Live with Jim Harris: Arkansas at Mississippi State

 

It’s game day: Arkansas at Mississippi State. Not just any Mississippi State, but the No. 1 team in all of college football Mississippi State. No better time than tonight on ESPN 2 starting at 6:15 for the Hogs to grab their first SEC win of the Bret Bielema Era.

Jim Harris will be posting his thoughts throughout the game here, so check this page often. (Scroll down about halfway and you’ll see the posts from Jim.)

STORYLINES

  • Arkansas faces off against #1 Mississippi State in the Razorbacks’ fifth consecutive SEC game against a Top 10 opponent. It is the first time in FBS history that a team has played five straight conference games against Top 10 foes. Northwestern played four straight conference games against Top 10 teams in 1958.
  • Arkansas is 4-16 all-time against teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. Three of the four wins came against Texas while the most recent victory was in 2007 when the Razorbacks upset No. 1 LSU in a triple-overtime thriller, 50-48.
  • Bret Bielema is 1-2 vs. No. 1 ranked opponents as a head coach. The victory came when then-No. 18 ranked Wisconsin defeated Ohio State 31-18 in 2010. As an assistant coach, Bielema is 1-1 vs. the top-ranked team. As the defensive coordinator at Kansas State, the 13th-ranked Wildcats beat No. 1 Oklahoma in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game, 35-7.
  • Arkansas is the only team in the nation with two RBs to gain 700-plus yards rushing. Junior Jonathan Williams ranks third in the SEC with 830 yards while sophomore Alex Collins ranks sixth with 747 rushing yards.

#RAZORFACTS

  1. Arkansas features one of the best rushing attacks in the SEC. The Razorbacks rank fourth in the league, averaging 258.9 rushing yards per game. The mark is good for 15th nationally.
  2. Senior DE Trey Flowers is third in school history with 40.0 TFL. He needs just seven more to move into second place all time.
  3. Jonathan Williams (10) and Alex Collins (9) rank first and fourth, respectively, in the SEC in rushing touchdowns
  4. Including the Mississippi State game, five of Arkansas’ nine opponents will have been ranked in the Top 10 at the time of the game.
  5. Arkansas will play the toughest schedule in the nation in 2014 according to the NCAA, with its opponents combining for a 103-54 (.656) record in 2013.

arkansas at mississippi state

 

Tags: ,