Blake Shapen returned after missing most of the third quarter due to injury and threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Evans III with 48 seconds left, and Mississippi State defeated Arkansas 38-35 on Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Shapen finished with two touchdown passes and 242 passing yards, Kamario Taylor had a touchdown pass and a touchdown run while filling in for Shapen, and the Bulldogs (5-4, 1-4 SEC) scored the final 17 points to win a conference game for the first time in two years.
Taylen Green threw a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown for Arkansas (2-7, 0-5), which lost its seventh straight after committing 18 penalties for 193 yards.
On the first play of the second half, Shaken was injured while taking a hit that drew a roughing-the-passer penalty. Taylor replaced him and four plays later he threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Evans that gave the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead.
The Razorbacks answered with Green’s 8-yard touchdown run for a 20-14 lead. Mike Washington, who finished with 116 yards, rushed 20 yards for a touchdown, and a two-point conversion pushed Arkansas’ lead to 28-14.
Taylor scrambled 20 yards for a touchdown that trimmed the lead to 28-21 at the end of the third quarter.
Shapen, who returned late in the third quarter, threw an interception on his first play, leading to Braylen Russell’s 2-yard touchdown run on the third play of the fourth quarter. That pushed the lead to 35-21.
Davon Booth’s 2-yard touchdown run and Kyle Ferrie’s 46-yard field-goal trimmed the lead to 35-31 with 5:07 remaining.
The Razorbacks couldn’t get a first down and punted the ball back to Mississippi State, and Shapen started the winning drive at his 31 with 3:08 left.
On Mississippi State’s first possession, Shapen hit Booth for an 8-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead that held up through the end of the first quarter.
On the second play of the second quarter, Green threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Rohan Jones, and Scott Starzyk added field goals of 42 and 30 yards to give Arkansas a 13-7 halftime lead.
