Rapid Reaction: Mississippi State rallies at Arkansas for first SEC win since 2023
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A week after it blew a multi-score lead in the fourth quarter and lost in heartbreaking fashion, Mississippi State did the heartbreaking.
The Bulldogs trailed 28-14 late in the third quarter and then 35-21 with 13:43 to go in the fourth. They scored the game’s final 17 points to shock Arkansas in Fayetteville, win 38-35, and capture their first conference win in over 2 years.
Mississippi State had lost 16 consecutive games against SEC teams. Its last win in league play came on Oct. 21, 2023, against none other than Arkansas.
Through the first 3 quarters of Saturday’s game, Arkansas ran up 412 yards of offense at 6.6 per play. And a Blake Shapen interception at the end of the third led to a scoring drive that put the Hogs up by 14 early in the fourth.
After that score, Arkansas ran 12 plays and lost 14 net yards. Mississippi State went on a 9-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. After the first stop, it gained 43 yards and kicked a field goal. Then it got another stop and went 69 yards in 10 plays to score the game-winning touchdown.
With 48 seconds left, and on fourth down, Shapen found Anthony Evans III for 18 yards and 6 points.
The defeat dropped Arkansas to 2-7 on the season and 0-5 in SEC play. The Razorbacks have lost 7 straight and now find themselves in danger of a fourth consecutive season with 5 or more losses in SEC play.
Prior to 2015, Arkansas had never gone 4 straight years with 5-plus league losses as a member of the SEC. The Hogs have at least 5 losses in SEC play in 9 of the 10 seasons since.
Mississippi State 38, Arkansas 35
Here’s the Arkansas-Mississippi State box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Taylen Green vs Blake Shapen
A statistical breakdown of how Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green performed against MSU counterpart Blake Shapen:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
