The two quarterbacks combined to throw 12 touchdown passes in the 51-50 victory for the Bulldogs, with Allen throwing a school-record seven and Prescott adding a mere five – though he did have a pair of rushing touchdowns as well in the wild back-and-forth affair.
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Both quarterbacks kept rallying their teams from deficits until the game-deciding blocked field goal leaving the Bulldogs 39 seconds to run out the clock.
“Wow. What a football game that that was”, Mullen said.
“Honestly, they’re just playing with more confidence, ” Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said of the Razorbacks. But it was a far better performance than what the majority of other Hog defenders delivered.
Bret Bielema has experienced his share of heartbreak in three seasons at Arkansas. But still, with less than a minute remaining, I think you take your chances. At times we weren’t able to stop them doing certain things. The kick at the end was lack of execution big time, and that’s all on me.
Defensively, five Razorbacks tallied eight or more tackles.
The Arkansas Razorbacks are hosting the Mississippi State Bulldogs in SEC College Football action on Saturday.
Arkansas rallied from down 31-14 to close the first half down 31-21 and took a 42-31 lead after the third quarter. The Razorbacks forced a few turnovers and put some quick points on the board to take an 11-point lead, but gave it up after two quick possessions. Quarterback Brandon Allen led the Hogs on a 74-yard drive in the final minutes setting up the kick.
After suffering a double-break in his left arm on a 34-yard reception in week three against Texas Tech, Cornelius remarkably returned after missing only four games and has 10 receptions and two touchdowns in three games. Cole Hedlund’s 29-yard attempt was blocked, and Mississippi State hung on for the win to improve to 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the SEC, while Arkansas is 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the SEC as well.
Mississippi State schemed well to neutralize the Arkansas running game led by Alex Collins.
Bret Bielema is not an angry type of guy. Prescott accounted for six touchdowns and 465 yards against the Wildcats. If Prescott has time to throw, he’s been very effective with 18 touchdowns and just two interceptions this season. He hit Jared Cornelius for a 9-yard touchdown with 52 seconds left in the first half to trail by only 10 at halftime.
“We’ve got to bounce back”, said tight end Hunter Henry, who caught 7 passes for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Then Mississippi State faded down the stretch, never really got back into contention this year and other quarterbacks like Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield jumped to the front of the national discussion.
Mississippi State hasn’t quite lived up to last year’s remarkable start to the season this year, but it had won four games in a row before last week’s 31-6 loss against No. 3 Alabama.
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“It hurts, it stings, it bites”, Bielema said.
