Razorback Report: What Mississippi State's Lebby said about Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark — Arkansas and its fans are hopeful this weekend’s game will help the Razorbacks avoid a winless SEC season, but that may be harder than expected against Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs have lost four-straight after starting 4-0 and they can make a legitimate argument they should be 7-1 instead of 4-4.

That lends credence to Mississippi State’s belief it can beat Arkansas this weekend in Fayetteville and the Bulldogs will come to town looking to prove the last few weeks were just a fluke.

Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Blake Shapen (2) runs the ball during the third quarter against the Texas Longhorns at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Of course, nothing is easy in SEC and Mississippi State knows Arkansas has the potential to get the win. Bulldogs coach Jeff Lebby talked about the Razorbacks Monday. Here’s what he said:

On if Arkansas is the best remaining chance at winning an SEC game...

No, not in the least bit. We played a football team a couple weeks ago that was the best 2-4 team in the country. We're playing the best 2-6 football team in the country this week. They've got a quarterback that is, again, elite at everything that he does. They have played really well offensively. Auburn did a really good job defensively the other day, creating some turnovers. Arkansas struggled in the red zone a little bit. But again, their ability to score and play great offensively is very well documented. And then defensively, they've played better. And they haven't been great against the run, but they were better this past week. Auburn did a great job of committing to the run game and finding ways to play some 11-on-11, which gave them a chance at the end of the day to go win the game.

On differences in Arkansas team after coaching change...

Offensively, no. Defensively, they're completely different. So again, he made a change at defensive coordinator, made a change at linebacker, made a change at defensive line. So we've got three games that we've watched that can kind of give you the information of what we're going to get this weekend. So it's very, very limited tape, but feel like we've got a good grasp of what it's going to look like and what we're going to get.

There have been several days to find out whether Mississippi State’s learned enough about the post-Sam Pittman Razorbacks and/or how to win a close game against good teams.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Ashton Daniels (14) rushes during the third quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Razorback Stadium. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Yesterday’s Results

Men’s Baksetball: No. 14 Arkansas at Memphis (exhibition), 8 p.m., ESPNU

Today’s Schedule

No games scheduled.

Did You Notice?

Arkansas freshman Darius Acuff Jr. was one of 20 college basketball players named to the 2026 Bob Cousy Award that goes to the nation’s best point guard. Acuff was the No. 1 point guard in 2025 recruiting class and recipient of the 2025 Allen Iverson National Player of the Year.

Arkansas women’s golf head coach Shauna Taylor will be inducted into the Women’s Golf Coaches Association Coaches Hall of Fame in December. Taylor joins George Fox University’s MaryJo McCoskey as the 58th and 59th members of the WGCA Coaches Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place on Monday, December 8, at Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.