4. Arkansas at Mississippi State
LINE: Mississippi State -17
ATS PICK: Mississippi State
– Bet on this, BetMGM latest line
This one isn’t any harder than Mississippi State went ballistic on an LSU team that – while depleted of last year’s stars – is loaded with NFL-caliber, high-end talent, and Arkansas got lit up by Stetson Bennett.
No offense to Bennett – the Georgia quarterback who stepped in for an ineffective D’Wan Mathis and threw for 211 yards and two scores in the 37-10 Bulldog win – but he’s the fourth-best Bulldog quarterback in the 2020 overall pecking order. JT Daniels, Jamie Newman (opted out), and Mathis (who really is good) are more talented, and none of them are KJ Costello.
The Mississippi State new starting quarterback is coming off a 623-yard passing day, and don’t expect him to slow down, if at all.
Arkansas is plucky. It’s got a decent enough starting 22 to avoid being obliterated, Feleipe Franks is a restaurant quality SEC starting quarterback, but the 17 is way too light considering the program has been blasted by 20 or more in six of its last seven games.
Beware, though. Mississippi State is a Mike Leach team. It could very quickly pivot into ineffectiveness for long stretches, but don’t count on it.