Arkansas head football coach Houston Nutt had a huge decision to make at the end of last season. He was offered the head-coaching position at Nebraska, one of the most tradition-rich and nationally recognized football programs in the nation.
But Nutt, a Little Rock, Ark., native, turned down the offer because his heart is with his Razorbacks.
Nutt is regarded as one of the most motivational and influential people at his position. He finds ways to make his players play above their talent level.
The 46-year-old head coach has taken Arkansas to a bowl game every year he has been at the helm. That’s six bowl games in six years, including two shares of the SEC West crown.
This year his Razorbacks began the season 3-1, which included a 27-10 win over Alabama (6-4) and a two-point loss to No. 6 Texas (9-1).
But the Hogs went on to drop four straight games; three of those were against ranked opponents Florida (45-30), Auburn (38-20) and Georgia (20-14). Arkansas dropped their fifth game of the season two weeks ago at South Carolina (35-32) but got their first win in almost two months by whipping Mississippi 35-3 Saturday in Fayetteville.
So, with their current 4-5 record, Arkansas’ seventh consecutive bowl appearance is on the line. The Hogs have to beat State this weekend and get a victory over No. 14 LSU in the last game of the season to reach the bowl-eligibility requirement of six wins and uphold their post-season streak.
On the other hand, Mississippi State is not bowl eligible due to NCAA penalties. Even if the Bulldogs were, it would be impossible for them to reach six wins. State may not be playing for bowl eligibility, but they will be playing for respectability.
Mississippi State is coming off of a bye week where they nursed injuries and rested their weary legs. The last time the Bulldogs had a bye week they pulled off the biggest upset of the year in the following game by knocking off Florida 38-31 Oct. 23 at Scott Field.
The Bulldogs and the Hogs will meet for only the 15th time in history this Saturday. Arkansas leads the series 8-5-1 and has won the last five meetings.
The last time State beat Arkansas was in 1998, that 22-21 win clinched the SEC West championship for Mississippi State.
From 1992 to 2002 the average margin of victory between State and Arkansas is 5.2 points. In those 11 years there were two overtime games (’96 and ’00) and a tie (’93).
Razorback senior quarterback Matt Jones is the rock on which the Arkansas offense stands. Jones makes up more than 60 percent of Arkansas’ offense, averaging 259 yards a game.
“Everybody that has played them has tried to stop Matt Jones, which I don’t think we can totally do because he is such a phenomenal athlete,” Croom said of Jones, who is averaging 9.1 yards per carry this season. That leads the nation in rushing average and he ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference in passing average with 189.
“To have any chance to win we will have to minimize (Jones’) impact in their offense and that impact is huge, but I think we can do some things to slow him down,” Croom said.
Simulating Jones in practice is no easy task. He stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 237 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in under 4.5 seconds.
“He’s a gangly type build and you just don’t see those guys with that kind of speed. You can’t simulate tackling that guy because nobody has anyone else like him,” Croom said.
Jones ran for 73 yards on six carries last year against Mississippi State and threw for 187 more in a 52-6 thrashing of MSU in Fayetteville.
“He’s a unique individual. He has deceptive speed just because of his size and his ability,” Croom said. “Because of his height and the length of his arms he can do things with his upper body more so than with his feet. He can get guys out of position.”
The Arkansas offense is built around the athleticism of their senior quarterback. The option play is a key component in the Hogs’ offense, which averages more than 410 yards per game. The Bulldog defense has faced no one exactly like Jones, but has gone against quarterbacks that are big, fast and run the option.
Vanderbilt’s Jay Cutler rushed for 49 yards on 10 carries in a 31-13 win over State and Kentucky’s Shane Boyd racked up 54 yards on 15 carries against the Bulldogs.
Stopping Matt Jones, or containing him, will decide whether State wins the game.
The Arkansas defensive scheme is based on stopping the run and forcing the opponent to pass the ball, which is not the Bulldogs’ strength.
“It is a little bit unusual in modern day football to see a lot of eight-man fronts and even some nine-man fronts,” Croom said. “Quite often they’ll have both safeties in the box within eight to 10 yards within the line of scrimmage.
“They dare you to throw the football,” Croom added about the Hogs’ defense, which allows 393 yards per game. “We will have to be able to throw the football with some degree of success to move the football against this defense.”
Mississippi State quarterback Omarr Conner has not been very accurate or efficient during the last two games. The sophomore QB has completed only 37.8 percent of his passes in the last two games versus Kentucky and Alabama. He has only one touchdown pass compared to two interceptions and has 193 combined passing yards over those two games.
“This week we just got to come out and throw the ball better,” Conner said after practice Monday. “We just need to have fun.”
After missing two and a half games (at LSU, at Vanderbilt and against UAB) due to an injured knee, Conner returned to lead State in arguably the biggest upset of the year versus Florida.
“Sometimes it hurts me real bad,” Conner said about his knee, which he sprained in the third quarter of the LSU game. “But I don’t worry about it because I know I got to play.”
When Conner was asked how he gets himself in a rhythm he responded with an unusual, but true answer.
“Just put the ball in Jerious’ (Norwood) hands,” Conner answered. “We feed off of Jerious.”
Nutt, who knows the running game has been the strongest part of the Bulldog offense, said the Hogs will target Norwood and Fred Reid.
“Those two tailbacks (Norwood and Reid) are very scary and we spent a lot of time on their inside runs,” Nutt said. “The thing they’ve done such a good job of is being able to get those guys free and give them running lanes.”
But the Bulldogs may not be able to be as successful as they have been in the running game due to the run stopping Arkansas defense.
Conner and his receivers have to play better than they have in the last two games for MSU to have a shot at winning.
Arkansas and Mississippi State have had three common opponents this season: Alabama, Florida and Auburn.
Alabama racked up 379 yards on the Bulldogs in a 30-14 victory, while the Razorbacks held the Tide to 328 yards.
Auburn scolded both MSU and Arkansas. The Tigers racked up 465 yards of offense on State, while amassing 522 total yards against Arkansas.
The Florida Gators amassed 440 total yards against the Razorbacks in a 45-30 win. Mississippi State allowed 441 against UF.
The Hogs outgained MSU by 136 offensive yards against those three teams. The Razorbacks amassed 1,056 against those teams, while State gained 920 offensive yards.
Nutt said State upsetting Florida has turned the Dawgs’ momentum and mindset.
“With the big win in the middle of the year against Florida they gained a lot of confidence,” Nutt said. “The first four games compared to after Florida are just night and day. They believe in one another and a new coach’s system. They’re playing with a lot of enthusiasm.”