Justin Griffith rushed for a career-high 72 yards on Saturday afternoon during his final game on Scott Field, but even with his effort in the fourth quarter the Bulldogs came up short. The Arkansas Razorbacks took the game 26-19. “At halftime I told the guys that I was going to go back out in the second half and give everything that I had,” Griffith said. “I asked each of them to do the same thing. Leave it out there on the field. We just came up a little bit short.”
After what head coach Jackie Sherrill called the worst first half he has seen, the Bulldogs trailed the Razorbacks 19-3 at the intermission. Bulldog kicker Brent Smith added his second field goal during the third quarter to pull to 19-6. The Razorbacks added their final score early in the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 26-6 before the Bulldogs began their comeback.
Replacing Kevin Fant at quarterback for the Bulldogs, Kyle York led MSU to their first touchdown of the day with 11 minutes to play in the game. York connected with Antonio Hargro for the score.
Five minutes later, York led the Bulldogs on an 81-yard drive for what would be the final score of the game. York connected with Ray Ray Bivines for a 26-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 26-19.
On the ensuing kickoff, Bulldog cornerback Kevin Dockery recovered the onside kick. The Bulldogs pushed the ball to the Arkansas 18 before the Razorbacks halted the MSU drive and clinched the game.
Kyle York finished the game with 174 passing yards on 11 of 22 passes. Kevin Fant threw for 115 yards on 14 of 26 passing. The Bulldogs finished the game with 289 yards passing.
Griffith led the Bulldogs in rushing with 72 yards on 13 carries. Jerious Norwood added 47 yards on seven carries and Fred Reid rushed for 17 yards on six carries.
The Bulldogs finished the game with one of the best offensive outputs of the season by posting 414 yards for the game. The Bulldog defense also had a good showing on Saturday holding the Razorbacks to 326 total offensive yards.
On the defensive side of the ball for MSU, four Bulldogs posted 10 tackles. Marvin Byrdsong in his first start in place of Mario Haggan along with Darren Williams, Jason Clark and T.J. Mawhinney led the Bulldog defense. Korey Banks and Willie Evans each added eight tackles.
“This group of seniors really have a lot of endurance,” Sherrill said. “There is no question that this group will be very, very successful. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to overcome some things to put enough points on the board to win. Every game we’ve played, we’ve played all the way down to the end.”
The Bulldogs will play their final game of the season on Thursday night when they travel to Oxford to take on the University of Mississippi. The game will once again be aired on ESPN at 6:30 p.m.