Arkansas
Arkansas looks like Mississippi State’s most winnable SEC game again. Can Jeff Lebby break through?
STARKVILLE — Coach Jeff Lebby doesn’t talk about last season to his Mississippi State football players anymore.
Nothing can be changed from the Bulldogs’ 2-10 record in Lebby’s first season where they lost every SEC game by double digits and only notched wins against FCS Eastern Kentucky and then-FBS independent UMass.
But with MSU’s next game at Arkansas (2-6, 0-4 SEC) on Nov. 1 (3 p.m., SEC Network) perhaps a portion of last season should be revisited.
The matchup for MSU (4-4, 0-4) appears to be its best remaining chance to end its 16-game SEC losing streak. But that was also a thought last season when Mississippi State hosted Arkansas. Mississippi State was served a humbling 58-25 beatdown at Davis Wade Stadium.
“One thing I mentioned last year was ‘Hey, let’s go play as hard as we possibly can,’” Lebby said. “‘Let’s do everything we can this week to go play as hard as we can and maybe the ball will bounce the right way and somehow we’ll be able to go win a football game.’ That was the reality of it. I didn’t talk like that during the season because I never will.
“This is a completely different situation. We got a good football team. We did not a year ago. We have a good enough team to win.”
Even with Arkansas’ six-game losing streak and Bobby Petrino as the interim coach, Lebby said the Bulldogs will have to beat “the best 2-6 football team in the country” to get the elusive SEC win. The program’s last SEC win was at Arkansas in 2023.
Why Arkansas is Mississippi State’s best chance to snap SEC losing streak
Mississippi State has four games remaining. Arkansas is the only opponent not ranked in the US LBM Coaches Poll. Mississippi State still has home games against No. 5 Georgia, No. 8 Ole Miss and a road game at No. 20 Missouri.
In a way, Arkansas is similar to last season’s Mississippi State team. It’s in the midst of a long losing streak. Arkansas is anchored down by the SEC’s worst defense, just like MSU in 2024.
But there are differences too that make the Razorbacks not a gimme. BetMGM lists Mississippi State as a 4.5-point underdog as of Oct. 29.
The Razorbacks have played all of their SEC games close, including Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M. Taylen Green is a quarterback who causes problems in the air and on the ground. He scored six touchdowns against the Bulldogs last season.
Arkansas fired its defensive coordinator, defensive line coach and secondary coach on Sept. 29.
“Defensively, they’re completely different,” Lebby said. “… We have three games that we’ve watched that can kind give you the information of what we’re going to get this weekend. It’s very limited tape, but feel like we have a good grasp of what it’s going to look like and what we’re going to get.”
How Mississippi State vs Arkansas could be decided
Three of the last four games for Mississippi State have been heartbreaking losses.
MSU led Tennessee by seven points in the fourth quarter before losing in overtime. It was in range for a potential game-winning field goal at Florida until quarterback Blake Shapen threw an interception. In Week 9, MSU coughed up a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter before losing to Texas in overtime.
“It’s truly each position and that’s what we talked about in the team meeting,” Lebby said. “It’s not one guy in one situation and one thing happening that’s keeping us from knocking the door down and getting the victory. It’s every position on the field. It’s giving these guys something a little better to go execute.”
Arkansas has lost those same battles as Mississippi State.
Against Ole Miss, the Razorbacks lost a fumble near the red zone while trailing by six with two minutes to play. They also fumbled with 1:18 remaining while in field-goal range against Memphis before losing 32-31. Their losses to Tennessee and Texas A&M were both by three points. Arkansas’ last game ended in a brutal 33-24 loss to Auburn when in the fourth quarter it committed four turnovers and was outscored 17-0.
“I think every game in this league is hard to win,” MSU wide receiver Brenen Thompson said. “I think winning is hard as it is no matter what league you’re in, but especially this league. Every game gets diagnosed the same. Every game gets the same amount of effort put in to it, at least for me and this team.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It may be hard to believe in the present day, but Arkansas did beat a Nick Saban-coached team once upon a time. Twice, actually.
Of course, it occurred when Saban was the head coach at LSU, not Alabama, where his Crimson Tide squads beat Arkansas 17 times in a row.
But all the way back in 2000, just months after Nolan Richardson’s Hoop Hogs delivered an SEC Tournament title, the Razorbacks beat LSU 14-3 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock in Saban’s first campaign in Baton Rouge.
Do those circumstances sound familiar?
Yes, they might just be coincidences, but John Calipari’s team did cut down the nets in Bridgestone Arena on March 15 after winning the SEC Tournament.
Arkansas football is preparing to host LSU this fall (albeit in Fayetteville, not Little Rock) and the Tigers have a first-year head coach of their own in Saban protege Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin, of course, isn’t new to the SEC or Arkansas fans. The Razorbacks went 2-4 against Kiffin during his six years as the head coach at Ole Miss.
However, he does give the Razorbacks an opportunity, while a seemingly small one, to do something they haven’t done since beating the Tigers with Saban calling the shots in 2000: beat an LSU team led by a first-year head coach.
Teams led by first-year head coaches are supposedly more vulnerable and susceptible to defeat, though that trend has been largely nullified in the modern era due to the transfer portal and NIL.
Arkansas didn’t seem to get that memo, however. In its last three games against LSU when the Tigers had a first-year head coach, it lost all three.
Les Miles’ first LSU team beat the Hogs in a 19-17 nailbiter in Baton Rouge in 2005, though the 4-6 Razorbacks were surprisingly competitive against a 9-1 LSU squad.
In 2017, Ed Orgeron’s maiden voyage as LSU’s HC included a 33-10 rout of the Razorbacks at Tiger Stadium against a wounded Austin Allen.
In 2022, Arkansas gave LSU, the eventual SEC West champions, all it could handle in a 13-10 loss in Brian Kelly’s first tussle with the Hogs on what resembled more of a frozen tundra than Razorback Stadium.
Is there much hope for Arkansas and Ryan Silverfield to beat LSU on Nov. 28? Not really, and understandably so. Kiffin is not your average first-year head coach.
He’ll have an immensely talented QB in Sam Leavitt under center and a roster that could contend for a College Football Playoff berth or even an SEC title.
But depending on how Arkansas’ first 11 games of 2026 go, the Hogs could be playing for more than pride. There is potential for Arkansas to be fighting for bowl eligibility in Week 13 should it find victories against the likes of Utah, Auburn and South Carolina.
A win would be the Razorbacks’ first over their border rival at home since 2014. That’s not to mention the inherent nostalgia that will come with the Battle for the Golden Boot returning to its rightful place on the college football schedule as a Thanksgiving weekend rivalry game.
All that’s left for Silverfield to do is to dial up some 2000 magic and try and become the first man since Houston Nutt to beat the LSU Tigers with a first-year head coach on the opposite sideline.
Hogs on SI Season Preview Series
North Alabama: Why Week One Matters More Than It Should
Utah: Silverfield Doesn’t Know What Razorbacks Are, Utes Will Provide Answers
Georgia: Razorbacks Might Not Beat Georgia, But Offer Test Kirby Smart Didn’t Expect
Texas A&M: Can Hogs’ Rebuilt Defense Slow Down Marcel Reed?
Tennessee: Razorbacks Must Reclaim Homefield Advantage Against Tennessee
Vanderbilt: Arkansas Might Be Catching Vanderbilt at Right Time in 2026
Missouri: Silverfield Could Have Master Plan to Finally Beat Missouri
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The Arkansas Storm Team has designated Sunday overnight into Monday as an Alert Day for a line of storms moving through. Damaging wind gusts, flooding, and flash flooding are the main hazards. A tornado or two is also possible.
Flood-prone and low-lying areas should be aware of heavy rainfall overnight, leading to flooding and flash flooding. A Flood Watch is in place until 7 p.m. Monday, June 22, in northwestern and western Arkansas.
It’s strongly encouraged to have ways to receive weather alerts for your location overnight. This means ways that’ll wake you up in the event water is rising quickly or if you have to take shelter.
Download the Arkansas Storm Team app for the latest. The Arkansas Storm Team will also be live from 10:30 p.m. Sunday, June 21, to 4 a.m. Monday, June 22, on our streaming platforms. Coverage will continue at 4 a.m. on our morning newscasts.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — What happens in Arkansas doesn’t always stay in Arkansas.
That was the message Friday night as former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to Little Rock to endorse Democratic congressional candidate Chris Jones, arguing the race for Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District may be drawing more attention than many political observers realize.
Speaking to supporters at the Dreamland Ballroom, Buttigieg framed the contest as a choice between Washington politics and kitchen-table concerns.
“Now is a chance to really show what it looks like to have a leader who is not focused on doing well by the most powerful and wealthy interests in Washington, but by the kinds of people who actually live here in the second district,” Buttigieg said. “That’s what I’ve seen Chris Jones doing day in, day out.”
For Jones, the focus was clear: affordability.
The Democratic challenger said Arkansans are feeling the strain of rising prices everywhere they turn, from housing and health care to everyday necessities like gasoline and groceries.
“Our campaign is about affordability and accountability for all,” Jones said. “People are concerned about the price of everything from big stuff, housing and health care, to small stuff, gas and grocery.”
Jones also criticized Republican Congressman French Hill, arguing voters are frustrated not only by rising costs but by a political climate that has become increasingly divisive.
“We’ve been told to be divided, and people are saying, look, I’m tired of that, I’m exhausted by that, and they really want to come together as a community and come together in unity,” Jones said.
Buttigieg said conversations he had with voters throughout the day reinforced the campaign’s message.
“I talked to a lot of folks from the Little Rock area today, heard about how they are hurting with the cost of gas, cost of groceries, cost of housing,” he said.
While Arkansas’ 2nd District has long been considered Republican territory, Buttigieg suggested the race could carry significance beyond the state’s borders.
“This is a race that maybe some national commentators are sleeping on that could absolutely be one of the pivotal ones for Congress this year,” he said.
The election remains months away, with voters set to decide the race on Nov. 3. Democrats are betting economic concerns can reshape the political conversation in the district, while Republicans look to hold onto a seat they have controlled for years.
For now, both parties appear to agree on one thing: more eyes may be watching Arkansas than usual.
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