FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Mississippi State quarterback Mike Wright threw for 85 yards and one touchdown, and Justin Robinson had 40 yards receiving as Arkansas stumbled against the Bulldogs 7-3 for its sixth consecutive loss on Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
It's the fewest points Arkansas has allowed in a loss since falling to Memphis 6-0 in 1993.
White started in place for injured quarterback Will Rogers, who broke his streak of 38 consecutive starts.
“I want to congratulate Mississippi State for coming in here without their record-setting quarterback," Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said. "They had a very aggressive defense and played extremely well. They scored enough points obviously to win. I want to congratulate Coach Arnett and his team.”
Although the Razorback defense held the Bulldogs to 205 yards of offense, Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC) failed to sustain drives and capitalize on its strong defensive play.
"I have to figure this out," Pittman said. "It's disappointing because I'm the head coach at Arkansas and this state deserves better. We've got kids in there playing their hearts out. We have to figure out how to score points."
Quarterback KJ Jefferson completed 19-of-31 passes for 97 yards and an interception, while running back Rashod Dubinion tallied 47 rushing yards for Arkansas, which finished with 200 yards of offense.
"Not very good," Pittman said. "We got kids and guys that try hard. We're just not very good right now. We've got a lot to figure out between now and Florida."
The Hogs opened with an interception on the game's second play when defensive back Alfahiym Walcott jumped a curl route to pick off Wright, giving the Hogs excellent field position at the 35-yard-line.
However, Arkansas couldn't capitalize and had to settle for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 12:30 to play in the first quarter.
“We’re frustrated, it’s visible, you can see it," Walcott said. "The thing I love about this team is we’re not going to bend. We’re still together. We’ll hold together. We have to finish the rest of the season and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Arkansas and Mississippi State (4-3, 1-3 SEC) struggled to find an offensive rhythm as both teams punted four times in the first half.
But the Bulldogs soon found life.
Following a 16-yard run by Wright, he finished things off through the air with a two-yard touchdown pass to running back Jo'Quavios Marks to give Mississippi State a 7-3 lead at the half.
Wright led all Bulldogs with 60 rushing yards on 11 carries, and Marks, the only active FBS player with 1,000+ yards rushing and receiving, finished with 44 total yards.
Arkansas's offensive woes continue coming out of the break.
Jefferson fumbled on a fourth down conversion in the third quarter, and on the next drive, Pittman elected to punt instead of trying for a field goal after putting together a 10-play drive that chewed over six minutes off the clock.
"I didn't know what to do," Pittman said. "I didn't want to call a timeout at that point because I wasn't even sure I wanted to kick a field goal... I didn't make the decision fast enough."
In the fourth quarter, Jefferson threw an interception to Mississippi State safety Shawn Preston Jr. with 9:11 to play, and the Hogs couldn't recover.
Linebacker Chris Paul Jr. led the Hogs on defense with a career-high 12 total stops, three solo tackles and one tackle for loss.
"I feel like the defense had a great day... we still have things to fix," Paul said. "It feels kind of terrible. We’re all competitors so we don’t really like to lose. We stay together. We come together as a brotherhood. We just keep playing Arkansas football.”
Arkansas returns to action on the road against Florida on Nov. 4. Kickoff time and broadcast information is still to be announced.
“We got a lot of decisions to make," Pittman said. "We owe it to our team. We owe it to our fans. So, we’ll figure that part of it out. My biggest thing, to be honest with you, is that the defense has continued to improve. My biggest concern is with the kids and the entire team."
The Razorbacks must win their final four games of the season to become bowl-eligible.
Remaining Arkansas football schedule
- Nov. 4: @ Florida, TBA
- Nov. 11: vs. Auburn, TBA
- Nov. 18: vs. Florida International, TBA
- Nov. 24: vs. Missouri, 3 p.m. Central on THV11