Hogs (7-4) unranked but resilient

Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver Drew Morgan (80) fights through tackle from Mississippi State defensive back Kivon Coman (11) following a reception on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss.
Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver Drew Morgan (80) fights through tackle from Mississippi State defensive back Kivon Coman (11) following a reception on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Arkansas' 10-21 SEC record under Coach Bret Bielema is still unsightly, but the Razorbacks are definitely on the upswing.

The Razorbacks (7-4 overall, 3-4 SEC) improved to 10-8 in their past 18 SEC games under Bielema with a 58-42 victory over Mississippi State Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium.

"I love this team," Bielema said. "I love the way they respond and their reaction to adversity."

Saturday's victory marked the 10th consecutive game the Razorbacks have won after an SEC loss.

Only one of those victories, over Alcorn State, did not occur in an SEC game, but it did split consecutive SEC losses earlier this season -- against Texas A&M and Alabama.

"I'd prefer not to have that nature of stat," Bielema said. "I'd prefer to win them all, but our guys do respond well."

Arkansas' victory on Saturday was in response to a 38-10 loss at home to LSU. Earlier this season the Razorbacks beat Ole Miss after losing to Alabama and beat Florida after losing to Auburn.

"We're just resilient," linebacker Brooks Ellis said. "We keep bouncing back.

"If we lose a game, we come back, practice hard and keep working hard for the next game. That's what we've got to do for the rest of the season."

Bielema said he liked how the Razorbacks prepared throughout the week getting ready for a road trip to Mississippi State.

"Obviously, it was a week that we had to kind of get right personally," Bielema said. "I think our guys took a personal challenge to it and responded very well.

"We had a lot of guys playing with injuries who were banged up, but our guys sucked it up and got out there."

Arkansas' seniors beat Mississippi State for the first time. The Razorbacks had lost four in a row to the Bulldogs since last beating them 44-17 in Little Rock in 2011.

"Any time you get an SEC win, especially on the road, it's sweet," offensive tackle Dan Skipper said. "Getting one after having never beating these guys is even sweeter."

Mississippi State is the seventh SEC team Arkansas has beaten under Bielema, along with Ole Miss (three times), LSU (twice), Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Missouri.

The Razorbacks were 0-9 in conference play against Florida -- including two SEC Championship Game losses -- before beating the East champion Gators 31-10.

Bielema's Razorbacks had been 0-3 against Mississippi State with 24-17 overtime loss, a 17-10 loss when a last-second drive fell short for the Razorbacks and a 51-50 loss when the Bulldogs blocked a field-goal attempt.

"It's a big deal," Bielema said of ending the losing streak to Mississippi State. "We kind of have slowly begun to eliminate teams from that mass.

"Obviously, we still haven't gotten a couple that are out there to get next year."

Alabama and Texas A&M are the only SEC teams Bielema has faced more than once and not beaten.

"More than anything, I keep pressing on our guys, 'I don't care who we're playing, it's about Arkansas.' " Bielema said. "When we play Arkansas football, when we line up and play down per down and do the things we're that we're capable of doing ... we can win a lot of games."

Arkansas will try to win back-to-back SEC games for the first time this season at Missouri (3-8, 1-6) at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

Senior receiver Keon Hatcher said the Razorbacks need to avoid a letdown.

"Just because we won, don't get relaxed," Hatcher said. "We've got to come in with the same mentality as we did after the Auburn game. We've got to come in with the same mentality after the LSU game.

"We've just got to stay focused and worry about us. When we do us, we're really hard to mess with."

Sports on 11/21/2016

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