SEC Kickoff: Everything you need to know for Arkansas vs. Mississippi State

Here’s everything you need to know about today’s marquee matchup between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the No. 1 Mississippi State Bulldogs.

When: Saturday, Nov. 1
Where: Starkville, Miss.
Game Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN 2
Current Line: Mississippi State (-10.5)

Game Buzz: Arkansas travels to Starkville for Mississippi State’s first ever home game as the nation’s No. 1 team Saturday night. Not only are the Bulldogs unbeaten this season, they’ve only won one SEC game by fewer than 14 points. Arkansas, meanwhile, is seeking its first SEC win since 2012, and it’s first conference win under current coach Bret Bielema. The Razorbacks came one point shy of upsetting Alabama earlier this season, but they also trailed Georgia 38-6 at halftime of their last conference game. The Bulldogs pose a difficult test, but Arkansas has nothing to lose on the road.

SATURDAY DOWN SOUTH PREVIEWS

• Upset Alert Week 10: Top-ranked Mississippi State remains the hunted
• Matchup Breakdown: Arkansas offense vs. Mississippi State defense
• Mississippi State up for challenge of stopping Arkansas rushing attack
• Video: Arkansas boosts OL Sebastian Tretola’s Heisman chances after TD pass
• Mullen prepares to take on his greatest nemesis: The month of November
• Hot or Cold: Offensive balance key for Hogs vs. Mississippi State
• Hot or Cold; Mississippi State’s other star is on fire
• Inside the Numbers: Can Arkansas find first SEC win?
• Inside the Numbers: Mississippi State must slow Arkansas rushing attack

Arkansas Razorbacks

Players to watch:

• QB Brandon Allen
• DE Trey Flowers
• WR Keon Hatcher
• S Alan Turner
• RB Alex Collins
• RB Jonathan Williams
• LB Brooks Ellis
• S Rohan Gaines
• TE AJ Derby

Keys for Arkansas:

• Neutralize the cowbells. How do you quiet a raucous home environment? Run the football. Thankfully, this is something Arkansas does very well behind Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams. Pound the rock early and often and let the offense get some production quickly.
• Contain, contain, contain. Arkansas’ front-seven has a tough task in front of them in stopping Dak Prescott tonight. It’ll be important for the Hogs to keep Prescott in the pocket as much as possible since he’s so dangerous running the football. Guys like Trey Flowers and Darius Philon will need to step up in a big way tonight.
• Play smart, disciplined football. Let’s be honest. MSU is a much better team this season and Arkansas will need its best game of the year to win. That means few penalties and turnovers. The Hogs are good enough to overcome those kinds of issues against as talented of a team as MSU.

Razorbacks’ glaring weakness to watch: Playing a full, 60-minute game. The Hogs have had fourth quarter leads in two SEC games this year, but failed to close out the deal. If the Hogs are ahead or still competitive in the game in the latter portion of the second half, can they finish out the game strong? Or will they fold like in they have in past games?

Most interesting part of this game: Can Arkansas’ defensive backs hold off MSU wideouts Jameon Lewis and De’Runnya Wilson? These are two huge playmakers for MSU’s offense and Arkansas’ secondary has been somewhat of a liability. The Hogs will have to match MSU’s physicality on the outside in order to keep things close in Starkville.

Team buzz: Arkansas is still looking for its first SEC win under head coach Bret Bielema. They’ve come close, but still haven’t gotten over the hump. A win tonight would be a heck of a way to get that first conference victory as well as possibly spoil MSU’s playoff chances.

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Players to watch: 

• QB Dak Prescott
• RB Josh Robinson
• WR Jameon Lewis
• WR De’Runnya Wilson
• DE Preston Smith
• DT Chris Jones
• LB Benardrick McKinney
• LB Beniquez Brown

Keys for Mississippi State

• Establish the dynamic duo of Dakman and Robinson early and often. Mississippi State’s strength on offense is establishing a fierce rushing attack to open up the rest of the offense. Dak Prescott and Josh Robinson are the stars of the offense, and when they have big days on the ground MSU is tough to stop. A strong run game will help a potent Bulldogs offense, but it will also help control the time of possession and keep the ball away from the Razorbacks’ dangerous rushing attack. The longer Arkansas plays from behind and the less time it possesses the ball, the more it’ll have to attack through the air.
• Protect Prescott. By all accounts, the walking boot Prescott wore this week following last week’s win over Kentucky was merely precautionary, and it doesn’t appear Prescott will be slowed at all in this week’s game. Nevertheless, you can never be too careful in protecting your best player and a Heisman hopeful, especially when he plays quarterback. The Bulldogs must protect Prescott like he’s worth $1 billion, because they’ll need him healthy and able to move in upcoming games against Alabama and Ole Miss.
• Limit the Razorbacks’ rushing attack. It seems obvious, but the easiest way for Mississippi State to control this game is to limit Arkansas’ greatest strength, its downhill rushing attack, as much as possible. The strength of Mississippi State’s defense lies in its front seven, and if the Bulldogs remain aggressive up front and force quarterback Brandon Allen to beat them through the air, they’ll have a great chance at winning their matchup when the Razorbacks’ offense is on the field.
• Don’t beat yourself with penalties and turnovers. Mississippi State is the better team in this showdown, so while it seems cliche it really could be as simple as playing smart, safe football against the Razorbacks. Turnovers could give Arkansas a short field, and could swing momentum to the Arkansas sideline. Penalties could kill productive drives, or extend an Arkansas drive that otherwise would have resulted in a punt. As long as Mississippi State doesn’t beat itself, it’ll be tough for a team like Arkansas to beat it.

Bulldogs’ glaring weakness to watch: The Bulldogs’ secondary has been its greatest weakness all season, but lucky for them the Razorbacks are not a team known for being dangerous in the passing game. If Arkansas establishes the run early, however, the MSU secondary could be vulnerable to the play-action. No team in the SEC has given up more explosive completions (30 or more yards) than Mississippi State this season, and although it doesn’t suit the Razorbacks’ bread and butter it does give them an opportunity to spring a big play on MSU, evening an otherwise lopsided matchup.

Most interesting part of this game: These two teams are headed in completely different directions, yet this game feels much tighter than it appears on paper. Arkansas has lost 16 straight SEC games dating back to 2012, while Mississippi State is in the midst of the SEC’s longest active win streak at 10 wins (and counting) since the end of last year. The Bulldogs have dominated the rest of the SEC so far this season, while Arkansas just hopes to finally win an SEC game. Nevertheless, these are two teams that run the ball extremely well, and anything can happen in what has become a wild SEC West.

Team buzz: The atmosphere in Starkville will be electric for Mississippi State’s first ever home game as the nation’s No. 1 team, and the raucous Bulldogs’ fans are sure to have an impact on this game. Mississippi State is the better team, and any chance of a letdown or a trap game is likely to be nullified by the excitement over the team’s ranking in the first ever College Football Playoff Top 25 Poll. As long as Prescott is as healthy as Mississippi State says he is, the Bulldogs should be fine in this one.

Drew Laing

Drew Laing will be providing analysis and insight on Florida, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina.