STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Once upon a time in the SEC, Arkansas victories against Mississippi State were close to a lock.
Arkansas beat the Bulldogs nine games in a row in one stretch, and 12 out of 13 times between 1995 and 2007.
Mississippi State didn't win a game in the state of Arkansas for 117 years after it began playing football in 1895.
But Coach Dan Mullen has changed the image of Mississippi State as the doormat of the SEC West as his Bulldogs (4-6, 2-4 SEC) prepare to host Arkansas (6-4, 2-4) on senior day tonight at 6 at Davis Wade Stadium.
Mullen took over in 2009 after the Bulldogs had finished with the worst record in the SEC West eight of the previous nine seasons. Mississippi State again had the worst record in the division in his debut in 2009, but never since, as Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas and then Auburn again cycled to the bottom of the SEC West.
Mullen also has reversed trends against the Razorbacks. After losing his first three games against Arkansas, Mullen has won four in a row in the series heading into tonight's game.
The Bulldogs have undergone a roster transformation this season, most notably at quarterback, where sophomore Nick Fitzgerald has taken over for Dak Prescott -- one of the best players in Mississippi State history and the current starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Yet today's game is considered a toss-up, two weeks after the Bulldogs stunned No. 4 Texas A&M 35-28 in Starkville.
Arkansas, which was ranked for six consecutive weeks after upsetting No. 15 TCU on the road, has beaten three top 15 teams. However, the Razorbacks haven't posted back-to-back victories since following the Week 2 upset of the Horned Frogs with a 42-3 rout of Texas State.
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema is 0-3 against the Bulldogs.
"I would say the last three years the Mississippi State team we've lost to has been a really good team," Bielema said. "We just haven't been able to do it. It's been close games."
Mullen, in his eighth season with the Bulldogs, concurred.
"I just think most of those games have come right down to the final play of the game, and we've just found a way to make a play to win at the very end," Mullen said. "I don't know if it does much for our team because most of those guys aren't playing for us anymore. They've all moved on.
"We have a really young football team. For a lot of our guys, it'll be their first time playing against Arkansas."
The last three games were decided by a touchdown or less, including last year's 51-50 thriller in which the Bulldogs blocked a 29-yard field goal try by the Hogs in the final minute.
"They've been basically a one-possession game," Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said. "We just didn't make enough plays in critical moments to win the games and they did. That's been the biggest difference.
"Whether it's been on offense or defense or special teams, that's what's happened. We expect another hard-fought, tight game that we're going to have to play clean in."
Arkansas won six of its last seven games last year, with the lone exception the shootout loss at Razorback Stadium.
"I've never beaten them, so this is definitely a game I would like to win," senior linebacker Brooks Ellis said. "It's weird. But they've been a good team and they've got some good coaches. Their quarterback has always been really good. But it's definitely something weird."
Injured Arkansas running back Kody Walker is the only player on the roster who has tasted victory in the series. Walker was going through his first redshirt season in 2011 when the No. 6 Razorbacks blasted the Bulldogs 44-17 in Little Rock.
Said offensive tackle Dan Skipper, "Any time you get the chance to beat someone that we haven't beaten here, I think that means a lot."
Mississippi State started its streak against Arkansas with its biggest rout in the series, a 45-14 drubbing in Starkville against interim coach John L. Smith in 2012.
Since Bielema's arrival, all of the games have been tight.
In 2013, Arkansas drove into the red zone in a 17-17 game with less than six minutes to play before Alex Collins lost a fumble at the 9. The Bulldogs would go on to win in overtime on Damian Williams' 25-yard touchdown run.
The 2014 Bulldogs will be the answer to the question, "Who was the first college team to be ranked No. 1 by the College Football Playoff selection committee?"
Misssissippi State was still No. 1 on Nov. 2, 2014, when Arkansas took a 10-0 lead in Starkville on Adam McFain's 36-yard field goal in the first quarter and Collins' 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs tied it 10-10 on a field goal with 3:35 left in the third quarter and won it on Fred Ross' 69-yard catch and run against a coverage bust in the fourth quarter.
Last year's game featured a shootout on a chilly night at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Arkansas tight end Jeremy Sprinkle caught three touchdown passes. Mississippi State's Ross had 10 catches for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Arkansas senior Brandon Allen passed for 406 yards and seven touchdowns. The senior Prescott trumped him with 508 passing yards and accounted for seven touchdowns of his own.
The Bulldogs bolted to a 31-14 lead late in the first half. Arkansas scored four consecutive touchdowns to lead 42-31 entering the fourth quarter. The last of five lead changes came on Ross' 14-yard touchdown catch from Prescott with 3:05 remaining at the end of an 82-yard drive.
After a short kickoff return by Dominique Reed, Allen completed five consecutive passes -- 17 yards to Jared Cornelius, 16 yards to Hunter Henry, 13 yards to Drew Morgan, 6 yards to Reed and 18 yards to Cornelius -- to reach the Mississippi State 19.
From there, Bielema played it safe, choosing to run the ball and making Mississippi State burn timeouts until the Hogs reached fourth and 3 from the Bulldogs' 12 with 39 seconds remaining.
Beniquez Brown slid through a seam and Cole Hedlund's 29-yard field goal try thumped off his shoulder and back to the turf, where Brown recovered to seal the victory.
Sports on 11/19/2016