He started in earnest last Wednesday and continued through Thursday and Friday. Most likely during his last talk with the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday, he said it again.

"We can't afford to let down."

John Pelphrey knew there was a chance his team thought it had peaked and was ready to run roughshod through the SEC and Top 25.

The players are that young. What looked like a bird's nest on the ground - Mississippi State lost at home to San Diego (10-7, but better than the record) - turned out to be a trap.

Rick Stansbury came in with an almost perfect game plan.

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The Bulldogs limited Michael Washington's touches, challenged him every time he moved, and while he managed 18 points, almost every field goal he attempted was contested.

As for Courtney Fortson, it looked like he was driving a semi in heavy traffic all night.

No matter where he went, he drew a crowd.

Mississippi State dominated the paint, and the Razorbacks ended up attempting 22 threepointers, making only three, one of which came when the only thing left in the game was deciding who was going to turn the lights off.

What was surprising - and almost unheard of with any team, but definitely with the always-aggressive Razorbacks - was they had zero fast-break points.

They had a couple of fast breaks but missed the layups, which was pretty much the type of night they had when it came to scoring.

When you hit 13.6 percent of your threes, and you attempted 22, it is going to be hard to win.

Pelphrey did everything he could to avoid a letdown, but there was a reason he was preaching about it so hard and so often.

He's the one in practice and sees how the team is performing.

Obviously, after victories over then-No. 4 Oklahoma and then-No. 7 Texas, it would be easy for most young teams to think they are good enough to beat a 10-5 Mississippi State without playing all out.

North Texas should have been a clue, but the Hogs came back in the second half to win that one comfortably.

Still, when you are starting three freshmen and two juniors - and only Stefan Welsh really had extended minutes of experience - the season can be interesting.

No doubt, Fortson had a freshman game Saturday.

He shot 13 times, made only 2, was 1 of 4 from the free-throw line and had 4 turnovers on a night when the Hogs would have a total of 7 assists and 14 turnovers.

It is not going to get easier for the Razorbacks, and Pelphrey shouldn't even have to tell them that.

They travel to Ole Miss, which has lost three starters but rallied hard and impressively against Florida on Saturday before losing 76-66.

Historically, the Tad Pad has not had a welcome mat for the Razorbacks.

Yet, it gets much worse when they go to Florida on Saturday.

Pelphrey, who was the top assistant for Billy Donovan for six years, and they remain very close friends, knows how hard it is to win in that cramped, hot and loud arena.

It is probably in the top three as far as hostile arenas go in the SEC (Arkansas is first and Tennessee second).

Arkansas starts three freshmen and two juniors, and while they had a major come-frombehind road victory at Mobile earlier, South Alabama is notorious for not drawing fans.

It might actually be a good thing the Razorbacks are going on the road.

The past three crowds at Walton Arena, as well as the one at Alltel Arena, have been beyond great.

It might be time for this team to start getting tougher, and there's no doubt playing on the road in the SEC will either make you tougher or eliminate any chance of getting ranked, which is what the loss to Mississippi State did last Saturday.

The Razorbacks got more points than last week, but they would have jumped into the Top 25 if they hadn't had a letdown.