Temperatures rising: Are Moorhead, Morris safe in Year 2?

Chad Morris, Arkansas head coach, greets players during warmups before the game vs Alabama Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Chad Morris and Joe Moorhead joined the SEC West coaching fraternity in the winter of 2017.

Today, four games shy of finishing their second seasons, the two men are first and second in the nation in an undesirable ranking.

Arkansas and Mississippi State have combined for one SEC victory this season, and they rank near the bottom of many SEC statistical categories. Here are some of them:

;Arkansas;;Miss. State

Category;Value;NCAA rank (SEC);NCAA rank (SEC)

Total offense;363.8;98 (11);378.8;88 (10)

Rushing off.;131.3;104 (13);186.6;46 (5)

Passing off.;232.5;65 (7);192.1;106 (12)

Pass. effic.;109.14;119 (12);131.08;76 (8)

Scoring;22.5;t106 (12);25.5;90 (10)

Total defense;418.6;89 (13);402.3;73 (10)

Rush def.;191.1;97 (13);159.1;63 (11)

Pass def.;227.5;71 (9);243.1;89 (11)

Def. pass. effic.;150.76;112 (13);150.71;111 (12)

Scoring def.;32.9;107 (13);31.0;95 (12)

Turnover margin;-0.63;t108 (14);-0.25;t84 (12)

T.O.P.;27:41;110 (13);31:35;32 (3)

3rd D off.;36.04; 99 (10);35.96; 100 (11)

3rd D def.;43.27 99 (14);38.64 72 (11)

CoachesHotSeat.Com, a purely speculative website, placed Moorhead No. 1 and Morris No. 2 in its weekly rankings of the hottest seats in the country this week.

That puts them ahead of USC's Clay Helton (3), South Carolina's Will Muschamp (5), Missouri's Barry Odom (7), Nebraska's Scott Frost (8), Tennessee's Jeremy Pruitt (9), Florida State's Willie Taggart (12), Miami's Manny Diaz (13), Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald (16), Vanderbilt's Derek Mason (17), UCLA's Chip Kelly (18) and every other coach in the FBS ranks.

One of the seats will heat up more today. Moorhead's Mississippi State Bulldogs take on Morris' Arkansas Razorbacks at 3 p.m. for homecoming at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The Bulldogs (3-5, 1-4 SEC) are riding a four-game losing streak since downing Kentucky 28-13 on Sept. 21.

The Razorbacks (2-6, 0-5 SEC) have lost five in a row -- including a mystifying 31-24 home loss to San Jose State -- since drilling Colorado State 55-34 on Sept. 14 with a 21-point fourth quarter.

The Hogs have endured a turnstile at quarterback between transfers Ben Hicks and Nick Starkel that added a new wrinkle when redshirt freshman John Stephen Jones performed well last week in a 48-7 loss at Alabama. And now that true freshman KJ Jefferson can play with no fear of losing a redshirt, the Mississippi native has a chance at more playing time down the stretch.

Morris said he and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock are planning to use the quarterback that gives Arkansas the best shot at winning, and he's hammered home a fresh approach to the rest of the schedule.

"When you look at the month of November, the season of November we're talking about right now, three of our four games will be played in front of our home crowd," Morris said. "We've got a great opportunity in front of us. There's still a lot left in this season, and it starts this Saturday against Mississippi State."

Said sophomore offensive tackle Dalton Wagner: "We're sick of losing, sick and tired of being sick and tired. It's about this new season now, and we have to get after it and win the month of November."

The tumult involving Moorhead appears as much to do with a not-a-good-fit narrative for the Pittsburgh native as it does his 11-10 record with the Bulldogs.

No matter where it arises, the criticism from those outside the program doesn't bother Moorhead.

"I haven't heard any of those things from anyone here at Mississippi State, so I'm worried about making sure we put these kids in a good position to be successful this week with the game plan, doing a good job at practice, improving our urgency and our precision, and going out on Saturday and playing a great game," Moorhead said.

Morris also paid little mind to the "hot seat" ranking.

"Oh well, you can't control what other people say, and that's the least of my worries," Morris said. "My worries are making sure that this football team continues to get better every day."

Moorhead said he knows harsh evaluations come with the territory.

"You understand what you sign up for when you become a head coach in this league: The good, the bad and the ugly," he said. "People are entitled to their opinions and ... and I'm entitled to mine as well.

"I'm excited about what we did last year, I'm excited about the current state, and I'm excited about the future of the program. That's where we're at and that's where I'm at. If I was any better, there'd be two of me."

Mississippi State enters as a 7.5-point favorite for the SEC West contest. The Bulldogs, who could not win in Arkansas for the first 20 years of this rivalry (with an 0-9-1 record), have won each of their past three games in the state and six of seven overall in the series.

The Bulldogs, coming off an 8-5 record in Moorhead's maiden season, have at least won a conference game over Kentucky.

The University of Arkansas and Morris have an albatross around their necks.

The Razorbacks have lost 16 consecutive SEC games dating back more than two years, a drought that is nearing the Arkansas record of 17 straight conference losses set by John L. Smith and Bret Bielema between 2012 and 2014.

Morris is winless in 13 SEC games and does not own a Power 5 victory. The Razorbacks have gotten close against quality SEC teams under Morris, but they are 0-5 in league play in games decided by seven points or less. That category includes back-to-back four-point losses this season against Texas A&M (31-27) and at Kentucky (24-20) when the Razorbacks had the ball in scoring range with less than two minutes to play.

Arkansas has not been able to break through in tight games, but the Hogs also have been trounced by 30 points or more six times in SEC games under Morris.

One of those occurred last year at Mississippi State, when the Bulldogs put up 475 total yards in a 52-6 rout of the Razorbacks.

Arkansas was in position to draw within a touchdown early in the second half before settling for Connor Limpert's 32-yard field goal to cut their deficit to 17-6. The Bulldogs scored three touchdowns in the next 5:40, and the rout was on. Nick Fitzgerald, who had been struggling as a passer, fired three touchdown passes and ran for another while amassing 212 total yards.

Mississippi State's final touchdown, a 33-yard pass by backup quarterback Keytaon Thompson, came with 5:20 remaining.

"They were calling ball plays, and we left the guy open and he scored," Morris said.

"Hey, listen, you've got to go play," Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis said of the late scoring pass. "It's our job to stop plays. It's not our job to think they're going to stop playing.

"Listen, the biggest thing that we can do is try to prepare to win. When you put thoughts in your mind like that you're not going to be as pure minded as you need to be."

Still, the Razorbacks have not forgotten the extra dagger and the lopsided margin in Starkville, Miss., which tied Arkansas' 52-6 win in 2003 as the largest winning margins in the series.

"It's kind of a revenge deal," Arkansas defensive tackle T.J. Smith said. "They ran it up on us. Coach was talking about it ... throwing the ball at the end of the game when they were up. So we're going to go out there, excited to play against these guys."

Added receiver Mike Woods: "For sure, we've got a little chip on our shoulder going into this week. They didn't have no respect for us so we've got no respect for them."

Sports on 11/02/2019