — most likely — when the Razorbacks get to town.
The status of KJ Jefferson, Arkansas’ QB1, remains unclear at this time.
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman would not confirm that Jefferson has spent this week in concussion protocol, but he talked around the edges of that.
The time required to exit protocol is all over the map depending on the severity of the hit to the head.
Jefferson, a native of Sardis, suffered his hit to the head in the fourth quarter of the Hogs’ 49-26 loss to Alabama last week.
If he plays Jefferson will be the best quarterback the Bulldogs have faced. He’s not only a runner, but a big runner who’s harder to bring down, and he’s grown as a passer.
State didn’t do a great job of shadowing LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels in Week 3. The Bulldogs will have to be better against Jefferson.
Arkansas peaked at No. 10 in the AP Top 25 when it was 3-0 but is now unranked after back-to-back losses, the first against the Texas A&M team that the Bulldogs just walloped.
MSU fans may choose to take comfort in the Arkansas-A&M score but should note that the transitive property of mathematics doesn’t apply to college football.
MSU coach Mike Leach has spent a lot of time this year talking about the consistency of his team, or in his words, the lack thereof.
A&M was the Bulldogs’ best effort in terms of being at their best throughout the game.
Maybe that game flipped a switch. Maybe Leach’s message has been noted and acted upon by players.
Among the bright spots in Starkville last week was the Bulldogs’ revamped offensive line that allowed no sacks against the Aggies.
Arkansas is second in the nation in sacks with 21.
If LaQuinston Sharp and the gang can protect Will Rogers, he’ll likely find some holes in an Arkansas defense that ranks No. 126 in passing yards allowed at 302.5 per game.
I like the Bulldogs to ride the momentum of a big win over A&M into another big SEC home win.
The Hogs will bother Rogers more than the Aggies did, but Rogers will remain vertical enough to get things done.
LSU sacked Rogers four times, but that game gets a lot closer — and the Bulldogs likely win — if they hang on to half their drops and don’t fumble a punt.
It’s being good almost every play and great on occasion.
Prediction: MSU 35, Arkansas 27
The Beat Guys: Theo DeRosa, MSU; Michael Katz, Arkansas
No. 9 Ole Miss (5-0, 1-0 SEC) at Vanderbilt (3-2, 0-1 SEC)
The Commodores have not yet become one of the best teams in the nation as predicted by coach Clark Lea at SEC Media Days.
They’re better, though.
They’ve won three games to surpass last year’s win total, but they still haven’t won an SEC game under Lea.
It’s a small SEC sample size this season, and unfortunately the opponent was Alabama, which defeated Vanderbilt 55-3.
Wake Forest, the only other Power Five team on the schedule so far, beat Vanderbilt 45-25.
Alabama notwithstanding, Vanderbilt has been functional on offense. The Commodores are averaging 34.2 points a game, a field goal less than Mississippi State but a PAT more than Arkansas.
It’s unusual to see Vanderbilt with more scoring prowess than Florida, Auburn and Texas A&M, but that’s what the numbers say.
Lea made a change at quarterback three weeks ago in favor of freshman AJ Swann, who went the whole way against Alabama, which showed Lea’s commitment to change.
Swann was 13 for 26 but did not throw an interception. He was sacked five times, which bodes well for the Rebels’ chances to get him off his spot. Ole Miss is second in the SEC in sacks.
Lea has had an extra week to get Swann ready since Vanderbilt was open last week.
The Commodores rank No. 120 in total defense and No. 107 in scoring defense.
Ole Miss needs to respect the opponent, but this is one of those games where the Rebels should be able to focus on themselves, on improvement for Jaxson Dart at quarterback, on better center snaps, on a sustained running game and on clamping down defensively for four quarters.
Auburn visits next week, and Ole Miss has a good chance to be 7-0 going to LSU on Oct. 22.
But Ole Miss needs to get better at some things.
Nashville will be a good environment to begin some of that improvement.
Prediction: Ole Miss 45, Vanderbilt 19
The Beat Guys: DeRosa, Ole Miss; Katz, Ole Miss
Elsewhere in college football
Last week: Theo 6-3, Parrish 6-3, Michael 6-3
Overall: Theo 37-6, PA 34-9, Michael 33-10
Texas vs. Oklahoma
Alford: Texas
DeRosa: Oklahoma
Katz: Texas
Tennessee at LSU
Alford: Tennessee
DeRosa: Tennessee
Katz: Tennessee
Utah at UCLA
Alford: Utah
DeRosa: Utah
Katz: Utah
Texas A&M at Alabama
Alford: Alabama
DeRosa: Alabama
Katz: Alabama
South Carolina at Kentucky
Alford: Kentucky
DeRosa: Kentucky
Katz: Kentucky
Florida State at North Carolina State
Alford: NC State
DeRosa: NC State
Katz: NC State
Southern Miss at Troy
Alford: Southern Miss
DeRosa: Troy
Katz: Troy
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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