By Jeff Reed
Special to the Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Determined not to let Mississippi State’s Anthony Dixon beat them again, the Arkansas Razorbacks gave the Bulldogs little option.
Actually, the option was about Mississippi State’s only choice in a 42-21 loss to the Hogs Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.
The Razorbacks’ front was so dominant on passing plays in the first half that there was little left for the Bulldogs to do but run in the third quarter.
“Our defense has been playing well all year long,” said UA coach Bobby Petrino. “They have been playing fast and physical, and forcing turnovers.”
Dixon, who ran for 179 yards and scored three touchdowns in last year’s 31-28 MSU victory, did his best, finishing with 176 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns, even though his fourth-quarter midfield fumble set up the scoring drive that gave the Hogs a safer 35-21 lead.
“That was one of the big plays in the game,” said UA defensive coordinator Willy Robinson.
In the first half, when MSU was in long-yardage situations, the Razorbacks went into attack mode on the Bulldog quarterbacks.
“Our goal going into this game was to stop the run, and we didn’t do that quite as well as we wanted too,” said defensive end Jake Bequette. “When they wanted to pass, we completely took that away from them. When you make a team one-dimensional, and even though they had some great backs, you can make it very tough on them to sustain anything.”
Led by Bequette’s season-high three sacks, the Hogs forced MSU into 8-of-13 and just 49 yards passing. In all, Arkansas had four sacks.
Bequette also forced a fumble and made the recovery.
In the second half, the Bulldogs attempted just six passes.
“I think their plan was to try and keep our offense off the field,” said Robinson.
In the third quarter the Bulldogs went running and scored twice to make it a 28-21 game.
“It was the third quarter where I thought I could have called a better game,” said Robinson. “I will put that one on me. We made some adjustments at the end of the quarter that helped us. We did not do a good job loading the box. To be honest, we went back to some of the things we did in the first quarter.
“I think their goal was to try and control the football so our offense wasn’t on the field. I don’t think it had anything to do with our (pass) rush. I think they were a little frightened about their defense on the field against our offense.”
The Bulldogs rushed for 376 yards on the day, 151 of that in the third quarter.
“We mixed up what we did with our fronts and our safeties,” said Petrino.“We got our safeties more involved in the run game and we started stemming our front a little bit. They had a good plan. They did a nice job in their execution coming out of halftime.
“I thought they did a nice job of executing their option. It is a little different than what a lot of people run because it is a true triple option. They have the dive, the quarterback run and the pitch. They were very patient. They were happy with three yards and a cloud of dust. It was good for them trying to keep us on the sideline. I thought their plan was good and they showed a lot of patience with it. Even when we had some success on first down they came back and ran it again.”
