FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks' closing stretch in SEC play against LSU, Mississippi State and Missouri is looking a lot more challenging now than it did about a month ago.
Back on Sept. 30:
• Troy went into Tiger Stadium and beat LSU 24-21.
• Auburn pounded Mississippi State 49-10 a week after the Bulldogs lost to Georgia 31-3.
• Missouri had an open date after losing to South Carolina, Purdue and Auburn by a combined 117-30 margin.
On Saturday, while the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville was struggling to beat Coastal Carolina 39-38, LSU made Alabama work for a 24-10 victory, Mississippi State beat Massachusetts 34-23 to extend its winning streak to four games and Missouri beat Florida 45-16 for its third consecutive victory.
The Razorbacks (4-5, 2-4 SEC) play LSU at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.
Playing Coastal Carolina (1-8, 0-5 Sun Belt Conference) didn't provide the expected break from the SEC rigors as Arkansas had to rally from a 38-25 deficit in the fourth quarter.
"We don't really bring the outside world into our program," Razorbacks Coach Bret Bielema said when asked about negative reactions by fans and members of the media. "I think our guys have learned that.
"On the flip side of it, when you're having great success, you try to keep the outside world out of it as well. We'll weather the storm in both cases and keep moving forward."
LSU (6-3, 3-2) lost to Alabama for the seventh consecutive time, but the Tigers outgained the Crimson Tide 306 to 299 in total yards.
"Here's the deal, man. We came here to beat Alabama," LSU Coach Ed Orgeron said when asked if he believes in moral victories. "I know my guys' mindset, and we're coming.
"We're coming, and we ain't backing down."
Alabama, ranked No. 2 in the College Football Playoff, remained No. 1 in The Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls released Sunday. LSU dropped from No. 19 to out of the AP poll, but stayed in the coaches poll at No. 25. The new CFP poll will be announced tonight.
"We're going to finish," Orgeron said. "There's a lot of belief in our locker room right now.
"Those guys would be ready to play a game tomorrow morning right now."
Massachusetts -- the only team Coastal Carolina has beaten this season -- led Mississippi State 20-13 at halftime, but the Bulldogs (7-2, 3-2) outscored the Minutemen 21-3 in the second half.
"We came out and didn't perform to our standards in that first half," said Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen, whose team is No. 16 in the CFP poll. "It happens for kids sometimes. But they buckled down for the second half."
Missouri (4-5, 1-4) dominated Florida after beating Idaho 68-21 and winning 52-12 at Connecticut to end an 11-game road losing streak.
"I'm proud of our guys," Missouri Coach Barry Odom said. "I'm proud of the resolve they've shown. We're making progress in a lot of different areas, and it's started to show."
Arkansas quarterback Cole Kelley credited Coastal Carolina for giving the Razorbacks a tough game.
"People can say what they want about Coastal Carolina and they were 1-7 coming in, but they played really well," Kelley said. "I thought they brought their 'A' game.
"They played their butts off, and hats off to them. But we've stressed finishing games, and we did that.
"So I don't really care about what people say about how we won. The fact is we won, and we finished, and we haven't really done that in the past."
Now the Razorbacks need to win at least two of three games against teams that are 10-3 since the start of October if they want to become bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive season.
Sports on 11/06/2017