The Arkansas Razorbacks entered Tiger Stadium as a 17 point underdog Saturday night, but they surely didn’t play like one, as the game went down to the final play. The Tigers got the 34-31 win making this the fourth straight year that the “Battle for the Boot” was decided by three points.
LSU started out slow, trailing at the end of the 1st quarter 3-0, and Tiger football dragged on like that for most of the 1st half. QB Jayden Daniels was able to find Brian Thomas Jr. for a long touchdown before halftime, finally getting LSU a touchdown on the scoreboard.
The second half essentially was decided by who had the ball last. LSU was able to make one final drive and kick a short field goal with eight seconds remaining to land the victory.
We’ll break down key aspects of this game, including which LSU players had standout performances, and a Tiger defensive collapse in the second half…in this week’s good, bad and the ugly.
GOOD:
Brian Thomas Jr:
If last week was the Malik Nabers game vs Mississippi State, this week was the Brian Thomas Jr. breakout game. Thomas had two touchdown catches each for 49 yards. He actually finished the game three yards ahead of Nabers with 133 receiving yards on the night.
Thomas’ first touchdown sparked the offense and especially Jayden Daniels, who had a rough go in the 1st half. Daniels underthrew multiple passes and seemed off early in the ballgame. With Thomas and Nabers on the field together, though, it’s hard for Daniels not to perform like the best QB in the SEC so far this season.
LSU’s 1st Half Red Zone Defense:
It was no question the Tigers came out flat to start the game. LSU couldn’t get anything going offensively and it gave Arkansas shorter fields to begin their drives. Arkansas had two opportunities inside LSU’s 5 yard line and the Tigers were able to hold them to two field goals.
Without those breaks and a KJ Jefferson interception following a Jayden Daniels interception the play right before, Arkansas could have been going into halftime down 17 instead of 3.
BAD:
LSU’s 2nd Half Defense:
After scoring just 3 points in the 1st quarter, the complete opposite happened in the 3rd and 4th quarters as every drive resulted in a score for both team. The Tigers looked like they would take the momentum of the game and pull away from the Razorbacks, but KJ Jefferson willed his Arkansas team to tying the game up at 31-31 with 5:06 remaining,
Every game brings something different as LSU’s secondary looked elite against the Mississippi State Bulldogs last week, but gave a completely different look this week, giving up 289 yards passing and 3 touchdowns to the Arkansas QB.
LSU will need to fix those issues quickly as Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin’s uptempo offense are up next for the Tigers in Oxford.
UGLY:
Arkansas’ Offensive Penalties:
Like I mentioned earlier, if not for quarterback KJ Jefferson, LSU probably wins this game by 20 points or more. Arkansas put themselves in awful situations with false start penalties at critical moments.
The Razorbacks had 3rd down at the 1 yard line, which should’ve been an easy QB sneak for a big player like Jefferson, but a false start pushed the Razorbacks back to the 6. Arkansas finished with six false start penalties totaling 30 of their 69 yards of penalties. LSU fans, gives yourselves a pat on the back for the noise level in Death Valley…it definitely was a factor in the game.
Backing Jefferson seemed to make him play better as he continued to find open receivers on 2nd and 3rd downs. Arkansas finished the night 8 for 13 on 3rd down, many of those kept drives alive for the score. Arkansas’ only problem was the Tigers were able to keep the ball last and score on their final possession.
Up next, LSU will head to Ole Miss where the Rebels are coming off a physical loss to Alabama. Historically, teams following a loss against the Tide come out flat, so we’ll see how Lane Kiffin amps up his team following their first loss in the SEC.
LSU improves to 2-0 in the conference and will have their only top-25 matchup left on their schedule, until they face the Crimson Tide in November.