Zach Arnett explains thought process of fourth down decisions against Arkansas

Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett only had his offense go for it on fourth down once during the team’s 7-3 win over Arkansas. But the play was nullified by a false start, and the Bulldogs elected to punt after the five-year penalty.

Arnett addressed his fourth down decision making with the Monday during his press conference.

“That was the shortest one of any fourth down so we did decide to go for it,” Arnett said. “It was inside of a yard. It was a half a yard. Other times, I know one was a 4th-and-4 after a scramble. Another one was a 4th-and two or three right around there. You’re constantly evaluating what’s our game plan? Do we feel really good about our short yardage call? How’s the flow of the game going? I made a decision several times that — defense was obviously playing well. Their three points came off of a turnover on the opening drive where they started with the ball deep in the territory, and so they really had not allowed the offense to march the length of the field and score points. Obviously, that is why you try to punt it down in there and create a long field.”

The Bulldogs had multiple times to potentially go for it on fourth down during the game. The one he mentioned was a 4th-and-1 play at around the 7:03 mark of the fourth quarter at their 40 when DeShawn Page was called for a false start.

It was a lucky break because Mike Wright had failed to handle the snap on the play, leading to a scoop-and-score touchdown that had to be nullified.

“There are certain down and distances where you feel like you gotta be able to get that yardage if you’re gonna win a football game,” Arnett said. “Inside of yard there. We had the touchdown called back just before that I believe. We felt good about our play, felt good about our play, felt good about our plan in that down and distance. An opportunity to create some huge momentum and go and to try to take the game. Obviously, we didn’t execute the alignment and it worked out in our favor there.”

Another 4th-and-1 opportunity came in the first quarter at the Arkansas 49 but the team did not go for it. There was also a 4th-and-4 at the Arkansas 41 in the third quarter when Mississippi State was called for delay of game to move them back a little bit, leading to a punt fair caught at the 11.

The last potential fourth down chance was in the game’s final 75 seconds with the Bulldogs had 4th-and-1 at the Arkansas 11 yard line. Instead of trying for a first down to put the game on ice, Mississippi State elected to kick a field goal.

It missed, giving the Razorbacks a chance to steal the game. But the defense got the stop as the Bulldogs won.