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No. 1 Mississippi State rallies to beat Arkansas

Nov 2, 2014 - 7:05 AM Starkville, MS (SportsNetwork.com) - Dak Prescott threw for a career-high 331 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and the top-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs survived another scare in the SEC with 17-10 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Prescott added 61 yards on the ground, while Josh Robinson carried the ball 19 times for 64 yards and a touchdown and also had a team-high six receptions for 110 yards.

Fred Ross finished with 107 yards receiving and the game-winning 69-yard score early in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs rallied for the game's final 17 points.

"What a football game," Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen said. "As coaches, we all know how hard it is to win in this league. That was a huge win for our team tonight against an excellent Arkansas football team."

Mississippi State (8-0, 5-0 SEC) remains undefeated on the season after two close calls against some of the SEC's weaker teams. The Bulldogs, who are the No. 1 team in the first ever College Football Playoff rankings, earned a tough 45-31 road win over Kentucky last week before narrowly beating the Razorbacks, with Will Redmond's interception in his own end zone with 15 seconds remaining preserving the win on Saturday.

Arkansas (4-5, 0-5), meanwhile, continues to search for its first conference win in over two years. The Razorbacks have now lost 17 straight in the SEC and haven't won in conference since a home victory over Kentucky on Oct. 13, 2012.

Brandon Allen threw for 238 yards with an interception and Alex Collins rushed for 93 yards with a score in the setback.

"Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of another really close game," Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema said. "Give a lot of credit to Mississippi State."

After committing three first-half turnovers, the Bulldogs started the second with a methodical march down the field. Prescott completed a 12-yard pass to Ross on 3rd-and-13 to the Razorbacks 22 and Mississippi State chose to go for it on fourth down. Prescott, however, was stuffed for no gain on the play as the visiting defense came up with a big stop to maintain their 10-7 lead.

Evan Sobiesk tied the game with a 37-yard field goal with 3 1/2 minutes to play in the third.

Adam McFain had a chance to give the visitors the lead, but his 42-yard attempt was wide right early in the fourth.

The Bulldogs grabbed the lead for good three plays later. On 3rd-and-4 at their 31, Prescott rolled to his left and converted a 69-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Ross for a 17-10 lead.

"We had to make a play, and the line did a good job and held up," Prescott said of his TD toss. "I just got out of the pocket and Fred Ross got open."

Arkansas threatened on its next series, but Mississippi State's defense didn't break. Allen hooked up with Hunter Henry for 12 yards on 4th-and-3 at the MSU 21. Jonathan Williams was stopped for a loss of two on 3rd-and-goal from the 1, then Collins was stuffed on his run up the middle as the Razorbacks turned it over on downs.

After the Bulldogs used just over 2 1/2 minutes of clock, Arkansas got the ball back for one last gasp. Henry hauled in a clutch 36-yard pass from Allen on 4th-and-15 to move the chains to midfield. Allen found Henry again a few plays later for 24 yards to the MSU 16, but his next pass was intercepted by Redmond on a fade into the end zone.

Arkansas churned up over five minutes of clock on the game's first drive, an 11-play, 60-yard march, that resulted in a 36-yard field goal from McFain.

Mississippi State wasn't as successful on its first touch, as Prescott completed a 21-yard pass to Malcolm Johnson before tossing his sixth interception of the season.

However, the Razorbacks were unable to do anything with the short field position.

Arkansas cashed in on the next Bulldogs' miscue that occurred early in the second quarter. The Razorbacks were forced to punt from their 11. Sam Irwin- Hill booted a 44-yard punt that was muffed by Jamoral Graham. The ball rolled all the way to the Mississippi State 25, then Collins plunged in from a yard out seven plays later to give the visitors a 10-0 lead.

Mississippi State answered with a touchdown on its ensuing possession. After Robinson picked up a first down, Prescott hit Fred Brown for a 31-yard pass. Prescott then converted two separate third downs on the ground to set up Robinson's 3-yard TD scamper.

The hosts looked to put some more points on the board late in the half, driving inside the Arkansas 40, but Prescott's third-down pass was picked off by Brooks Ellis and returned 27 yards to the MSU 42. The Razorbacks went backward on the possession and settled for a three-point lead at the break.

Game Notes

Arkansas leads the all-time series 15-9-1 ... The Razorbacks were the last team to beat a No. 1 ranked opponent as an unranked team, topping LSU, 50-48, in triple overtime in 2007 ... Arkansas has played five straight conference games against Top 10 opponents, marking the first time that has happened in FBS history ... The Razorbacks fell to 4-17 against top-ranked teams ... Henry finished with 110 yards receiving ... MSU outgained Arkansas 459-401.