Mississippi State in tough against Arkansas
The no. 20 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs will be in tough this Saturday 20 November when they are at home to the no. 13 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. This will be a battle of two very different offences, and could prove to be the game of the week in the
South Eastern Conference (SEC).
Arkansas previous games
The Razorbacks started their season with a three-game winning streak which included victories over Tennessee Tech, Louisiana-Monroe and Georgia. They ran into the Alabama Crimson Tide the following week, and put up a good fight but lost 24-20.
They rebounded from the loss to the Tide to a 24-17 victory over Texas A&M, but fell the following week to the Auburn Tigers, who still remain undefeated.
Since the loss to Auburn, Arkansas has been on a four-game winning streak with wins over Mississippi, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and the University of Texas at El Paso.
The Razorbacks are sitting with an overall record of 8-2 and a conference record of 4-2, good enough for fourth place in the SEC. Their remaining schedule includes two conference games, with this being the first one, and they will end their season against
LSU on 27 November.
Mississippi State’s season so far
The Bulldogs opened their season with an impressive victory over Memphis, 49-7. Then, their world came crashing down within the next two weeks with losses to conference foes Auburn and LSU.
Things went from bad to excellent, as the Bulldogs reeled off six straight victories over opponents Georgia, Alcorn State, Houston, Florida, University of Alabama-Birmingham and Kentucky.
After their bye week, they faced Alabama last weekend and lost 30-10 bringing their record to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in conference. Their last two games include this weekend’s match and then the in-state battle against Mississippi (Ole Miss).
Razorbacks keys to victory
Junior quarterback Ryan Mallett has this offence firing on all cylinders, as his aerial assault ranks third and the rushing game ranks in the middle of the pack at 66th. He has thrown for 2967 yards and 24 touchdowns, an excellent year
by anyone’s standards.
His receiving corps includes wide outs Greg Childs, who has 659 yards on 46 receptions, while his counterpart Joe Adams has 588 yards on 34 receptions.
The offence will be successful when they use their play actions; there is no way that the Bulldog defence can defend both of these guys.
Mississippi State’s keys to victory
The Bulldog offence runs the ball, pure and simple, and it works extremely well against a soft defensive line. Running back Vick Ballard has 699 yards on 111 touches and 12 touchdowns. Let him pound the Razorbacks defence, and tire them out to open
up lanes down field.
Quarterback Chris Relf should not pass more than 15 times this game, as his accuracy is sitting at 53.1%. He should not be giving away downs like that against an Arkansas defence that will pressure him as soon as he drops back in to the pocket. His 102nd
ranked passing offence should stay just like it is, used very sparingly.
Prediction
Arkansas 35 – Mississippi State 27
Tags: