LSU Football underperforms against Arkansas, clinches SEC West

The LSU Tigers beat the Arkansas Razorbacks, 13-10. In an SEC West title-clinching game for the Tigers, the team struggled against a not-so-great Arkansas team. LSU Football struggled in the passing game, only having 86 passing yards. The rushing attack picked up the slack with nearly 200 yards on a non-existent offensive day for either team. Josh Williams led the way with 122 yards on 19 carries.

In a game where I expected LSU to dominate a very poor Arkansas team (that didn’t have KJ Jefferson for the entire game; ruled out with injury minutes before kickoff), it was just way too close. After driving down the field, Jayden Daniels ended up throwing an interception on the first drive of the game. Arkansas couldn’t do anything with it and had to punt after three plays.

LSU Football got lucky, and Arkansas basically allowed them to take a worse field position in exchange for a terrible mistake. Considering LSU made the mistake, that’s a pretty good alternative to the situation. The Tigers couldn’t move the ball at all and gave the Razorbacks good field position after a punt.

Once again, the defense for LSU came up and limited Arkansas to a field goal. While the Razorbacks were able to get into the red zone, considering where they started that drive, it wasn’t terrible with the circumstances. Once again, LSU’s offense struggled and fumbled the ball after two plays. Lucky for the Tigers’ offense, Arkansas was held to a goal-line stand.

Arkansas did have a chance at a field goal but chose to go for it. They did not get a TD on fourth down, and had to turnover the ball. While it was a bit of a risky decision, I think it was a good decision by Sam Pittman.

Considering the Razorbacks’ offense wasn’t at full strength, it’s reasonable to say that they weren’t going to have a lot of good chances in the red zone. Additionally, it doesn’t change the possession difference at all, so I get going for it.

LSU once again had to punt the ball after 6 plays. The Tigers would get lucky as Malik Hornsby would fumble the ball for the Razorbacks. The fumble was caused by Harold Perkins who had an amazing game. Perkins had 4 sacks, and 6 solo tackles; 4 of those 6 tackles were for a loss. He clinched the game by forcing his second fumble of the day.

LSU would be able to take advantage of this good field position and was able to get into field goal range. Due to a third-down sack, they had to settle for a field goal though. Arkansas would quickly punt after 1 first down on the next drive. John Emery Jr would have his run of the game on the next play for LSU. Emery Jr would run for 32 yards, getting the Tigers out of bad field position and at the Arkansas 40.

They would use the rest of their rushing attack to get into field goal range and take a three-point lead. Arkansas would have continued with their offensive struggles and punted the ball away into the second half.

The second half started out with punts by both sides. Arkansas would get something going on their next drive, as Hornsby was able to use his legs to get near LSU territory. Not near field goal range, they would go for it and Hornsby got sacked for 12 yards. The Tigers would use the good field position to good use, scoring a TD on this drive.

Short drives by both sides, and Arkansas had the ball in horrible field position. The Razorbacks swapped QBs, and Cade Fortin went to work. Fortin led the Razorbacks down the field for a TD. In the early minutes of the fourth, it was only a three-point game. It would stay a three-point game the rest of the way as both teams exchanged punts after three-and-outs (or only having 1 first down on a single drive).

Arkansas had a chance to win this game late with 1:44 remaining after Noah Cain was just short of the first down. On the third play of that drive, Arkansas would fumble the ball due to a strip sack from Perkins. The game was basically over, and LSU Football clinched the SEC west title.

LSU Football defeats Arkansas, clinches SEC West

I really didn’t think Arkansas would be in this game. Even if KJ Jefferson was healthy, I did not think the Razorbacks would stand a chance after the way LSU has looked in the last two weeks. It was three point spread, and I thought the Tigers would cover easily. LSU still covered but with no margin for error. The Razorbacks have to be commended for that. I was really impressed with the Razorbacks’ pass rush today.

Still, this season has been a bit of disappointment for the team. They will probably lose against Ole Miss. The question of whether they will be bowl-eligible will come down if Arkansas can beat Missouri.

That might not be a tall order but I think that game will at least be competitive, considering how Arkansas has fared in recent weeks (also keep in mind, Missouri will also be playing for bowl eligibility in that game; assuming they beat New Mexico St this week). Arkansas was ranked 10th in the country after winning their first three games, and the season has gone downhill since then and they will be playing FOR bowl eligibility in the last game of the season.

I really expected LSU Football to destroy Arkansas going into this game. This didn’t happen. Still, they got the victory and are SEC West champs. This year has been a success for Brian Kelly. The Tigers have turned it around since their horrible regular-season opener loss against Florida State.

They still have a slim chance at the playoff. First, they would need to win out the rest of the regular season; which isn’t a tall order considering they are facing UAB and Texas A&M to finish out the year. More importantly, they would need to beat Georgia in the SEC title game. Pending injuries, Georgia will be a heavy favorite going into the title game.

If LSU Football wants a slim (and this is the best-case scenario) shot at beating Georgia, they need to dominate their next two opponents. This kind of sloppy play/playing down to your opponent needs not to happen in the next two games. If I was a fan of the Tigers, I would be looking for the passing game to improve in the next two weeks before the title game. The question is, can they do that?