Mississippi State gets much-needed win over Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas - A record-setting performance from Kylin Hill ignited Mississippi State back into the win column with an emphatic 54-24 victory over Arkansas on Saturday afternoon at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Hill racked up a career-high 234 rushing yards on 21 carries and three scores. The Columbus, Mississippi, native amassed 198 of his 234 yards during the first half which marked the most rushing yards in a half by a MSU player in school history. He became the 16th player in school history to rush for over 2,000 yards in his career.
Hill's 234 yards on the ground are the fifth-most in a single game in school history and the most since Nick Fitzgerald piled up a program-record 258 yards against Ole Miss in 2016. He joins James Johnson (1997-98) and Jerious Norwood (2002-03-04-05) as the only players in MSU history with multiple games of 200-plus rushing yards. Hill's first 200-plus effort came when he amassed 211 yards at Kansas State on Sept. 8, 2018.
The junior running back is tied for sixth in MSU single season history for 100-yard rushing games with six and ranks 10th in career history with nine.
As a team, Missisippi State's (4-5, 2-4 SEC) rushing attack piled up 460 yards on 57 carries for an average of 8.1 yards per carry. The Bulldogs dominated the line of scrimmage and outgained Arkansas (2-7, 0-6 SEC) by a healthy 640-285 margin. State eclipsed the 500-yard mark for the fifth time under Joe Moorhead and has won all five decisions.
Nick Gibson logged a career-high 129 rushing yards on 12 carries and added a touchdown. Tommy Stevens compiled a season-high 74 rushing yards on 15 attempts.
Marcus Murphy paced the Bulldogs' defense with eight total tackles ignited by four solo stops. Murphy returned his first career interception 32 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. With Murphy's interception, MSU has recorded a takeaway in 23 of the last 25 games.
State will now enjoy its second off week of the 2019 season on Nov. 9 before returning home to host No. 2 Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC) at Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 16.