By Any Means Necessary
October 21, 2023 | Football, Joel Coleman
State found a way against Arkansas and has put its season back on track.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It was in the moments before Mississippi State battled Arkansas on Saturday when quarterback Mike Wright commenced to giving a fiery address to his team.
Everyone could feel the upcoming contest's importance. Wright didn't hold back.
"He fired us up," wide receiver Zavion Thomas said. "[He told us] everything we needed to hear."
Said head coach Zach Arnett: "He certainly had them a lot more fired up than I tend to get them with my speeches. So, I'll have to let him keep doing it."
College football is a scoreboard business. Well, the scoreboard Saturday showed that, whatever exactly Wright said preceded a defensively dominant, offensively sufficient, 7-3 victory against the Razorbacks.
Was it a game that was always aesthetically pleasing? Nah. It didn't have to be. On the road in the Southeastern Conference, the all-important 'W' is really and truly all that matters.
For weeks, Arnett has stated how crucial this October is for Mississippi State. He's emphasized it over and over to his Bulldogs. Saturday showed they're listening. Wright simply did his job as a leader and reinforced the talking points prior to kickoff.
"As a quarterback, you want to give as much confidence as you can to your team before you go out there," Wright said. "Basically, the theme of the message was go out there and play football. Go out there and be you. The emphasis this week was focusing on ourselves. Focus on your job. Focus on your assignment. By any means necessary, go out there and get a win."
By any means necessary. Do whatever it takes.
When adversity strikes, as it did on State's opening drive when Wright threw an interception, everyone collectively has to stand right back up.
"I walked up to [Wright after the pick] and was like, 'We got you,'" MSU linebacker Nathaniel Watson said.
Indeed, the State defense had Wright's back. The Razorbacks had a short field to play with on their opening offensive series following the turnover, but the Bulldogs wouldn't budge. The Hogs had to settle for a field goal. It set the tone for an absolutely astonishing performance by MSU coordinator Matt Brock's defense.
Watson's 14 tackles and two sacks led the way on a day the Bulldogs held the Hogs to just 2.9 yards per play – the lowest output by the Razorbacks in their last 55 games dating back five years. MSU limited Arkansas to only 200 total yards of offense.
It was a tremendous bounce-back showing for a group that's been a bit shorthanded and beat up of late. How was the Dawg D able to correct course?
"There isn't a magic formula," Arnett shared. "You put in the work and you show up every day for practice and you take a critical eye at situations where you failed to perform and you go about correcting it. I give all the credit to those guys for being man enough to take coaching during the bye week and this past week and put it to good use and go out and see the fruits of their labor."
The Dawg D got it done, just as Wright had said earlier – by any means necessary. Even with a busted-up nose on the face of one of the group's stalwarts.
At one point in the game, linebacker Jett Johnson had blood all over his face. No matter. There was a job to do.
"I looked at [Johnson] and the blood was running and I said, 'Bro, are you straight?'" Watson said. "He's a tough guy. I knew he'd stick it out."
Johnson absolutely did. He finished with 11 tackles, including a tackle for loss. Not bad for a dude with a hurt sniffer.
"[The nose] feels good after a win, I can tell you that," Johnson said.
Oh, but toughness was found everywhere on this day, physically and mentally. There was Jo'Quavious Marks, accounting for the day's lone touchdown when he caught a 2-yard pass from Wright and got across the goal line early in the second quarter.
He came up lame after the play but would later return. No surprise. You can knock Woody down, but you can't keep him down.
"He's a football guy," Arnett said of Marks. "You try to take him out, then the next play he's out there. You need guys like that in your program."
And you better believe Wright practiced what he'd previously preached. By any means necessary, find a way to win. Figure it out, even when you're backed up in the shadow of the goal post and the pressure's on.
That's what happened late in the third quarter as on 3rd and 11 from his own 2-yard line, Wright heaved a pass downfield, trusting in the talents of receiver Justin Robinson. Robinson hauled it in for a 30-yard gain and a first down. The Dawgs had some breathing room on the gridiron. Crisis averted.
"I told the guys before the game, I'm going to give you a chance," Wright explained. "I'm not going to get back on the bus without giving our SEC receivers a chance. Those are the best athletes on the field."
Credit to Arkansas, the Hogs fought until the end. The Razorbacks heaved a potential game-winning touchdown pass towards the end zone from 48 yards out on the game's final play. However, State safety Shawn Preston Jr. batted it away and wrapped things in Maroon and White.
Again, if this one was a beauty contest, State might've been in trouble. But there were no judges to be found; there was only a scoreboard and the scoreboard showed that the Dawgs Win Again, for the second time in a row.
Arnett has wanted a 3-0 October. His team is now two-thirds of the way there.
"If we wanted to achieve the things we wanted to achieve as a program, [we knew] October was going to be a critical month," Arnett said. "It started by going 1-0 in October. We took care of that. We then had the bye week. Used it accordingly. Then, you've got to go 2-0. We've taken care of that. Now we have one more game here in the month of October, and it's a big one. It's the most important game on our schedule up to this point. Hopefully our guys will be excited to finish out the month."
If the Arkansas game was any indication, this group will be. They'll keep fighting to win. And they'll take those victories like Saturday's – by any means necessary.
"We've still got every opportunity ahead of us as a program," Arnett said.
