QUICK RECAP: Mississippi State knocks off Arkansas 7-3 for first SEC win
It wasn’t pretty but Mississippi State grabbed a 7-3 road win against Arkansas on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. It was State’s first SEC win of the season as the Bulldogs improved to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the SEC.
Arkansas dropped its sixth straight game and fell to 2-6 overall and 0-6 in the SEC.
The lone scoring opportunity for either team in the final seconds of the second half when Mississippi State missed a 29-yard field goal.
Mississippi State’s defense sacked Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson four times, including two by Bookie Watson, while Shawn Preston forced a fumble and had his third interception of the season.
Offensively, State managed just 205 yards of offense with 120 coming on the ground. Quarterback Mike Wright was 8 of 12 passing for 85 yards with one touchdown and one interception while rushing 11 times for 60 yards.
For Arkansas, Jefferson was just 19 of 31 for 97 yards with one interception. State also held Jefferson to just 38 yards rushing on the day.
Arkansas got on the board first thanks to a Wright interception on the second play of the game. The Razorbacks drove to State’s six-yard line but had to settle for a Cam Little 24 yard field goal and a 3-0 lead at the 12:30 mark of the opening quarter.
Mississippi State took its first lead of the game early in the second quarter thanks to a nine-play, 69-yard drive. Wright capped off the drive with a two-yard scoring toss to Jo’quavious Marks to give the Bulldogs a 7-3 lead with 13:03 remaining in the first half.
Both offenses struggled the rest of the half as the Bulldogs kept the 7-3 advantage at the half and that was also the final score.
Mississippi State returns to action next weekend with a trip to Auburn for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.
