Is LSU Football Poised for a Letdown This Weekend at Arkansas?

The LSU Football team is on top of the world.

What was supposed to be another unfamiliar down year has led to a 7-2 record with an upset victory over their rivals from Tuscaloosa, vaulting them to the No. 7 ranking in the College Football Playoff poll. The same Tiger team picked to finish 5th in the SEC West preseason media poll is now in the drivers seat to win the division with three games remaining.

After the high of two straight victories over (at the time) No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 6 Alabama, many are assuming the Tigers are going to cruise to a 10-2 record the rest of the way.

However, this week the Bayou Bengals are traveling to Fayetteville to play an Arkansas team that always gets up for them and has caught the Tigers napping before. If LSU isn’t careful, they could easily drop this game and put an immense amount of pressure on themselves to defeat a wounded, but still talented, Texas A&M team in the season finale to win the division and open the door for Ole Miss.

LSU-Arkansas History

LSU leads the overall series 43-23-2 and the Tigers are 17-8 since the “Golden Boot” trophy was introduced in 1996. Despite the record discrepancy, this game is often a hard fought, close game where the Tigers usually get the Razorbacks’ best punch. Since 2007, an unranked Arkansas team has defeated a ranked LSU team four times and there were a few other instances where a ranked LSU Football team was lucky to escape the game unscathed.

Expect to see a similar hard fought battle on Saturday.

What LSU Football Must Do To Win

LSU Football cannot afford to come out napping because of the eleven o’clock kickoff. While Arkansas is 5-4, they are a couple breaks away from being 7-2 and still have SEC talent on both sides of the ball. If the Tigers aren’t careful, the Razorbacks could punch them in the mouth and suddenly make folks uneasy in Baton Rouge.

On the offensive side of the ball, Jayden Daniels needs to keep doing what he’s doing and most importantly, take care of the ball. The red-hot LSU passing game should have a field day against an Arkansas secondary ranked 129th in total pass defense giving up 302 yards per game through the air. Plus, Arkansas starting safety Myles Slusher is suspended for the week following an arrest. As long as Daniels takes cares of the ball, the Tigers should have no problem scoring points.

On the defensive side, the LSU defensive line can’t take a week off after their dominant effort against Bryce Young and the Crimson Tide. They will once again face one or two (more on that later) very athletic quarterbacks in KJ Jefferson and Malik Hornsby. The Tigers will hope to contain them and make them uncomfortable much like they did with Young. If they can do that with a standard four-man front, it will give LSU a chance to stack the box and take away Rocket Sanders and the electric Razorback running game as well.

How Arkansas Can Win

The Razorbacks are surely going to come out hungry and with their hair on fire following an embarrassing homecoming loss last week to Liberty. The Hogs always have a little extra for their rivals down south and they won’t give up “The Boot” without a fight. Arkansas has had a horrible habit of starting slow at times this year and putting on a “Jekyll & Hyde” act. If they want “The Boot” to stay home, they will need to start fast and play the complete game that has evaded them all season.

The biggest question mark this week for the Hogs is on the offensive side of the ball at the most important position. Star quarterback KJ Jefferson has been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury and it seems to be affecting him again this week. The Hogs do have a serviceable backup in Malik Hornsby and if Jefferson truly isn’t healthy, Sam Pittman and Co. should probably go with the speedster to give them their best chance. While Jefferson is elusive, he doesn’t have the blazing speed to get away from LSU’s pass rush like Hornsby can. Hornsby can occasionally be inaccurate as a passer, but you have to take the good with the bad especially if Jefferson is hurt.

No matter who the quarterback is, the Arkansas offense won’t be able to do anything if the offensive line has another performance like last weeks. The Razorbacks’ previously dominant offensive line gave up four sacks and 14 tackles for loss to a Liberty team with far less talent in the trenches. The Flames did it with a variety of stunts and you can be certain that the LSU defensive line will use similar tricks.

Defensively, Arkansas simply needs to keep LSU Football under 35 points. The Hogs have injuries across the board and a couple suspensions as the cherry on top, so a shutout is unlikely to say the least. LSU is going to score a few points, but the Razorback defense has to slow them down as much as they can. If they can get pressure on Daniels and force a couple turnovers, the Hogs should feel good about their chances of keeping “The Boot” in Fayetteville.