MSU’s Lebby watches team take a step back in Arkansas’ 58-25 road rout of Bulldogs

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

Even while his Mississippi State University team was mired in a six-game losing streak, first-year Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby had seen some promising things from his defense the last three weeks in losses to top 15 teams Texas, Georgia and Texas A&M.

But that was not the case on Saturday as Arkansas rolled up 673 yards total offense, scored on 10 possessions, came up with five turnovers of its own and rolled to a 58-25 win at Mississippi State’s Davis-Wade Stadium in Starkville.

“I thought we had made progress,” Lebby said. “The frustrating part is we had made such improvement. We had played some really good units and won some things to give us a chance to win games. Today we took a step back.”

Ironically, the Razorbacks (5-3, 3-2) were 0 of 7 on third down conversions, but were extremely successful on all other downs while tying the school-record for most point in regulation of an SEC game.

“I’m disappointed today,” Lebby said. “I thought we had made real progress, that we had gotten better, had played really good normal down defense, but today it was just the opposite.

“We did some good things on third down, but we couldn’t get them into enough third downs. We have to play better against the run. That’s first and foremost. We have to make people one-dimensional and find ways to get a back on the ground when we make contact with him.

“That to me is where it starts – being able to go and stop the run and putting us in good situations in D and D (down and distance) stanpoints. Again we had done that for a couple of weeks in a row, but then to do the way we did today was disappointing

MSU defender Issac Smith didn’t mince words in his summation of Saturday’s effort by the Bulldogs (1-7, 0-5).

“We came out today and they beat us in all phases of the game,” Smith said. “They message is just get back to the drawing board, flush it and get ready for next week.”

“They really weren’t really doing anything special, it was just our execution. We were flying around to the ball, but had a lot of missed tackles. So I think it just came down to execution.”

Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green was 23 of 29 passing for 314 yards and five touchdowns and rushed 8 times for 79 yards another score.

Green made some of those plays while racing away from pressure.

“You saw tonight had we were getting back there to him, but we have to get him on the ground,” Smith said. “He is really a triple threat because he can throw the ball really well and he can run.

“It is a challenge for sure, but going forward I think we just need to do better getting to him and getting him on the ground. You let guys like that get going and they will be going all night.”

Arkansas rushed for a whopping 359 yards against an MSU team missing three injured starters on its defensive line.

Razorback freshman tailback Braylen Russell (6-1, 253) had career highs of 16 carries and 175 yards – including a 75-yard fourth-quarter dash from the Bulldogs’ 2 yard line.

Rashod Dubinion also had his best game of the season with a 11 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown as the pair filled in for injured Razorback starter Ja’Quinden Jackson.

“We have got to find a way to get our guys to play at a better speed, at a better physicality, at a higher level,” Lebby said. “We have got to get every ounce out of them that we can. We have to. That won’t ever change.

“We need to get a couple of guys back and that was evident today,, And hopefully we will have those guys back. But at the end of the day, the guys that we put on the field, we have to make sure we are doing whatever we can so that those guys are playing free, to play fast and to play incredibly physical.”

Green completed passes to nine different Razorbacks with Andrew Armstrong (4 catches, 76 yards, 1 TD), tight ends Luke Hasz (4 catches, 59 yards, 2 TDs) and Andreas Paaske (3 catches, 19 yards, 2 TDs) and Jordan Anthony (a 27-yard TD catch) all finding the end zone.

Lebby lamented his team’s offensive futility on its last four drives before intermission, which saw Arkansas score late and take a 31-10 lead to the break.

“The last four drives of the first half, we get down inside the red zone and get three points,” Lebby said. “You have no chance to beat a good football team when you’re doing that. To me offensively we had the opportunity to keep us in the game, make a couple of plays when we’re down there.  We’ve got to be able to punch it in when it’s second and 1 at the 1. 

“…You got a chance to score?  You score.  You take care of the football.  You get touchdowns in the red zone.  Then you have a chance to build on that, and make it a game. We didn’t do that.”

Photo courtesy of Mississippi State athletics