Arkansas Football: 3 takeaways from massive upset of Mississippi State

Mississippi State was coming off a big win over LSU but Arkansas football didn’t stand down, pulling off the upset of the Bulldogs in Week 5.

It’s been a while since Arkansas had a pulse in the SEC, but that might be changing this season after the Razorbacks upset No. 16 Mississippi State on the road, 21-14.

Mike Leach’s first impression in the league was a good one as he upset the defending national champions in Baton Rouge but he couldn’t follow that up with another win even against a seemingly-lesser foe in Arkansas as the Razorbacks and Sam Pittman marched into Starkville and stole a big win.

What’d we learn from Arkansas’ big win over Mississippi State?

3. Defense already improving by leaps and bounds

Under Chad Morris, Arkansas’ defense was horrible. He came to Fayetteville with an offensive mind and it was clear that was all he was focusing on. And it costed him his job.

New defensive coordinator Barry Odom has done an impressive job in a short period of time, turning the defense around and that was evident on Saturday night as they picked off KJ Costello three times and held him to just 313 yards on 59 pass attempts. LSU couldn’t even slow down Costello, but Arkansas held him to half the production he had in his first game against the defending champs.

Oh, and Mississippi State only rushed for 87 yards on 24 carries.

Odom and Co. have turned things around in a hurry and if this defense can continue to improve and the offense catches up, watch out.