Despite putting up a good fight, Arkansas lost another game Saturday, this time to SEC West foe Mississippi State 28-21. The Razorbacks held a seven-point lead going into the fourth quarter but gave up two touchdowns in the final four minutes of the game to drop to 4-7 on the season and 1-6 in the SEC.

The loss also dropped Bret Bielema’s record to 11-28 in the SEC for his career as well as gives him a 1-4 record against Mississippi State. With AD Jeff Long being fired this week — he just so happened to be one of Bielema’s biggest supporters on campus, things are looking grim for the coach to make a return for Year Six in Fayetteville.

During his post-conference media availability after the game, Bielema was asked about his status with the school among other topics in the face of another tough loss to a league opponent.

On Jeff Long’s firing, does that give an indication of your future?

“Obviously I’ve had conversations with (interim AD) Julie (Cromer Peoples), but nothing with reflection to other than just try to do everything we could to win this game, do everything we can to win the next game. We have recruits in town, do our best to get ready for recruiting season and the year ahead of us.

“My anxiety or thoughts or feelings are not any different from week one to where we are now. As a head coach, you may not believe that but it’s really the way I operate. For the guys that know me, I line up and do my job. There are things that are all around you that really take that thinking out of your hands. That’s why you have a coaching style, you have a faith, you have a belief, you have a coaching staff, you have players that you’ve recruited, you have contracts, you have everything around you that don’t make you think like that.”

On the status of backup QB Cole Kelley:

On the players’ reaction to Jeff Long’s firing:

“So outside noise, obviously with Jeff’s (Long) announcement on Wednesday, there’s going to be. But it’s probably easier when people, once you’re in the room to realize it really wasn’t hard for — a lot of guys, including myself, are close to Jeff. It’s kind of one of those moments, you take a deep breath, realize what happened.

Did you expect a larger crowd? Could a bigger crowd have made a bigger difference? 

“You might want to ask the kids that. I didn’t feel that. I thought our guys were really, really fired up. There was great energy on the sidelines. I really don’t turn around and look at the stands other than obviously when you’re walking in. But I don’t know what the announced crowd was or anything like that. I have no idea. But fans were there. Thank you very much. It was a good game. Hopefully they want a win just as bad as we do. The ones that showed up today are the ones that are strong in faith and I appreciate it.”