Inside the numbers: Mississippi State-Arkansas first half stats
Mississippi State and Arkansas have reached halftime at Davis Wade Stadium and the visiting Razorbacks lead 31-10.
On the second play of the game, Arkansas’ Landon Jackson stripped State quarterback Michael Van Buren and recovered the fumble at the Bulldogs’ 23 yard line. Three plays later, Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green juked his way to an eight-yard touchdown to give Arkansas a 7-0 lead with 13:06 remaining in the opening period.
Mississippi State answered right back on its second offensive possession, however. The Bulldogs’ drive was kept alive with an Arkansas facemask penalty and then Van Buren hit Davon Booth for a 54-yard touchdown pass, tying the game at 7-7 with 11:45 left in the first quarter.
The Razorbacks’ offense moved deep into State territory on the ensuing drive. But Arkansas had to settle for a Matthew Shipley 27-yard field goal and led 10-7 with 8:50 remaining in the quarter.
After Arkansas forced a turnover on downs, the Razorbacks marched 78 yards on just six plays to extend their advantage. On 4th and 1 from the State 14 yard line, Green hit tight end Luke Hasz for a 14-yard scoring toss, giving Arkansas a 17-7 lead with 2:09 left in the first quarter.
Mississippi State failed to answer due to a 42-yard missed field goal by Kyle Ferrie early in the second quarter. Arkansas’ offense continued to roll and Green connected with Jordan Anthony for a 27-yard touchdown pass and the Razorbacks were in control with a 24-7 lead and 10:50 left in the half.
The Bulldogs had a couple of scoring opportunities later in the second period. However, the Razorbacks stopped State on 4th and goal at the Arkansas one-yard line. Then another deep State drive saw the Bulldogs settle for a 36-yard field goal by Ferrie, cutting the Arkansas advantage to 24-10 with 1:54 remaining in the first half.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
AP Poll Shakeup
New Top 25 shows Saturday carnage
- 2Hot
Coaches Poll
Chaos reflected in new Top 25
- 3New
Quinn Ewers MRI
Texas 'cautiously optimistic' on QB
- 4
Updated SEC title game scenarios
The path to the championship game is clear
- 5
Kevin Wilson
Tulsa expected to fire head coach
However, Arkansas wasn’t done scoring in the half. The Razorbacks marched 75 yards in just a 1:38 as Green hit Andreas Paaske for a one-yard scoring toss, giving Arkansas a 31-10 halftime advantage.
Arkansas has 329 yards of offense in the opening half and had 195 through the air. The Razorbacks were 0 of 3 on third down and held the ball for 12:21 of the first half. Mississippi State had 244 total yards in the first half and 160 of that came through the air. The Bulldogs were 3 of 8 on third down and possessed the ball for 17:39.
Individually, Green was 14 of 17 passing for 195 yards and three touchdowns. Green also led the Razorbacks on the ground with five rushes for 66 yards and another touchdown. Isaac TeSlaa led the Arkansas receivers with three catches for 51 yards.
For Mississippi State, Van Buren was 11 of 16 passing for 160 yards with one touchdown. Booth led the ground game with 11 rushes for 40 yards while Kevin Coleman paced the receivers with four catches for 37 yards.
