Finally: Hogs' 20-game losing streak comes to end in Mississippi

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Sam Pittman got a cold bath in his second game with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Pittman put on a grimace after Xavier Kelly and others dumped ice water on him, but the feeling had to feel sweet.

The new-look Razorbacks schemed up a brilliant defensive plan to stymie No. 16 Mississippi State’s high-flying passing attack and notched their first win in more than a year Saturday.

Arkansas picked off three passes, two by Joe Foucha, and Feleipe Franks threw a pair of touchdown passes to lead the Razorbacks to a stunning 21-14 upset over the Bulldogs before a crowd of 13,564 at Davis-Wade Stadium.

The Razorbacks (1-1) snapped their 10-game overall losing streak and their 20-game SEC losing streak that dated back to late in the 2017 season.

Mississippi State (1-1), which had beaten Arkansas by a combined 76 points in the last two games, fell to the Hogs for the second time in the last nine meetings.

“I’m really happy for the state of Arkansas, the kids and the coaching staff,” Pittman said. “We hired some really good coaches, and we inherited some good kids and some good football players. I’m really proud for the state of Arkansas tonight.”

Pittman, who was given the game ball by Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek, said the mood in the locker room was everything people would expect.

“The kids have gone for a long time without having an opportunity to win against … a ranked football team.

“For us to come in here in their place and win, it was a tremendous effort by the guys and they were ecstatic. Hunter Yurachek gave me the game ball, so that’ll be with me forever. … They wanted to win a game and certainly they were tired of losing SEC games.”

Mississippi State outgained the Razorbacks 400-275 in total offense, but the biggest stat came in the turnover battle.

The Razorbacks won the turnover margin 4-2, with their first and last being the most important. Greg Brooks Jr. returned an interception 69 yards to start the scoring early in the first quarter. Then Deon Edwards recovered a muffed Mississippi State punt at the Bulldogs’ 37 with 2:35 remaining and the Razorbacks seemingly limping toward the finish line with just 6 total yards in the final quarter.

Arkansas closed out the game but it turned into an adventure after Franks rolled to his right and found De’Vion Warren for an 11-yard gain into field goal range at the 24.

Arkansas tried to run out the final minute and change, but receiver Mike Woods made a critical error by drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that moved the ball to midfield. The Razorbacks ended up punting, but Reid Bauer’s rugby kick went to the 12, where Mississippi State took over with 25 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs didn’t move it far, with JaVonta Payton forced out of bounds at the 43 as the clock ran out to start the Arkansas celebration.

The victory came at a coast. Arkansas showed up without Dorian Gerald and Julius Coates, its starting defensive ends, and lost key players Rakeem Boyd, Treylon Burks, Montaric Brown, Grant Morgan and Bumper Pool during the game. Boyd, Burks and Brown were unable to return, and Morgan, who had 15 tackles, and Pool, who notched a game-high 20, missed playing time.

Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom, with tape of LSU’s futile man coverage against Mississippi State last week serving as incentive, whipped up a plan that frustrated the Bulldogs and made a blueprint for the SEC to copy. Arkansas rushed three and dropped eight almost exclusively, playing a zone that left Costello checking down for short passes much of the time and throwing into coverage. The Razorbacks also rotated defensively on the front and back end without stop.

“We were so prepared,” Pool said. “Everybody going into it knew that we were going to do what we did tonight. We had such a great plan. Coach Odom did an unbelievable job.

“We knew what they are going to do before every play it just felt. When you have that kind of confidence going in, it’s unbelievable.

“Coach [Sam] Carter, I mean those guys were preaching to us. It’s so big for us to get this win. We were here two years ago and we got beat really bad, and Mr. [Hunter] Yurachek said it would never happen again. And for it to happen here tonight it was just awesome.”

The Bulldogs, who put up an eye-popping 623 passing yards and 634 total yards in last week’s shocking upset at defending national champion and No. 6 LSU, managed to out-gain Arkansas 400-275 in total offense.

K.J. Costello, the national player of the week after passing for 623 yards against the Tigers, completed 43 of 59 passes for 313 yards and a touchdown. Both of Mississippi State’s touchdown drives included fourth down conversions, but the Bulldogs ran out of luck on fourth down plays in the final quarter.

Arkansas stopped drives at its own 13 and 6 yard lines in the final quarter to keep Mississippi State at bay. Costello threw incomplete on the first of those plays, then defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall blasted through for a 3-yard tackle for loss on fourth and 1 on the second.

Franks improved to 2-0 at Davis-Wade Stadium. The senior completed 20 of 28 passes for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns. He suffered a hard hit to the back in the second quarter but was able to return.

Warren finished with four catches for a career-high 100 yards and a touchdown, and tight end Hudson Henry scored his first college touchdown.

The Razorbacks struck first after Mississippi State drove to the Arkansas 34. Costello threw wide on a shallow crossing route and Brooks Jr. picked him off in the right flats. Brooks brought the interception back 69 yards, easily out-running Costello, for a touchdown at the 11:44 mark of the first quarter.

Mississippi State had the ball for all but four plays in the first quarter, including a marathon 75-yard touchdown march on their second series.

Costello went 8 for 10 on the series for 51 yards. The grad transfer from Stanford rolled left out of pressure from Marshall and found Payton crossing in the back of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 3:59 left in the first quarter.

The Razorbacks got their offense going in the second quarter, starting with an 87-yard drive that reached the Mississippi State 2. Franks had a 9-yard run to notch a first down, and on the next snap Franks ran play-action and hit Warren down the deep middle for a 52-yard gain.

Boyd suffered a leg injury on a 3-yard carry to the Bulldogs’ 3, and K.J. Jefferson got to the 2 on a quarterback keeper on the next snap. The Razorbacks gambled on fourth down and Jefferson was hit and fumbled to snuff the series.

Arkansas’ next possession was more successful as the Hogs marched 69 yards to pay dirt. Franks had another keeper to notch a first down. Then offensive coordinator Kendal Briles set up the Bulldogs’ defense with a 12-yard throw to Trey Knox on a screen pass left. On the next snap, Arkansas ran the same action, but Warren released down the left sideline past a grab from cornerback Esaias Furdge and sprinted solo to the end zone to catch a 19-yard touchdown from Franks.

Arkansas scored on its first drive of the second half, Franks capped the 75-yard sequence with his 12-yard strike to Henry for a 21-7 lead.

Mississippi State rebounded with a touchdown on its first possession of the second half to draw within 21-14 on Dillon Johnson’s 6-yard touchdown on fourth and 1.

The Bulldogs played most of the game without star tailback Kylin Hill, who left after his first carry of the game after taking a hard shot from Zach Williams and having Jalen Catalon’s inadvertent elbow crunch off of his helmet.