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LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Ticker) -- Mississippi State has run out of magic in the Southeastern Conference West. The 15th-ranked Bulldogs, who had thrived in close divisional games, could not pull one out against No. 24 Arkansas, which held on for a 14-9 win as Houston Nutt improved to 12-0 at home as coach of the Razrobacks. Clint Stoerner completed 19-of-34 passes for 184 yards and one touchdown with an interception. Cedric Cobbs, who broke the school freshman rushing record, gained 77 yards on 22 carries and had the other touchdown for Arkansas (7-3, 4-3 SEC West). "We knew what they would do on defense," Stoerner said. "They showed it on the field. Our offensive line did great. They face a defensive line every day in practice. The crowd was unbelievable. We had some hard times early but they really stuck with us." Wayne Madkin was 15-of-27 for 138 yards and Matt Wyatt, who comes in for late rallies, was 8-of-15 for 102. Neither was intercepted and watched as Scott Westerfield hit field goals of 35, 42 and 24 yards. "It came down to three or four plays," Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill said. "Both teams played well. Arkansas is a great team. I was just pleased we didn't give up any big plays." Westerfield's first field goal gave the Bulldogs (8-2, 5-2) a 3-0 lead with 8:23 left in the first quarter and capped a 10-play, 48-yard drive. With 21 seconds left in the first half, Stoerner drove the Razorbacks to the leading score, a nine-yard TD toss to Emanuel Smith on 3rd-and-3. The 13-play, 71-yard drive took 3:30 and featured three third-down conversions. The first three possesssions of the third quarter resulted in turnovers, then the teams traded punts before Mississippi State drove to Westerfield's 42-yarder that made it 7-6 with 66 seconds left. Arkansas took the ensuing kickoff 76 yards in eight plays over 4:29. Cobbs finished it off with a powerful three-yard run into the left side of the end zone, giving Arkansas a 14-6 lead with 11:37 left. "We only had two drives," Nutt said. "The last one may have been ugly, but we'll take it. Again, our defense deserves a great deal of credit." Mississippi State embarked on a 10-play, 61-yard march on the next possession, getting within 14-9 on Westerfield's 24-yarder with 6:37 remaining. The drive took five minutes. The Bulldogs got back the ball one final time and drove as far as the Arkansas 18. Wyatt's final pass, from the 23 with five seconds left, fell incomplete on 4th-and-12. It was his third straight incompletion. "The postgame talk was one of those talks where Coach just wants to make sure we weren't pointing any fingers," Wyatt said. "We just have to come out and accept it. As soon as we get on the bus, we have to get ready for Ole Miss in four days. We need to put this one behind us. I felt pretty loose on that last drive. You just have to get touchdowns. If you can't get into the red zone and get touchdowns, you can't expect to win." "On the last drive, I was thinking, Just don't let that happen again," Arkansas rover Jeremiah Harper said. "They beat us in the end last year. In light of that, this was a very satisfying victory." Kelvin Love, Matt Butler and Justin Griffin each tied or set a career high with six receptions for Mississippi State, totaling 77, 73 and 34 yards, respectively. Larry Huntington also had a career game with five catches for 56 yards. Those were the only four Bulldogs to catch passes. Smith had 58 yards on seven catches and Anthony Lucas had 75 on three for the Razorbacks, who are 5-4-1 all-time against Mississippi State, including 2-0-1 in Little Rock.
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