Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett began his first season with the Bulldogs this year after being promoted from his defensive coordinator position following former Bulldogs' head coach Mike Leach's unfortunate passing in December of 2022.
After starting the 2023 season off with wins over Southeastern Louisiana and Arizona, Mississippi State followed that up with three straight losses to LSU, South Carolina and Alabama.
Last time out, the Bulldogs earned a 41-28 victory over Western Michigan. Mississippi State had a bye week this past weekend and it is now looking forward to a meeting with Arkansas on Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
In a matchup against the Bulldgos last year, the Razorbacks were without starting quarterback KJ Jefferson due to injury. Malik Hornsby and Cade Fortin played in his place, but neither was enough for a dangerous Mississippi State offense in a 40-17 defeat.
Starting quarterback Will Rogers completed 32 passes for 406 yards and three touchdowns in the win. It's uncertain if Rogers will play against the Hogs on Saturday after he suffered an apparent shoulder injury against Western Michigan in the Bulldogs' last matchup.
If he doesn't, it's likely that backup quarterback Mike Wright will get the nod. A transfer from Vanderbilt, Wright has completed 192 passes for 2,128 and 22 touchdowns in his career with another 1,043 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
Here is everything Arnett had to say in his Monday press conference about Arkansas ahead of Saturday's game in Fayetteville, which is slated to kickoff at 11:00 a.m. CT and it will be available to watch on the SEC Network:
On Arkansas' defense:
Arnett: Coach Pittman's teams are always tough and physical. Play really hard and that no doubt shows up on film again this year.
I think they're playing really good on defense. They have a lot of impact players right now that they got out of the transfer portal. They kind of rebuilt that side of the ball. They are long and big and physical up front. Their last five games, all but one of them was a one possession game and if the ball bounces the other way, one or two plays go the other way, the result could be drastically different.
On Arkansas' offense:
Arnett: Coach Pittman is an offensive line coach by trade, so he's got big physical offensive linemen that come off the ball and they play like a team that's coached by an offensive line coach.
Obviously on offense, KJ Jefferson is as dynamic of a player as there is in college football. I mean, you see guys bouncing off of him left and right. His ability to shrug off tacklers is very impressive. I'm sure Rocket Sanders has been frustrated this year because he hasn't been able to go in several games. But, you look at what he did last season and what he's done in his career, you know everytime he gets the ball is a threat to breakout.
You've got really good length at receiver. Guys who run well. I think they did a nice job rebuilding their roster. They got a lot of guys out of the transfer portal who are playing really good for them and they look like a big, physical football team on film.
