All of Sudden, Mississippi State Looms Large for Hogs
Bet you didn't see this one coming, did ya'?
Nobody — and that means absolutely no Arkansas fans — had marked down Saturday's game with Mississippi State as anything but a win.
For months.
Then the Bulldogs spotted the second best team in the SEC East a 10-point lead and quarterback Will Rogers completed a higher percentage of passes than any quarterback in SEC history (92.3%).
And Mike Leach's Air Raid offense finally started clicking in Starkville.
Razorback fans are just shaking their heads.
Mississippi State running back Dillon Johnson.
Matt Bush/USA TODAY Images
The good news is State hasn't been able to keep a lot of consistency when they have gotten the offense rolling the last couple of years.
Last year the Bulldogs destroyed LSU in Baton Rouge, the Hogs rolled into Starkville and came away with a 21-14 win, the first SEC victory since 2017.
All of a sudden, this is a big game for both teams.
Especially Arkansas that lost three straight league games after a 4-0 start that energized the fan base, but piled up injuries that are making things interesting with depth issues starting to come to the surface.
Now Leach may have actually gotten some things figured out with the Bulldogs.
Against Kentucky:
• State had 12 different receivers catch a pass.
• Scored multiple rushing touchdowns and had 35 attempts to go along with more than 300 yards passing.
• Was 5-of-5 in the red zone and is 92.1% scoring when they get close this season.
Will Rogers set SEC and school records against Kentucky.
Matt Bush/USA TODAY Images
Rogers, who was an accidental starter last year as a freshman due to the main guy getting injured, also seems to have figured things out against the Wildcats:
• Broke Dak Prescott's school record for single-season completions with a full third of the season left.
• He's second behind Prescott in career completions with 565 (the record is 734).
• Completing 36-of-39 passes was an SEC completion percentage record and he needed just one more to break the all-time NCAA record.
• Tied Prescott's school record with seven 300-yard passing games this season with four games left to play.
Mississippi State running back Dillon Johnson
Matt Bush/USA TODAY Images
Now Barry Odom has to figure out a way to slow all of that down without the best player there as safety Jalen Catalon is gone for the year.
The Hogs did get a week off and apparently used it to get players healthy and refreshed for a stretch run to end the season.
They better be healthy because Mississippi State is playing a lot better than anyone thought tied for second in the SEC West with Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
The Hogs are at the bottom, which is not what fans expected at the end of September when the record was 4-0.
The record is 5-3 with a single win over an FCS team from the SWAC that was so bad everybody agreed to knock three minutes off each quarter in the second half.
One win away from becoming bowl eligible, one of the hottest teams in the league comes to town three weeks after another one (Auburn) boat-raced the Hogs at Razorback Stadium.
It may be a November to remember ... however it goes.
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