Mississippi State vs. Arkansas: Grades, Analysis for Bulldogs and Razorbacks
Mississippi State topped Arkansas 51-50 in a SEC West shootout in Fayetteville on Saturday night. As you can imagine, both offenses thrived while the defenses struggled to make any impact on the final result.
The two offenses combined for over 1,100 total yards, and both starting quarterbacks threw for over 400 yards and at least five touchdowns.
However, the game came down to special teams as the Bulldogs blocked a Cole Hedlund field goal with 40 seconds to go to clinch their eighth victory of the season.
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Below we'll examine the good, the bad and the ugly (Look away now, fans of defensive-minded football) in our game grades and analysis from Saturday's high-scoring affair in Fayetteville.
| Positional Unit | First Half | Final Grade |
| Passing Offense | A+ | A |
| Rushing Offense | C | B- |
| Passing Defense | B- | D |
| Rushing Defense | A | B |
| Special Teams | B | B |
| Coaching | A- | B |
Grade Analysis for the Bulldogs
Passing Offense
It's hard not to give the highest grade possible to the Mississippi State passing offense after a game like this. However, Dak Prescott did show a few flaws at the beginning of the second half.
During Arkansas' turnover spree in the third quarter, Prescott threw an interception, and he fumbled before his arm started moving forward on the next drive. But credit must be given to Prescott for responding to adversity and leading the Bulldogs back into the lead.
Prescott ended the game with 508 passing yards and completions to nine different receivers. With over 550 yards of total offense, Prescott joined Johnny Manziel as the only SEC players ever to record the achievement.
Rushing Offense
Outside of Prescott's pair of rushing touchdowns, the rushing game didn't make a massive impact on the final score.
Brandon Holloway was the leading rusher for Mississippi State with 63 yards on 14 carries, but Prescott had one more carry than the running back. Given the nature of the game, it is hard to judge each rushing game fairly since both quarterbacks were on fire.
Passing Defense
Mississippi State gave up seven passing touchdowns and 406 yards through the air to Brandon Allen. Both numbers will probably be erased from the minds of the Bulldogs defenders quickly. The Bulldogs never really put Allen under duress with the blitz, and even when they did bring pressure, Allen stood in the pocket and completed passes.
Rushing Defense
The lone positive on defense for the Bulldogs on Saturday was their containment of Alex Collins. Collins only gained 53 yards on 19 carries, and Kody Walker earned just seven yards on seven carries.
The Bulldogs run defense also made a few key stops on the drive that led to the blocked field goal. So in some way you could say the Bulldogs run defense helped them win the game.
Special Teams
Things looked bleak for the Mississippi State special teams with 7:04 left in the game as Westin Graves clanked his extra point off the left upright.
Luckily for the special teams unit, it ended the game on a high note as Beniquez Brown broke through the offensive line and got his paw on Cole Hedlund's field goal.
Coaching
Dan Mullen didn't do anything terribly wrong on Saturday. There was a debate in the second half whether he should have gone for two on a few occasions, but his decisions didn't come back to haunt the Bulldogs. Overall, Mullen had a solid game on the sidelines.
| Positional Unit | First Half | Final Grade |
| Passing Offense | B | A |
| Rushing Offense | D | C |
| Passing Defense | F | D+ |
| Rushing Defense | C | C |
| Special Teams | B | C |
| Coaching | B | C- |
Grade Analysis for the Razorbacks
Passing Offense
Allen was superb in the pocket for the Razorbacks for the majority of the contest. He rarely made a bad decision and spread the ball around to six different receivers.
Three of his passing touchdowns went to Jeremy Sprinkle, while Hunter Henry caught a pair to go along with his 129 receiving yards. Jared Corneilus and Drew Morgan caught the other two.
Unfortunately for Allen, the ball was taken out of his hand late in the game as the Razorbacks got too conservative.
Rushing Offense
Collins did not have a strong day out of the backfield for the hosts. Even when Arkansas needed him to make a breakthrough run into the secondary late in the fourth quarter, Collins was unable to find any success.
Collins, whose longest run of the game was eight yards, was stopped short in the buildup to the blocked field goal. If he had earned at least one first down, the Razorbacks would have been able to attempt a closer field goal with time winding down or even race into the end zone.
Passing Defense
The Razorbacks appeared to have an answer for the Bulldogs at the start of the third quarter as they intercepted Prescott once and forced him into a fumble on the next drive. But after that, Prescott opened up the secondary once again.
Mississippi State broke loose for plenty of passing plays over 20 yards, and if the Bulldogs had needed to put together a game-winning drive in 30 seconds to win the game if the field goal was good, they probably could have done it.
Rushing Defense
Prescott was also a menace to the Arkansas run defense as he scored twice on the ground and recorded 45 yards. Although the Razorbacks didn't allow a 100-yard rusher, they conceded 126 total rushing yards to the visiting Bulldogs.
The longest run Arkansas gave up was just 12 yards, but it could not make stops on a consistent basis even when the Bulldogs shifted to the run game.
Special Teams
Just like Mississippi State, the Arkansas special teams unit had one good moment and one bad moment. Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, the unit's bad moment came with 40 seconds left in the game on a blocked field goal.
Arkansas did force a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half that the offense turned into seven points. We can't rule the unit as a total failure on Saturday night, but it failed to block on the biggest play of the game.
Coaching
Bret Bielema will be criticized for quite some time for his decision to run the clock out and kick at the end of the game.
Instead of relying on his high-flying passing game, Bielema entrusted the fate of the game in his rushing game and special teams. Clearly that was the wrong decision as the Razorbacks failed to earn a first down and had their only field-goal attempt blocked.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
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