Bulldogs Look To Build Momentum In Arkansas
October 19, 2023 | Football, Joel Coleman
SEC road test kicks off season’s second half.
STARKVILLE – It's been said that it only takes a spark to get a fire going. Well, when Mississippi State kicks off the second half of its season this weekend in Arkansas, the Bulldogs are hoping to start getting hot.
The Dawgs and Hogs meet at 11 a.m. CT Saturday inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Arkansas enters having lost five in a row. State has a chance to get back over .500, win a second consecutive contest and earn a galvanizing victory.
Suffice it to say, it's a game both teams want.
"[Arkansas] wants to compete and win just as much as us," State head coach Zach Arnett said. "They are hungry to get out there and compete and win. We have to make sure we're just as hungry to compete and win."
Fortunately for State, the team's desire to compete is one thing Arnett isn't worried about. Sure, it's been an up-and-down first six games of the season for MSU. However, through it all, there's been one promising constant. Arnett's Dawgs get after it day after day after day.
That encourages State's first-year leader headed into action in Fayetteville.
"We're all competitors – both in the locker room and the coaching staff," Arnett said. "If you're a competitor, you're going to control what you can control. You're going to put in the work and the preparation to be successful…We have a building full of people who do just that."
Of course, none of that guarantees wins, but it certainly keeps providing opportunities for them. The last couple of weeks have illustrated how State has embraced that fact.
There has been no head-hanging at MSU's Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex in recent days. There's no time for all that. Everyone from the top down has been locked in on making sure the Bulldogs' best football this season is in front of them.
Offensively, coordinator Kevin Barbay and staff have used the last two weeks since State last played to zero in on what's been working, as well as what hasn't.
"I think week by week, we've been improving and getting better," Barbay said of the offense. "We spent a lot of time last week going back and quality controlling ourselves and going, 'Hey, what are things we do good and what are things we don't do good?' Sometimes you design plays and [think], 'Oh, this is going to be really good against this defense.' Then you go back and look, and it hasn't been worth a darn. So, we've been really identifying the things that we are doing well and maybe expanding on those concepts."
It's been the same for State's defense.
"Yeah, I think you've got to look at self-scout with the positives and the negatives and see where we're at," defensive coordinator Matt Brock said. "Obviously, that's a valuable tool, trying to figure out what we do well, what we're obviously not doing well and if we need to make tweaks and adjustments and how to do so in the best way without overloading [the players]."
Only time will tell if State's efforts will be rewarded with victory come Saturday. It'll certainly be a challenge to earn it. But challenges are part of the deal in the Southeastern Conference. It's what these guys all signed up for and love.
Bring on the season's second half.
"We'll see how we respond," Arnett said.
