Arkansas defense: Bend-but-don’t-break effort buoyed by 5 forced turnovers helps Football Hogs secure 58-25 win at MSU

By Kevin McPherson

Arkansas’ defense was pushed to its limits with mixed results on the road against SEC-winless Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville, Miss., but in concert with a runaway-train offense the Razorbacks’ defense proved to be a playmaking, turnover-generating force that helped forge a 58-25 blowout win over the feisty host Bulldogs.

On one hand, the Razorbacks (5-3, 3-2 SEC) yielded 25 points (second most by a league opponent scored on Arkansas so far this season), 471 total scrimmage yards by MSU (most by an opponent so far this season), 9 drives into Arkansas territory by MSU, and 24 first downs by MSU.

On top of that, there were three MSU offensive plays at the goal line on three separate possessions that had the potential to be ruled as touchdowns — each was ruled on the field as being short of crossing the goal line, and each was upheld by official review replay as call on the field stands (in others words, replay was not conclusive enough to affirm the calls either way). As such, Arkansas was a combined handful of inches away from giving up three more touchdowns and nearly 50 total points to the ‘Dogs on Saturday.

There were a myriad of notable miscues by Arkansas on the defensive side of the ball that yielded six MSU explosion plays (i.e. plays that gain 20 or more yards) — missed tackles; blown assignment integrity; poor perimeter defense due to a combination of being unable to shed blocks, taking poor tackling angles, and the aforementioned whiffs on tackles; inability to quickly wrestle down smallish MSU skill players who surprisingly carried defenders for extra yards; and three significant drive-extending 15-yard defensive penalties (a personal-foul face mask and two pass-interference calls).

ON THE OTHER HAND …

Arkansas’ defense generated a season-high 5 turnovers — 3 forced-and-recovered fumbles plus 2 interceptions — to give the team a much needed plus-4 advantage in giveaways, and that led to the Hogs running up 28 points off turnovers. The defense may have given up two 4th-down conversions in the contest, but the two that it stopped were both on the deep end of the Hogs’ side of the field. Arkansas also came up with some big 3rd-down stops on its end of the field.

– The first of those forced turnovers came on MSU’s second offensive snap of the game after the Bulldogs received the opening kickoff. Star defensive end Landon Jackson smothered MSU quarterback Michael Van Buren, Jr., with a sack that forced the ball loose, and Jackson immediately fell on the ball to secure Arkansas possession at the MSU 23-yard-line. the Hogs offense took over from there, scoring a touchdown in three plays capped by quarterback Taylen Green’s first of six touchdowns (his only score on the gound) good for a 7-0 Hogs advantage just 1:54 into the game.

– The first of Arkansas’ two 4th-down stops ended an 8-play, 53-yard MSU drive at the Hogs’ 22-yard-line as Arkansas was leading only 10-7 late in the first quarter. Facing a 4th-and-1, MSU running back Davon Booth was stuffed for no gain by a host of Hog defenders. On its ensuing offensive possession, Arkansas covered 78 yards on 6 plays for a touchdown to extend its lead to 17-7 with 2:09 remaining in the opening quarter.

– On MSU’s ensuing offensive possession after Arkansas had scored to grab that 17-7 lead, the Bulldogs drove to Arkansas’ 23-yard-line, but on a 3rd-and-5 running play the Razorbacks bottled up Booth for a one-yard loss to set MSU up with 4th-down-and-6 at the UA 24-yard line. ‘Dogs kicker and Searcy native Kyle Ferrie was wide right on his field goal attempt, leaving Arkansas with its 17-7 advantage at the 12:48 mark of the second quarter.

– The second of Arkansas’ two 4th-down stops ended a 12-play, 51-yard MSU drive at the Hogs’ 2-yard-line as Arkansas was leading 24-7 late in the second quarter. On 3rd-and-goal from the Arkansas 1-yard-line, Van Buren completed a quick-hitting pass to Seydou Traore, and as the lunging Traore was falling to the turf he appeared to extend the football across the goal line as he was simultaneously contacting the ground, but the officials marked his forward progress at the 1-yard-line for no gain. Replay appeared to suggest at minimum Traore’s left forearm touched down with the ball perhaps an inch or two from the goal line, still replay upheld the play AND the spot. On MSU’s next snap on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard-line, Hog defenders swarmed a shot-gun-snap keeper by Chris Parson that netted a lost yard to give possession back to Arkansas at its own 2-yard-line.

– The second of MSU’s goal line misfortunes / Arkansas’ defensive goal line good fortune came when Van Buren completed a 32-yard pass to Traore, who lost his balance adjusting to a ball that was thrown behind him, and his momentum carried him into the pylon in the front, right corner of the end zone with his left arm hitting the pylon as he was falling out of bounds with the football tucked under his right arm. After he bounced up at the conclusion of the play, Traore slung the ball high into the air emphatically as though he had made good on a touchdown reception that he felt he was robbed of in the aforementioned goal line failure, but the official had marked him just outside the goal line AND Traore was flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty that pushed MSU outside the Arkansas 15-yard-line with 1st-and-10. Two plays and two yards later, MSU had a 3rd-and-8 snap that resulted in Van Buren being sacked for a 5-yard loss by Hogs Stephen Dix, Jr., and Cameron Ball. That left MSU with 4th-and-13 from the UA 18-yard-line, and Ferrie booted a 36-yard field goal to cut the Arkansas lead to 24-10 as the Hogs limited the damage in what was another inches-away-from-a-touchdown drive.

– After the Razorbacks opened the third quarter with a 62-yard drive that culminated with a field goal for a 34-10 advantage, MSU drove to Arkansas’ 33-yard-line but lost its second fumble of the game when the Hogs sacked Van Buren for a 5-yard-loss while also forcing a fumble that Ball recovered. The Razorbacks’ ensuing offensive possession resulted in a 62-yard touchdown drive for what appeared to be a commanding 41-10 lead with 6:51 left in the third period.

– After giving up back-to-back MSU touchdowns in the final 2:11 of the third quarter — the second of which was capped by a two-point conversion — the Hogs led only by only two scores, 41-25, with the defense potentially in danger of game-turning vulnerability entering the fourth quarter. But after an Arkansas field goal drive extended the lead back to three scores at 44-25, the defense once again made a huge play to survive another near-miss MSU touchdown. An Arkansas defender managed to punch the ball out when ‘Dogs running back Johnnie Daniels was literally inches away from breaking the plane of the goal line in the fourth quarter, and veteran Arkansas defensive back Hudson Clark intently pounced on the loose ball to award possession back to the Hogs just outside their own goal line. Arkansas’ ensuing offensive possession was a 5-play, 99-yard, game-clinching touchdown drive good for a 51-25 lead with just 5:51 remaining in the contest.

– The Hogs would pitch two more shutout defensive possessions to close out the game — both resulting in interceptions (the first by Xavian Sorey, Jr., and the second by Clark).

Sophomore linebacker Brad Spence and Sorey led Arkansas with 11 tackles each, with Spence’s effort including 4 solo tackles, 0.5 sack, and 1.5 tackles-for-lost-yardage. Sorey had 1 interception and 1 pass defended. Jayden Johnson had 8 tackles, including 1 sack / tackle-for-lost-yardage. Jackson had 3 tackles, including 1 sack / tackle-for-lost-yardage and 1 fumble recovery. Ball finished with 3 tackles, including 0.5 sacks / tackles-for-lost-yardage and 1 fumble recovery. Clark finished with 2 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 interception.