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Mississippi State

Zach Arnett addresses challenges of early kick on the road

PeterWarrenPhoto2by:Peter Warren•10/17/23•

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Mississippi State HC Zach Arnett
Denny Simmons | The Tennessean | USA TODAY NETWORK

Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett is taking his Bulldogs on the road this week for an 11 a.m. kick against Arkansas. It will be the team’s first early road kickoff game of the season.

Arnett was asked Monday during his press conference about what the challenges are of having an early kickoff for a road game.

“Everything happens quicker,” Arnett said. “We had the benefit of having an 11 a.m. kick last week. Yes, we were at home. But we emphasized all week, we gotta do a better job of starting fast. Starting fast on both sides of the ball. We did that. We jumped out to a 10-point lead there after the first couple drives. We’re going to probably follow a similar practice plan, practice emphasis. Some things we changed up and did a little differently without going into detail. But just to try to emphasize starting faster because an 11 a.m. kick gets on you earlier.”

Mississippi State has played two games in the early time slot so far this season, splitting the game. The Bulldogs first lost to LSU in Week 3 of the season before beating Western Michigan prior to its bye week.

Arkansas and Mississippi State are two of three SEC West teams winless so far this season in conference play along with Auburn. Both teams are going to be desperate for a win at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.

The Bulldogs have seven of the last 10 games between the two divisional foes.

“There’s some things we did here at the home game, we actually came over here, ate pregame meal breakfast over here and walkthrough on our turf field before heading over to the stadium,” Arnett said. “You can’t do that on the road. The pregame timing and schedule won’t be exactly the same as what we did for our last 11 a.m. kick. But we will probably have very similar practice structure to emphasize. You got to be ready to go as soon as they put the ball down and it happens earlier for an 11 a.m. Kick. But you don’t have to sit around all day and think about the game or wait for it to kick off either.”