Bulldogs had Razorbacks on heels from beginning and never backed off to increase losing streak to three straight SEC games.
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Hogs Drop 3rd In A Row; Taking Stock of Hogs at Halfway Point; Cards Knocked Out of Playoffs
Guests- Mike Irwin & Connor O’Gara
Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman may keep Malik Hornsby at quarterback
After having solid performance against Mississippi State, keeping speedster behind center may be place he stays for Hogs.
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Hogs Drop 3rd In A Row; Taking Stock of Hogs at Halfway Point; Cards Knocked Out of Playoffs Call or text, 877-377-6963
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Hogs drop their third straight
Tye, Tommy and Chuck on the loss to MSU, Cowboys win again, Cards bounced by the Phillies
The Gimme the HAWGS Chuck Podcast E16: Clay Henry on the loss
Chuck sits down with Clay Henry after the Mississippi State loss
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Bulldogs whip Razorbacks about every way possible
For the first time in a three-game losing streak, Arkansas got physically manhandled by a team not known for that.
Mississippi State hasn’t been a physical team in a decade or so, but they were Saturday in a 40-17 win over the Razorbacks in Starkville.
The beat the Hogs about every way you can except in the kicking game but unlike last year it didn’t come back to haunt Mike Leach.
“We need a bye week,” Hogs coach Sam Pittman said later. “But we don’t have one coming for a couple of weeks.”
First they have to go to Provo, Utah, to play a BYU team looking to play back into the national rankings (at least we’re assuming they’ll fall out Sunday) after coming up short in Las Vegas against Notre Dame, 28-20.
The Hogs have to travel for a second straight week and right now Pittman doesn’t have any answer for a defense that has mysteriously struggled with injuries and everything else the past few weeks.
The Cougars throw the ball. Arkansas’ biggest problem before Saturday was stopping a passing game. The Bulldogs may have exposed some big issues stopping a running game, too.
MSU running back Dillon Johnson had 173 yards on the ground … out of a one-back offensive formation.
“It surprised me they could do it without using two backs,” Pittman said. “We knew they ran hard, but they ran over us. We couldn’t get (Dillon Johnson) on the ground.
“That’s been a little bit of a problem this year … or a lot of a problem.”
In other words, he admitted what we’ve seen through six games. This defense has problems all over the place … with the exception of linebacker where Bumper Sanders (who passed Tony Bua for the all-time team tackles record) and Drew Sanders forming a tandem that is playing the best.
Part of that is they’re good. Another part of it is nobody can make a tackle in front of them and if you’ve got guys in the secondary leading the team in tackles it’s an entirely different (and bigger) problem.
With Myles Slusher and LaDarrius Bishop out for the game, they lost Jayden Johnson. There’s no telling right now who will be available against BYU and we probably won’t find out a whole lot this week.
For a team struggling on defense, getting more people hurt is the last thing they need.
Pittman won’t use injuries as an excuse. It may be a contributing cause, but this team out-scored people until they got to Texas A&M and the Hogs couldn’t put more on the board in the last three games.
Now they have a three-game losing streak in the works for the 10th time in the last 11 years. The only reason they didn’t have one in 2016 was because they ran out of games and, if you remember, that’s when things began to completely come unraveled in the Bret Bielema years.
Pittman had a four-game losing streak in 2020, which was such a goofball year it throws off all comparisons. His task now is to keep the wheels on things and try to set up a run in the final five games.
It worked last year.
Right now, though, it’s hard to find a lot of Razorback fans holding out much hope.
WATCH: Razorback coach Sam Pittman after falling to Mississippi State
Quarterback Cade Fortin had earned right to start in practice, but Arkansas planned all along to play Malik Hornsby.
WATCH: Razorback players after loss to Mississippi State on Saturday
The complete press conference with Hogs’ Dalton Wagner, Bumper Pool and Jadon Haselwood after loss to Mississippi State.
LIVE BLOG: Razorbacks lose big on road in Starkville
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson won’t be starting against Mississippi State on Saturday.
He may be coming off the bench later, but that could be just something interesting to remember.
Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman danced all over the topic after Jefferson was injured against Alabama last week, but just before kickoff he announced Cade Fortin would be the starter.
We are under way in Starkville and you can follow all the action here.
First Quarter
1Q 11:15: This doesn’t start particularly well as Will Rogers moves the Bulldogs downfield with some balance including a 20-yard pass to the 4. A penalty on Terry Hampton got it to first down on the 2. From there, Dillon Johnson just powers his way into the end zone and this is not the hot start the Hogs needed. Bulldogs 7, Hogs 0
1Q 4:10: Will Rogers is simply carving up the Hogs’ defense. Offense, Fortin has one drive and he got a first down on a run by Raheim Sanders, but was sacked and MSU put together a 12-play, 55-yard drive, converting a fourth down, then Rogers scrambled and found Jaden Walley in the back of the end zone, who made the catch after Malik Chavis couldn’t knock it down or catch it.. Bulldogs have 98 yards in total offense, Hogs 5. Bulldogs 14, Hogs 0
Malik Hornsby comes in and gets the Hogs to the Mississippi State 8 but goes out after a play where targeting was called on Mississippi State because both defenders missed on the play. Maybe an over-abundance of caution? Fortin back in the game, but the drive stalls and Sanders can’t get a yard into the middle of the line on fourth down to turn the ball over.
End First: Bulldogs go 57 yards in five plays as Rogers passes Aaron Murray for all-time SEC pass completions and he doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Hogs having too many penalties and the quarterback issues are as real as a lot of fans feared, although did appear to move better with Hornsby in the game.
2Q 9:03: Bulldogs making this look way too easy. Rogers leads a nine-play, 40-yard drive and scrambles, then somehow threads a pass that Austin Williams catches just before diving out of bounds. Bulldogs 21, Hogs 0
2Q 5:56: Razorbacks finally get on board as Cam Little salvages something from a nine-play, 42-yard drive with a 51-yard field. Hogs running ball some on Bulldogs, but then start trying to pass (only 29 yards total so far). Bulldogs 21, Hogs 3
2Q 1:11: After Rogers couldn’t get a first down, missing on a short pass, Hornsby broke free and found Jadon Haselwood alone on the right sideline for a 68-yard completion that set up a 3-yard run by Sanders and the Hogs have managed to show proof of life before halftime. Bulldogs 21, Hogs 10
Mississippi State’s Ben Raybon hooks a 40-yard field wide right (he’s left-footed) and the Hogs might be a little lucky to just be trailing by 11 headed into halftime.
End Half: Bulldogs 21, Hogs 10
Third Quarter
3Q 11:16: Hogs take second half kickoff at the 1 after AJ Green fumbled it and was lucky to get out of the end zone. Bulldogs stop offense on three plays, then go 58 yards in six plays with Rogers finding Caleb Ducking wide open behind the Hogs’ secondary for a 33-yard score that was really easy. Not the way anybody wanted to start the third quarter. Bulldogs 27, Hogs 10
3Q 3:33: Hornsby settling into offense and makes a 54-yard pass to Bryce Stephens, who makes a leaping catch at the one for the score. After getting just a handful of plays scattered around, there will be questions about whether Hornsby should have seen some consistent time with some good plays. Bulldogs 27, Hogs 17
3Q :54: Mississippi State answers the score as the Hogs’ defensive problems starting to become glaring as Johnson breaks free for a 30-yard scoring run to cap a seven-plan, 75-yard drive after the big scoring pass. This is turning into a shootout. Bulldogs 34, Hogs 17
Fourth Quarter
4Q 10:28: It almost seems the Bulldogs are getting stronger as the Hogs get weaker in this game. After Jo’quavious Marks powers his way in from the 2 after a six-play, 70-yard drive, Mississippi State takes a 23-point lead. And then bounce the extra point off the left upright to continue the kicking woes, but this time Arkansas may not be able to get close enough for it to really matter. Bulldogs 40, Hogs 17
ANDY’S PICKS: One possible reason Malik Hornsby didn’t play last week
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Once again, the betting line appears to a lot of Arkansas fans to be out of whack.
Mississippi State is a 9.5-point favorite at most sportsbooks in Saturday morning’s game and Razorback fans are shaking their heads, but they aren’t putting any serious money on it. The line is controlled by which way the money is going and that’s mostly on MSU.
This is usually the point where I say that’s a mistake, but it’s not my job to tell you what to do with your money.
The realistic answer is I have no idea because this Hogs’ team still has more questions than answers heading into a game that marks the halfway point of the regular season.
With KJ still questionable after getting knocked in the head against Alabama, the focus has been on backups Cade Fortin and Malik Hornsby.
Maybe Hornsby was held out of Saturday’s game because Pittman didn’t want any more film of him available than the limited supply that’s out there already?
It’s a question nobody has really asked.
Having said all of that, the Bulldogs may be a horrible matchup for the Hogs. Their offense does what the enda defense that probably wasn’t really what everybody was hoping for early in the season.
This is a team that has given up a lot of points this year, even to the first three opponents. Those teams had worse defenses than the Hogs.
Can Arkansas out-score Mississippi State?
My guess is this game will come down to which defense can get off the field early the most. The Bulldogs have more athletes on that side of the ball than the Hogs do … or at least they look like it.
The key, though, is whether that shows up or not.
Remember, though, the only reason the Hogs won last year’s game in Fayetteville simply because Cam Little was better than the Bulldogs’ kicker and it still came down to a shot at the end that could have sent the game into overtime.
This one, though, probably won’t get that far.
Mississippi State 31, Hogs 14
There is no telling what the picks contest between Pete Morgan and myself looks like. It’s usually close and we’ll get around to figuring it all up at some point in time.
As we get into league games, the schedule will get tougher but not this week.
All of that usually adds up to some upsets, but nothing I feel completely positive about.
SEC Picks for Week 6
When one of the best games in the league is Tennessee at an LSU team that started the season with a loss and has somehow managed to rip off four straight wins should tell you something. A lot of blowouts on the league agenda this week.
(8) Tennessee at (25) LSU: The Vols are probably the second-best team in the SEC East this season, but now we’re going to find out as the schedule gets a lot tougher in a hurry. The Tigers aren’t the best team in the West but may end up there simply because Arkansas and Texas A&M haven’t met expectations. Their winning streak ends this week. Tennessee 41, LSU 21
Missouri at Florida: Which Gators team shows up? Or even which Tigers’ team makes an appearance here. Missouri should have had at least one more win because they literally fumbled away an overtime road win at Auburn. Look for Florida to get things back on track. Florida 27, Missouri 10
Auburn at (2) Georgia: Normally we would be asking questions about the Bulldogs after falling out of the No. 1 spot, but the Tigers are a much better story considering Bryan Harsin is subject to getting canned after every loss and I’ve questioned for a few weeks now if he would make it to Halloween. Georgia 49, Auburn 14
(9) Ole Miss at Vanderbilt: Historically, the Commodores give the Rebels a hard time. Even when Ole Miss is very good and Vandy is very bad, it has often been a struggle win for the Rebels and they’ve even had a few head-shakers over the years. The Rebels’ running game likely could control this one. Ole Miss 24, Vanderbilt 10
South Carolina at (13) Kentucky: If this is close, the Wildcats have a hangover from the road loss at Ole Miss. The Gamecocks are still trying to figure out a lot of things and Spencer Rattler is finding out a quarterback needs some talent to be a great one. It might be closer than a lot of people think. Kentucky 28, South Carolina 24
Texas A&M at (1) Alabama: This was supposed to be a big game back in the summer, but the Aggies haven’t lived up to their preseason hype. The Crimson Tide may be playing a backup quarterback, but that didn’t make much of a difference against Arkansas last week and won’t this week. Jimbo Fisher better not let A&M relax if Alabama gets a big lead because it could get really ugly. Alabama 48, Texas A&M 14
