State of the Hogs: Top 10 keys to victory for Mississippi State game

Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen, left, and Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema confer prior to their teams meeting in an NCAA college football game in Starkville, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

— The end of the Jeff Long era may be front and center on the minds of most Arkansas fans, but turning thoughts to football and a game with No. 16 Mississippi State should snap everyone back to reality.

Dan Mullen has done what Bret Bielema has not: build a competitive football team.

Ultimately, that is one of the chief reasons Long’s era is over as athletics director with the Razorbacks.

Football is king in the SEC. It’s the pipeline through which money flows to fuel the rest of the athletics program.

Every Arkansas coach on the campus at any SEC school will tell you that when football is going well, they can ask for and get money to help an area of their program. If football struggles, they get turned down much more often.

Arkansas leads the series with Mississippi State 16-10-1, but Mullen is 4-1 against Bielema. Mullen’s teams are 4-4 against the Hogs.

So why has Mullen done well and Bielema not as well? What is different between the two?

For starters, you’d say the offensive systems are different.

Bielema prefers a pro-style offense. Mullen’s teams have featured power spread, with quarterback runs a big part of the system. He had Tim Tebow at Florida and Alex Smith at Utah, and more recently has developed Dak Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald.

I was interested in Tyler Wilson’s speech at the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club on Wednesday. Wilson started as quarterback in a pro-style offense under Bobby Petrino at Arkansas, but there were some variations for Wilson that have to be considered.

Plus, Petrino is running a spread at Louisville now. Things are changing in the college football world.

Wilson sees Mullen’s offense as an offshoot of the spreads that were developed in high schools across the country. Wilson played in a no-huddle spread under Rick Jones at Greenwood High School.

“I grew up in small-town Arkansas, at Greenwood,” Wilson said. “We began to change when Ronnie Peacock brought a passing scheme to our school in 1994. It was something to change the results.

“Why? We were average in a traditional offense. We were getting beat by Alma, Charleston, Booneville and other teams around us. We were average kids doing average things.

“We changed things. We started throwing it around, running spread stuff and it was happening all over in high schools in other parts of the state. It was happening at Nashville, Shiloh Christian, Pulaski Academy and all over Dallas.

“You are familiar with the concepts. It’s the quarterback in the Wildcat position. He’s a runner, but he makes a fake to the back. It turns the game from 11-on-11 to 11-on-10. And, it spreads out the defense.

“The NFL didn’t do it at first, but you see it there now, too. They said at first they couldn’t take the risk of losing their quarterback. Over time, it’s going to happen there more.

“Now, here are the numbers: In the Big 12, 10 of 10 teams run the no-huddle spread. In the SEC, it’s 11 of 14.”

Wilson said Houston Nutt explained it well in several interviews of late.

“I know he’s commented on Oklahoma State’s personnel and the way the offense has developed there in the spread,” Wilson said. “Houston said he always believed you developed the offensive line and it all went from there.

“That’s not what he said they’ve done at Oklahoma State. It’s the outside in. It’s wide receivers and quarterbacks, with an average offensive line. You get the ball out so quickly that it doesn’t matter.”

Mississippi State has been superb on offense in recent years. Since 2014, the Bulldogs lead the SEC in 500-yard offensive games with 20. Arkansas is ninth with nine.

That’s the deal at Mississippi State, the spread offense with a dual-threat quarterback. You may think you can blitz Fitzgerald, but he’s running run-pass options. The ball is coming out quickly and if the first guy misses, the 6-5, 230-pound quarterback is running free and outruns the pursuit. He’s got unusual speed for his size.

Wilson makes great points. He’s played the position. He’s played it for one of the best offensive minds in football, Petrino. If Petrino has moved that direction, there is merit.

Wilson paid some compliments to the former Arkansas head coach, fired after his motorcycle wreck involving his mistress. Wilson said you got the good with the bad as far as Petrino.

“He was a dictator,” Wilson said. “Everyone knew how he treated people. I saw that. I took my fair share of cussings, too. I’d leave practice and call my dad. He had to hear me after practice after getting yelled at, yeah, and the cussings.

“I didn’t like it then, but I see what he did now. He made me tough. He taught me to be the best. It was the old style of coaching — tough love. He’s like a lot of great coaches.

“Yes, Bobby did some things to people he probably shouldn’t have done. But he did push us to be great. He was what you heard. No screw was left unturned. There was no chance to sleep. He was just like Nick Saban, the dictator.

“Everyone in the building was scared of him, including the people who brought in the food for our meals.”

Wilson said he still talks to Petrino.

“I haven’t in six months, but he calls,” Wilson said. “He might hear about a quarterback I might have seen. He wants opinions. So we stay in touch.”

On to the keys to victory. They start with the quarterbacks, as always.


Stopping Fitzgerald

The RPO is the deal. The rules allow linemen to go downfield 3 yards, no matter run or pass. State’s scheme is geared to do just that. It’s an almost impossible read for the defense.

Fitzgerald has 13 career 100-yard rushing games. He’s fourth all-time among SEC quarterbacks in rushing yards. Tebow leads with 2,947. Matt Jones is second with 2,535, Prescott has 2,521 and Fitzgerald has 2,369.

“The RPO starts with defending the quarterback,” said Kevin Richardson, Arkansas’ senior nickel back.

“You have to take his looks away. If you can bother him in what he sees, that’s the start. He’s talented, but he’s got good players around him. You just have to do different things to distort his look. We’ve got a few things. You have to keep changing it or he’ll get it.”

Allen's Shoulder

Is Austin Allen’s shoulder stronger than last week? He played his first game after missing four with a shoulder sprain.

Allen completed 13 of 23 for 140 yards, but was not effective on down-the-field throws. Accuracy was a problem. He underthrew some deep balls. His best plays were pop throws with a wide receiver coming in motion just underneath the quarterback, or screens.

There was a time when Allen thought his college career was over. The first MRI was a tough diagnosis — a complete tear. That was one day after the South Carolina game. Another one a few days later was a much different diagnosis.

“They put dye in the second one,” Allen said. “The first one, they thought they saw a tear. I thought I was done and I might never play again. The second one was better.”

Allen’s throwing has been good this week in practice. Clearly, he’s the man after Cole Kelley was suspended for off-the-field issues early Sunday.

The Deep Ball

After missing deep passes the last two weeks with Allen and Kelley, that’s where things began in practice Tuesday, said wide receivers coach Michael Smith.

“We threw a bunch of them the last two weeks, against Coastal Carolina and LSU,” Smith said. “We haven’t hit them. It goes back to getting on the same page.”

Smith said the practice script to start the week had that in mind. Offensive coordinator Dan Enos took the quarterbacks with Smith’s wideout group for some extra time on the bomb.

“We have to make some plays,” Smith said. “That’s the first thing Dan and I did today, work on the deep ball.

“What I’ll also say is that it’s not the only thing that we’ll do Saturday. We will look at what the defense is doing and take advantage. If they bring a bunch, maybe the screen game is good. If they drop into coverage, the run might be good.”

Energy

Football is about energy. The Hogs had it to open the game against LSU, fighting to a 7-7 deadlock at halftime. It wasn’t the same after the half. Part of it was the way the LSU offense adjusted.

Richardson said there’s been talk about playing four quarters this week. It’s easier said than done.

“You can’t win the game in the first half,” he said. “We didn’t win the game in the first half at LSU. That has to be the focus, to win the game in the second half. We know that.

“You should expect to be in the game at halftime, so that is a given. You have to continue to play with energy in the second half. There must be excitement in the way you play the second half.”

Leadership

The three captains still healthy all have indicated it’s a big week for leadership. Frank Ragnow is the injured captain and will probably go to midfield for the coin toss on a scooter, with Santos Ramirez, Richardson and Allen.

“We’ve leaned on each other,” Richardson said. “We’ve tried to keep this team positive. There is no other option. That’s the bottom line. There is no other option.

“I think we are still working hard. We just have to pick each other up.”

Inside linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves thinks the attitude has been good.

“They continue to work,” Hargreaves said. “I think it’s a day-by-day focus. We take it one day at a time, stay in the routine. Yes, it’s difficult sometimes, but that’s why you focus on routine.”

The Blitz

It’s hard to blitz Fitzgerald. The option package makes it difficult. It locks you down. Wilson covered that in his discussion of the spread and the quick trigger of the passing game in that offense. But there still have to be some stunts and blitzes to confuse the quarterback. That will be the challenge for UA defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads.

One thing is for certain: Mississippi State defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will blitz. The Bulldogs came after Jalen Hurts last week and the Alabama quarterback was sacked five times.

It’s the focus of Arkansas offensive practices this week.

“They blitz from the secondary,” Smith said. “They have a lot of length and guys who run to the ball.”

That means quarterbacks and wide receivers must see the blitz at the same time. Smith was asked about potential “hot routes,” when receivers break off their routes to make themselves available to the quarterback early.

“We just have to be on the same page,” Smith said. “We have to expedite our routes. If we execute, we are capable of moving the ball. That’s been the story all year. When we’ve executed, we have moved it.

“It just hasn’t been consistent. We have to do a good job on our routes and we also have to block for the running backs to spring them for big plays.”

The Running Game

Mississippi State’s offense is built around Fitzgerald’s running. He has 867 net yards and there are not a lot of sacks. The Bulldogs have allowed just six all season. But it’s not just Fitzgerald who can run the ball. Running back Aeris Williams has 873 yards rushing. He’s also caught 13 passes for 95 yards.

The Bulldogs have lots of injuries at wide receiver, but 14 different players have caught passes. It doesn’t seem to matter who plays on the outside, Fitzgerald finds them.

The question is, can the Hogs muster a ground attack? It’s been tough to find on a consistent basis, probably because of the issues in the offensive line. Injuries have been a problem for the UA line. Hjalte Froholdt was bothered by an ankle injury last week, but should play. He’s also had a knee sprain.

Froholdt hasn’t missed a game. He said recalling Ragnow playing the entire Auburn game with a torn ankle ligament drove him to come back against LSU.

“They X-rayed it and did some tests,” he said. “You just know that if you don’t have anything torn or broken, you can’t look at yourself in the mirror knowing that Frank played on a tear. So I was coming back. If I could play, I was going to play.

“Frank is our inspiration. We are going to fight to get back on the field.”

The Long Factor

Jeff Long was terminated as athletics director Wednesday. Clearly, players know about it, but I don’t see it as a factor.

If they hadn’t thought about it, they were forced to after practice Wednesday. Every player who entered the media room had a microphone shoved in his face for thoughts on their old AD.

“We were aware,” Richardson said. “He’s a guy who we all know. He was around and encouraged us. He helped us with great facilities, a great academic building. We appreciated him. If you were down, he tried to pick you up.”

But does it play a factor in this week’s game?

“I don’t think so,” Richardson said. “Are we sad? I don’t think that’s the emotion. We know he’s going to be all right.”

The Last Stand

If Long is not a factor, is Bielema’s fate a consideration? It’s clear that players know the fate of their coach is hanging in the balance. One after one, players have been polled and all say they have great respect and empathy for the plight of their coach.

But that’s probably not the focus in preparation for the game. They are playing to get bowl-eligible. If that helps their coach, great, but they aren’t verbalizing that.

“We are trying to get to our fifth win,” Ramirez said. “We started talking about that during the end of the LSU game. Coach Rhoads got the defense together and that’s what he said, ‘No matter what, we get No. 5 against Mississippi State.’ So that’s the focus.”

There are also thoughts about the seniors. Several players said there is already talk about finishing the season strong for the seniors.

“I’ve heard that,” Richardson said. “There’s not many of us. We do want to make a push these last two games.”

The Tight End

Both teams love to utilize the tight end. Mississippi State’s Farrod Green had two catches against Alabama, taking advantage of some blitzes. The Hogs have used Austin Cantrell, Jeremy Patton, C.J. O’Grady, Will Gragg and Jack Kraus. The last two have played more with Cantrell and O’Grady nursing injuries.

“We think we’ll have a lot of bodies ready on Saturday,” said Barry Lunney Jr., the fifth-year tight ends coach. “I think they are all headed in the direction that they should be available.”

Patton and Gragg both were targeted much more last week against LSU and Kraus was used in blocking sets.

“I think Jeremy progressed much faster when he got here with the running game,” Lunney said. “But he has really come on as far as the pass routes. He’s much more comfortable now.

“We’ve seen Will have some solid performances. He was a factor in the Alabama game and again last week. He made some people miss after the catch.”