Arkansas Razorbacks Football: Mississippi State Preview
By Tommy Tabler
The Arkansas Razorbacks are trying to reverse history against the Mississippi State Bulldogs this Saturday.
Starkville, MS on a Saturday night has never been an easy place to play for the opposing team. Arkansas is faced with the task of trying to end a 20-game losing streak in conference play. Few match ups are favorable for a team attempting to shake off two years of disappointing football. Arkansas has an opportunity to make a statement against a team coming off an impressive victory over LSU.
A key to this game is Arkansas limiting the Mississippi State possessions. Stopping the Air Raid is never an easy task and the drives do not usually last more than three minutes. The Razorbacks limited the Georgia Bulldogs a week ago and are looking to continue the solid defensive play. A pass rush is going to be vital for success and the defensive line is going to need to be disruptive.
Meanwhile, from an offensive perspective the Arkansas Razorbacks are going to have to establish a running game. Kendall Briles must find a way to establish the run and get Rakeem Boyd involved in the offense. The Georgia defense last weekend was able to shut down the Arkansas rushing attack. Mixing the run and the pass is going to be something Arkansas is going to have to do against Mississippi State. The Arkansas offense is one that wants to go up tempo and score quickly. It would be unwise to get into a shootout with Mike Leach and his Bulldogs.
Simply put the Arkansas Razorbacks’ defense is going to have to force some stops, forcing turnovers would be even better. Costello was a bit turnover prone against the LSU Tigers last Saturday and Arkansas forcing some turnovers would shorten the field for an Arkansas offense that struggled last weekend. Much like last week, Arkansas will hang in the contest early, however Mississippi State will take over late and win this one 38-20. The effort and continued steps forward should continue to please the Arkansas fans.