The Mississippi State Bulldogs, without starting quarterback Will Rogers, found a much-needed conference win over Arkansas Saturday afternoon.
In what ended up being a defensive showdown, Mississippi State (4-3, 1-3 SEC) outlasted the Razorbacks (2-6, 0-5) in Fayetteville with a 7-3 road victory. The Bulldog defense, led by linebacker Bookie Watson, limited Arkansas to 200 yards of offense with a 2.9 yard per play average. Watson’s 14 tackles and two sacks were paired with a third-quarter interception by Shawn Preston, Jr. to top the box score.
Rogers, who was in attendance but in street clothes with a shoulder injury, was replaced by Mike Wright. The Vanderbilt transfer did just enough to lift Mississippi State to their first conference win in the Zach Arnett era. Wright went 8 for 12 passing for 145 total yards with one touchdown and an interception.
Revealed in the post-game press conference, Wright may have done more off the field than he did on the field. Just minutes before kickoff, the senior signal caller delivered a fiery pregame speech to the Bulldog locker room.
“As a quarterback, you want to give as much confidence as you can to your team before you go out there,” Wright said. “Basically, the theme of the message was go out there and play football. Go out there and be you. The emphasis this week was focusing on ourselves. Focus on your job. Focus on your assignment. By any means necessary, go out there and get a win.”
By any means necessary the Bulldogs did get the win. Amid excessive false starts on multiple drives and offensive inefficiency in the second half, Mississippi State found what could be a season-altering win as postseason hopes are much more alive today than they were yesterday.
Next up will be a road matchup against an Auburn program, who fell to Ole Miss in week eight. Kickoff on the Plains is currently set for 2:30 p.m. CT.
