Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Mississippi State’s Storylines vs. Arkansas
October 07, 2022 | Football
STARKVILLE – Homecoming weekend is here and there's a huge game to go along with it.
No. 23 Mississippi State hosts No. 25 Arkansas on Saturday. Kickoff time is set for 11 a.m. CT at Davis Wade Stadium. The contest will be televised by SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play), Deuce McAllister (analyst) and Tiffany Blackmon (reporter) on the call.
Prior to the action on the field, SEC Network's weekly traveling pregame show, SEC Nation, will originate live from The Junction from 9 a.m. through 11 a.m.
Mississippi State's Storylines vs. Arkansas
- No. 23 Mississippi State is one of three teams in the nation with at least three wins against FBS teams that currently have a winning record. No. 1 Alabama and No. 15 Wake Forest are the other two.
- At 4-1, the Bulldogs are off to their best start since going 5-0 to open the 2014 campaign. The last time MSU was 4-1 was 2000, a season which ended with a win in the Independence Bowl against Texas A&M and a final 8-4 record.
- A win over Arkansas would push State to 5-1 for the first time since 1998 when the Bulldogs won eight regular-season games and were 6-2 in SEC play.
- Mike Leach's six total ranked wins are the most of any Bulldog head coach in his first three years. It took him 71 games to win six against AP-ranked opponents at Washington State and 58 to do so at Texas Tech, but he's needed just 29 games to reach that total at MSU.
- Mississippi State is running the ball at the highest clip (93.4 ypg) of a Mike Leach-coached team since the 2016 Washington State team (120.0 ypg). The current rate ranks sixth in Leach's career. The Bulldogs are running on 32.5 percent of their plays, their highest rate under Leach.
- RB Dillon Johnson has rushed for 302 yards, which ranks 11th in the SEC, and his 6.04 yards per carry rank third.
- MSU is second nationally in red zone passing touchdown percentage (64.71 percent), fourth in red zone touchdown percentage (88.24 percent) and fifth in points per red zone drive (5.47).
- The Bulldogs have scored on 16-of-17 red zone opportunities (94.1 percent) this season with 15 touchdowns. State has scored on 13 straight red zone trips with 10 straight touchdowns.
- RB Jo'quavious Marks has caught a pass in 28 consecutive games, which is the second-longest active streak in the SEC and tied for No. 14 nationally. He has at least one reception in every game of his collegiate career.
- Since 2020, QB Will Rogers is tied for second nationally among active players with four games of five or more passing touchdowns. He is the only active quarterback with multiple games of six or more touchdowns through the air. He also leads the nation in passing yards (8,430) and is third in passing touchdowns (66).
- Rogers has thrown for 300-plus yards and at least three touchdowns in 13 of his 27 career games. The closest active player to him since 2020 is Wake Forest's Sam Hartman at 10 games.
- Rogers has 915 career completions, which is six shy of the current SEC record (921) set by Georgia's Aaron Murray (2010-13). He is also four passing touchdowns shy of Dak Prescott's (2012-15) MSU career record (70).
- MSU has found success with the deep ball this season. Rogers has thrown six touchdowns on passes where the ball was in the air for more than 20 yards, which leads the SEC. Rogers' 95.1 passing grade on passes of 20-plus air yards also leads the SEC and is fourth in the nation per PFF.
- State boasts four receivers with 20-plus receptions, which is the most of any SEC team. Only Georgia has more than two.
- WR Caleb Ducking is one of two SEC players and 22 players nationally to turn in multiple receiving touchdowns in multiple games this season. His six receiving touchdowns are second in the SEC and tied for sixth nationally.
- WR Lideatrick Griffin is seventh nationally in yards per kick return (30.9). His career average (33.4) is tops among active FBS players and would exceed the school record by 6.7 yards if he had reached the minimum 30 attempts (28).
- The Bulldogs have collected at least one takeaway in 23 of 29 games under defensive coordinator Zach Arnett with 44 total takeaways in that span. They have forced a turnover in every game of the 2022 season thus far and State's 10 takeaways rank second in the SEC and No. 22 nationally.
- CB Emmanuel Forbes broke the MSU career record with his fourth pick-six against Texas A&M, running it back 33 yards. Forbes leads the nation since 2020 with 11 career interceptions.
- Forbes leads the SEC with three interceptions and is second in passes defended (7).
- Forbes is the MSU career record holder and is tied for FBS active career lead in interceptions returned for a touchdown. He is just the fifth SEC player with four or more career pick-sixes and is one shy of the conference record held by Tennessee's Jackie Walker (5, 1969-71).
- LB Tyrus Wheat is one of 26 players in the nation with multiple fumble recoveries this season.
- Mississippi State's 26 total touchdowns are tied for second in the SEC and tied for 11th nationally.
- Under Mike Leach, the Bulldogs are 11-0 when scoring at least 30 points and 11-3 when scoring first.
- According to ESPN's FPI, MSU will play the second-toughest schedule in the nation in 2022. The Bulldogs play all six SEC teams that were ranked in the preseason AP poll.
- MSU is one of the most-experienced teams in college football this fall, with a total of 16 starters returning on offense and defense.
- MSU returns 79.1 percent of its defensive snaps from 2021. Of the 22 players on the defensive side of the two-deep, 17 have been playing for the past two years under defensive coordinator Zach Arnett. Three more have at least played a season in Arnett's system.
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