Mississippi State up next for Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will hit the road this week in search of an SEC win against last-place Mississippi State.

Mississippi State (1-6, 0-4) has yet to get a win in the SEC, but they are playing each team extremely tough in recent weeks. Sam Pittman and his team is coming off a disappointing 34-10 loss to LSU.

“Moving on to Mississippi State, they’re playing really well,” Pittman said. “Coach (Jeff) Lebby’s done a great job there. They’re in every game and playing extremely hard. They have speed on their team, a lot of talent. Their quarterback is playing really well. I like their runners. They have a couple of good running backs. Their offensive line, Coach (Cody) Kennedy has got those guys playing much better. They’re talented at wide receiver. I know they had an injury to No. 7. I don’t know what his status is. But they have a lot of speed. (Kevin) Coleman is an exceptional player.

“Defensively, I like their linebacker group. They really run to the ball. It starts with (Nic) Mitchell and then (Stone) Blanton and then (Isaac) Smith. They do a lot of things defensively to confuse you on third down, all the way from total all-out blitz to drop eight. But the looks are who are the six guys who are going to rush. So we have to be on top of that. They have a nice punter. Obviously Coleman is the punt returner. The kick returners are the two guys in the backfield. So we know the cowbells will be rolling. I have a lot of respect for their football team and we’re excited to go play an early game over in Starkville.”

The Bulldogs aren’t winning games, but they are scoring points. Pittman talked about their offense being wide open under the former Oklahoma offensive coordinator.

“Well, they’re wide open,” Pittman said. “They have a mixture of playing fast. Of course, we had K.B. (Kendal Briles) here, and he’s in that tree of Lebby, and obviously his daddy. They’re wide open … I tell you what they’re doing, if you press them, they’re going to throw it on you. They’re going to throw deep. They’re connecting on those plays. They’ve got speed at wide-out.

“Their quarterback, (Michael) Van Buren, he can throw the deep ball. The other thing is, they’re running the stretch and the inside zone very well. Their two backs run extremely hard. And then the quarterback can make plays with his feet. They’re not necessarily wanting to run him, I don’t feel like, a bunch, because he slides every time. A running quarterback, most of the time he just runs. But he’s elusive in the pocket.

“They’re just playing with a great deal of energy. You can just feel it on the film by the sidelines, the way that they’re excited on the sideline. And so they’re running the ball well enough, and they’re quarterback gives them opportunities there to scramble and make some plays and he’s throwing the ball really well.”

Van Buren has completed 61 of 114 passes for 792 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. He has shown poise since he came in,

“He is what you just said,” Pittman said. “He’s very, very poised back there. I’ll tell you what now, he made a — I don’t remember what game it was I was watching last night — but he made a throw to his left that he knew he was going to get wiped out, and it was freaking on the money. It might have been against Georgia. The way he’s running the offense now, they’ve done a really good job with him. Of course, he’s done a good job, too, but he’s a real good player and very accurate in his throws, and we’re gonna have to get in front of him. We’re gonna have to move him at times. I’m sure they’re very pleased with him because he’s been awesome for them.”

Pittman is impressed with Lebby and feels the Bulldogs hired the right person for that job.

“They’ve got a great football team,” Pittman said. “Sometimes everybody looks at somebody’s record and they go, ‘man, well, who’d they play?’ You know? And this is his first year in there and all that. He’s playing everybody, you know, 10 points or under, you know, whatever. But I got to know him through Kendal and his dad. Obviously through that, wonderful great guy. And you can see how the team, how well the team’s coached and how well the team’s moving forward. And they’re a scary team, now, to go in there and play and the cowbell’s going off and all that. But I believe Mississippi State hired the right guy and I think they’re going to be really, really good this Saturday and moving forward.”

Pittman was in what ways the Bulldogs have improved considering they are still losing games?

” I think ever since the Toledo game, I think they’ve just gotten better and better,” Pittman said. “They had some breakdowns and given up some scores and you don’t see that happening now. They fly to the football. They’re very physical football team. I think also after the Toledo game, I think they changed in trying to get to the quarterback. I think they’ve changed a number of guys in the box… I think they’ve played a little bit more man-coverage so I think after that Toledo game, I can see the last three games how they’ve changed number-wise in the box. They’re getting better and they’re taking more chances on third down, second and long trying to get to the quarterback and it’s worked out for them…”

The kickoff is set for 11:45 a.m. and televised on the SEC Network.