STARKVILLE, Miss. — A week after third down struggles plagued the Razorbacks against No. 2 Alabama, they did a considerably better job of forcing fourth downs against No. 23 Mississippi State.
They held the Bulldogs to 5-13 in that department, but unfortunately for Arkansas, that came at the cost of struggling even harder on fourth down. Three times out of five did the Hogs allow the Bulldogs to move the chains, and an 0-3 on the other side of the ball allowed Mississippi State to dominate time of possession and ultimately the score.
The Razorbacks’ 483 yards of offense in comparison to the Bulldogs’ 568 should have been enough to keep the game close, but Mississippi State’s elongation and execution of drives was much more effective than that of Arkansas. The home squad possessed the ball for 11 more minutes than the visitors, in large part due to the fourth down conversion rates.
“We were tough on fourth down,” Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach said after the game. “It was key to be tough. It was also key to be ahead so that in some cases they had to go for it on fourth down when maybe they didn’t want to.”
The Bulldogs had the same number of fourth down conversions in the contest as they did punts — three. All of their punts came in situations in which the margin was at least 14 points, and two of their three conversions came inside the red zone and led to touchdowns.
A fourth-and-3 in the first quarter turned into a first-and-goal, and eventually the game’s first touchdown. Another, at the Arkansas 16-yard line in the second quarter, moved the sticks, leading to the Bulldogs’ third score of the day, which widened the gap to 21-0. Both plays were 4-yard runs by Jo’quavious Marks.
“We knew they ran so hard, but they ran over us,” Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said. “We couldn’t get him on the ground. That’s been a little bit of a problem this year, or a lot of a problem this year, and we just have to continue to work it.”
On the flip side, two of Arkansas’ three turnovers on downs also occurred in the red zone. Needing a yard at the Mississippi State 8, Rocket Sanders ran into a wall of Bulldogs near the end of the first quarter. A touchdown would have halved the 14-point margin.
Facing fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line and trailing by 17 in the third quarter, an empty-backfield set gave way to some bizarre pre-snap motion. The offense snapped the ball and Rashod Dubinion could not get the ball over the goal line.
“I was in there on the play call,” Pittman said. “I thought we could run it in there. A guy comes off the edge on us and got us.”
Getting off the field has been a challenge for the Razorback defense as the team’s 3-0 start has fizzled into a .500 record at the midway point of the regular season. Its inability to force turnovers — or even stops — has cost Arkansas at least one win. Defensive coordinator Barry Odom’s unit has its work cut out for it in the final six weeks of the season.
