10 random thoughts after Mississippi State's comeback win against Arkansas

Did anyone really think Mississippi State wouldn’t break its 16-game conference losing streak in exciting fashion against a team with an interim coach?

Oh, you too, huh?

But even this game was crazier than I expected. Honestly, I wish I could write a script or novel as exciting as the story of Mississippi State’s 38-35 win against Arkansas.

From how much Arkansas controlled the first half, to Mississippi State having to send in its backup, freshman quarterback and watching him score two touchdowns only to reinsert the starting quarterback, who throws an interception on his first play from scrimmage and then leads his team on a 17-point comeback to win the Bulldogs’ first SEC game in nearly two years?

And this comes after the back-to-back heart-breaking losses to Florida and Texas, with the blame for one of those losses (wrongly) placed on the previously mentioned starting quarterback?

Give me a break. Just look at this win probability chart on ESPN:

Mississippi State at Arkansas win probability | ESPN

For two weeks, Mississippi State has found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. On Saturday, it’s opponent found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

There won’t be a lot of complaints about that, but there are plenty of thoughts after the game:

Is there a QB controversy?

Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Kamario Taylor (1) rushes during the third quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks. — Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Kamario Taylor (1) rushes during the third quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Bulldogs won 38-35. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Until early in the fourth quarter, the answer to that question was an absolute yes.

But then Blake Shapen led the Bulldogs on a 17-point comeback, including a game-winning 18-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Evans III on fourth down and now the answer isn’t as clear cut.

Granted, the Mississippi State fans already wanting a change at quarterback won’t go silent and actually have more ammunition for their arguments based on what Kamario Taylor did in the first half.

Taylor should be credited with keeping Mississippi State in the game. He threw a 45-yard touchdown on his fourth play of the game to give the Bulldogs the lead and left the game in the second half with 40 passing yards and a team-high 55 rushing yards and two total touchdowns.

The problem with arguing for Taylor to become the starting quarterback is what Shapen did in the fourth quarter. Some of those passes, specifically a 33-yard seam pass to Evans that was perfectly placed between three defensive backs.

Winning Saturday’s game should dampen this controversy, but considering how Taylor performed, there’ll be a loud call for him to get more playing time.

Last week’s rush defense was the fluke

There’s usually some kind of anomaly with stats that throws off a trend or perception. That’s why I looked at last week’s performance against Texas – where the Bulldogs held the Longhorns to 72 rushing yards, had 12 tackles for a loss and five sacks – with some skepticism.

That skepticism was proved correct. The Razorbacks ran the ball 46 times for 239 yards (5.2 yards per carry) and three touchdowns.

The Bulldogs recorded three sacks and four TFLS in the win, but two of those sacks came in the fourth quarter.

This will be a major factor in future articles about which game the Bulldogs are most likely to win to get to six wins and bowl eligibility. (Spoiler: the answer won’t be Missouri.)

Arkansas penalties helped Bulldogs

Holy cow, talk about one team trying to give another team the win and just show them this game.

There are still a lot of games left to be played, but don’t be surprised if Arkansas becomes the most-penalized team in the nation.

18 penalties for 183 yards are new records for Arkansas and a lot of that came in the second half.

In fact, three penalties and 55 yards directly led to the Bulldogs’ scoring a touchdown to make the score 28-21 in the third quarter. And it didn’t stop there.

Seriously. The quantity of penalties and timing of the penalties left this writer stunned on multiple occasions.

Mississippi State’s penalties

Or should we say lack of penalties. The improvement the Bulldogs have shown in the last few weeks after being one of the most penalized teams in the nation has been great. They had just four penalties for 30 yards and, yes, some of them were ill-timed.

But compared to giving up 10-plus penalties in a game, this is a huge improvement.

Jahron Manning never came back

A big storyline from Saturday’s game is the injury to safety, a team leader in tackles, Jahron Manning, who left the game against Arkansas in the first half and did not return.

Lebby most likely won’t know the significance of Manning’s injury in his post-game press conference, so we’ll have to wait until next week for any newsworthy updates.

But Mississippi State will need Manning if it wants to go bowling this winter.

Interception Streak Ends

Mississippi State’s defense had recorded at least one interception in each game this season and entered Saturday with the most in the SEC. Arkansas avoided extending that streak Saturday and its only turnover was a failed fourth down conversion.

Mississippi State vs. SEC’s worst rush defense

The Bulldogs ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns against a defense that’s given up an average of 205 yards per game this season.

If that was just one Bulldog’s stat line, that’d be fine. But Mississippi State gained that much yards on 38 carries (2.8 yards per carry) and had just 12 rushing yards in the first half.

Starting offensive tackle Albert Reese IV missed the game with an injury, but one injury shouldn’t let the SEC’s worst rushing defense look like one of its better ones.

SEC’s Official Chicken

If you’re someone that thinks because Arkansas is where Wal-Mart and Tyson are based it should dominate the NIL market and transfer portal, maybe the multiple commercials about Sanderson Farms being the official chicken of SEC will help change your opinion.

One more win?

To wrap all this up, the Bulldogs need one more win to go to a bowl game and it’s fair to wonder if they can find another win against Georgia, Missouri or Ole Miss.

Georgia pulled away late against Florida (a team Mississippi State should’ve beaten), Missouri is the lowest ranked team of the trio and anything can happen against the Rebels.

Get ready for an exciting end to the season.