FAYETTEVILLE — The final score indicated a blowout, but Arkansas vs LSU was a tight game until midway through the third quarter Saturday night.
A 51-yard field goal by Matthew Shipley to open the second half pulled the Razorbacks within 16-10 and they followed it up by forcing the Tigers’ first punt of the game. Isaiah Sategna fair caught it at the 14, setting Arkansas up with a chance to take its first lead.
It was all going according to the plan head coach Sam Pittman laid out at halftime — until disaster struck.
“It kind of was working out that way, but we missed an outside rusher that we should’ve blocked, then threw the ball, got tipped up,” Pittman recalled. That interception led to an easy punch-in TD by LSU, which then converted a 2-point conversion.
“We got down 14 and just seemed like we couldn’t bounce back from that.”
The outside rusher was LSU linebacker Whit Weeks, who came around the left side and was immediately in Taylen Green’s face. The 6-foot-6 quarterback tried throwing over him, but Weeks batted it into the air and eventually came down with it at the 2-yard line.
The very next play was a Caden Durham touchdown that vaulted the Tigers toward their ultimate 34-10 victory inside Razorback Stadium. It was just the 10th time in 55 games under Pittman that Arkansas never held a lead.
On the fateful interception, the Razorbacks had called an inside zone read with an option to run or throw and Green correctly read the blitz. They didn’t get a blocker over to Weeks quick enough, but the quarterback took full blame for the turnover.
“I saw them blitzing and I know we had an RPO and I tried to throw into it,” Green said. “But I have to do a better job of taking care of the football. That’s just handing them the ball, especially when we’re backed up like that.”
That was one of three turnovers by Arkansas, but it was by far the most costly.
Targeting Overturned for LSU Football
While that interception might have been the final nail in the coffin for the Razorbacks, they had suffered another significant setback at the end of the first half.
LSU’s third field goal of the game put it up 16-7 with 3:10 left in the second quarter, but it also gave Arkansas a chance to pull off a 2-for-1 — scoring twice at the very end of the first half and again to start the second half, when it was set to receive the opening kickoff.
The Razorbacks got to near midfield with about a minute and a half remaining when Taylen Green tried to complete a pass over the middle to Tyrone Broden. He got his hands on the ball, but couldn’t hang on to it when he was lit up by LSU safety Sage Ryan.
Four flags immediately flew in and targeting was called. However, much to the surprise of not only Arkansas football fans, but also the ESPN crew, the penalty was overturned.
“I was (surprised),” Sam Pittman said. After a long pause, he added, “I thought it was a defenseless player. But they didn’t and they looked at it, but I thought it was.”
Instead of getting 15 yards, which would have put it at the LSU 34-yard line with a first down, Arkansas stayed where it was and followed it up with two incomplete passes, prompting a punt.
Taylen Green’s Return
His costly interception will probably get most of the attention, but the fact that Taylen Green was even able to play Saturday night was good news for the Razorbacks.
After suffering a bone bruise to his left knee during the Tennessee game two weeks earlier, his status for the LSU game was very much in the air — until he was entirely left off the SEC availability report released Wednesday.
Despite the injury, and the interception, Green actually played pretty well. He completed 21 of 31 passes (67.7%) for 239 yards and one touchdown.
“I felt like he was close to 100% because he practiced that way,” Pittman said. “I think I saw him limping a little bit after he got hit a couple of times, but I think he went 21 (mph) or something on his GPS, so I think he was ready to go. I don’t know if he was 100%, but he’s 90 at least. We’ll certainly take him at 90.”
Following the game, Green acknowledged he had “little nicks and bruises,” but overall he said he was “feeling perfectly fine.”
“The training staff did an amazing job of getting me ready,” Green said. “I couldn’t go home for the bye week, so it was a little deflating, but it was just trying to focus on getting my body right and getting healthy. They came up with a great plan and I felt great out there.”
Limited Big Plays Not Enough
One of Best of Arkansas Sports’ three keys to Arkansas pulling off the upset was not allowing big plays through the air. LSU entered the game tied for eighth nationally with 29 completed passes of at least 20 yards.
The Razorbacks actually accomplished that, as the Tigers managed just one such play Saturday night. That was a 29-yard connection between Garrett Nussmeier and CJ Daniels midway through the third quarter.
However, that didn’t really make an impact because LSU took a nickel-and-dime approach and pretty much moved the ball at will.
Nussmeier completed 22 of 33 passes (66.7%) for 224 yards and the Tigers were effective on the ground, resulting in them scoring on seven of their eight drives, excluding their possessions at the end of each half.
“(He was) just taking what we were giving him,” Pittman said. “They were throwing 8- and 10-yard hitch routes, wide-open. Obviously we tried some different things there, tried some man-to-man and tried some zero coverage, total coverage. Nussmeier was really good and their wideouts were really good.”
Armstrong Wins Crip Hall Award
He finished just shy of reaching the century mark again, but Andrew Armstrong was still an obvious choice for the Crip Hall Award as the most outstanding senior on homecoming.
In addition to leading the team with 7 receptions for 94 yards, the 6-foot-4 super senior caught his first touchdown of the season.
While he failed to reach 100 yards in the game, Armstrong did get to triple digits in another category — career receptions. He moved past James Shibest (97) on the UA’s all-time list and is now tied with Emanuel Smith and Mike Reppond for 18th with 101.
Armstrong also jumped Jim Hodge for 20th on the school’s career receiving yards list, as he now has 1,410.
With 45 catches for 646 yards, he ranks second and third, respectively, in those categories among SEC players.
If he maintains that pace, Armstrong would finish the regular season with 83 receptions and 1,184 yards. That’d put him within striking distance of Arkansas’ single-season records (90 for 1,335 by Cobi Hamilton in 2012) in a potential bowl game.
Devin Bale for Heisman
Few people like talking about the punter, but Devin Bale is worthy of getting some love. He put on a punting clinic against LSU.
Bale’s first punt was a 47-yard beauty just before halftime that landed about as close to the end zone as possible and kicked back to the 2-yard line, where it was downed. It was so close to the goal line that the officials actually reviewed it, only to uphold the call.
He nearly replicated that late in the third quarter, as his punt landed inside the 5, but Arkansas’ gunners couldn’t track it down before it bounced into the end zone for a touchback. It went down as a 47-yard punt.
Bale saved his best for last. Following a three-and-out by the offense, he unloaded on a 58-yarder that was perfectly angled to the sideline. Zavion Thomas fielded it, but immediately stepped out of bounds at the 20.
It was just the latest strong performance by Bale, who is now averaging 48.5 yards on 18 punts this season. That’d rank second in the SEC and fifth nationally if he met the minimum requirements, but he’s seven punts shy of qualifying.
The single-season UA record is 47.2 yards set by Greg Horne in 1986, but there’s a good chance Bale won’t break that mark. The minimum required to crack the all-time list in Arkansas’ record book is four punts per game, which would projects to 48 in a 12-game season. That means he’d have to punt 30 more times over the last five games — or an average of 6 per game — just to qualify.
OL Shuffle for Arkansas Football
Given an extra week to prepare for the Arkansas vs LSU game, Sam Pittman tweaked his offensive line.
After using the same five-man combination for the first six games of the season, the Razorbacks flipped E’Marion Harris and Keyshawn Blackstock up front.
The move was made in large part because of their size. Harris went to right tackle, where his athletic, 6-foot-7, 300-pound frame might be better suited to block LSU edge rusher Bradyn Swinson, while Blackstock moved inside to left guard, where his 6-foot-5, 319-pound frame might hold up better against LSU’s big interior linemen.
“We felt like Blackstock could handle the bull a little bit better,” Pittman said. “We also thought Harris might could handle a little bit more of a speed rusher out there. I’ll have to wait and see how it looks (on film).”
Something to monitor moving forward is whether or not Patrick Kutas works his way back into the starting lineup.
The junior was the projected starting left guard before hurting his back early in fall camp. The injury kept him out the first half of the season, but Kutas was dressed out and available Saturday night, taking second-team reps at left guard during pregame warmups.
While Kutas never got into the game itself, Pittman was optimistic that he could play the rest of the season. Couple that with what the head Hog said about Blackstock earlier in the week and the Michigan State transfer might be looking over his shoulder these last five games.
“Keyshawn…has been good at times and then sometimes his technique has gone awry on him, which we’re trying to get fixed,” Pittman said last Monday. “And he’s willing, too. I love him. He’s going to be fine.”
Arkansas Football Availability Report
Sam Pittman said earlier in the week that the Razorbacks were “just about full strength” as they entered the second half of the season. Pregame warmups showed just how true that statement was.
In addition to Patrick Kutas returning, three transfers who’d been out for extended periods of time were also available.
Wide receiver Khafre Brown (South Florida/North Carolina) hadn’t played since the opener against UAPB, while Saturday marked the first time defensive back Miguel Mitchell (Florida) had dressed out for the Razorbacks. The third, and arguably most significant, was tight end Andreas Paaske (Eastern Michigan) coming back from a concussion that had kept him out the last three games.
Of that group, both Paaske and Mitchell saw action on offense and defense, respectively.
Only three players were included on the final official SEC availability report for the game: cornerback Jaylon Braxton (tendinitis), running back Rodney Hill (MCL) and kicker Kyle Ramsey (groin).
The Razorbacks were also without a few reserves, two of which are on scholarship. Freshman JuJu Pope, who converted from linebacker to running back earlier this season, was not dressed out and neither were two offensive linemen.
Luke Brown, a redshirt freshman from Tennessee, had returned and went through warmups prior to the Tennessee game, but was spotted on crutches Saturday. Tim Dawn, a walk-on transfer from Baylor, was missing two weeks ago, but was seen on a scooter prior to the LSU game.
Throw in the absences of long snapper Eli Stein and wide receiver Jaedon Wilson — both of whom are among the team’s 85 scholarships, but quit the team less than two weeks into the season — and the season-ending injuries to the freshman trio of defensive back Jaden Allen (knee), linebacker Justin Logan (shoulder) and offensive lineman Zuri Madison, the Razorbacks had 76 scholarship players available Saturday.
Other Arkansas Football Tidbits
- The announced attendance for the Arkansas vs LSU game was 75,893. That’s the fourth-largest crowd in Razorback Stadium history and was the biggest since the record crowd of 76,808 set against Alabama in 2010.
- A pair of Arkansas legends were recognized Saturday. Former safety Ken Hamlin was the honorary captain, while former defensive tackle Dan Hampton joined the team for the pregame Hog Walk. Already a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the latter was also recognized after the first quarter for his upcoming induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
- Defensive end Landon Jackson, who began his career at LSU before transferring to Arkansas, was one of the Razorbacks’ four rotating team captains for Saturday’s game. He was joined by tight end Andreas Paaske, safety Larry Worth III and long snapper Ashton Ngo.
- Even LSU is still shocked that John Calipari is now the Arkansas basketball coach:
Arkansas vs LSU Postgame Interviews
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