FAYETTEVILLE — Facing a dangerous dual-threat quarterback in LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Arkansas turned up the pressure Saturday afternoon.
The Razorbacks were in the backfield quite a bit and ultimately got him down for seven sacks in their 13-10 loss to the No. 7 Tigers at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
It was one shy of Arkansas’ season high of eight set against Missouri State, but it was the most it’s had against an FBS opponent since notching eight against Auburn in 2012.
“All week our whole thing was, ‘We’re blitzing to get him on the ground,’” head coach Sam Pittman said. “It wasn’t, ‘Let’s get to this gap, this gap. Let’s be gap sound. Let’s make sure he doesn’t run.’ … It was just, ‘Let’s get him on the ground. Let’s go get him.’”
Coming into the game, Daniels led all SEC quarterbacks and ranked second among all FBS quarterbacks with 619 rushing yards. He’d also scored 10 rushing touchdowns, which was second only to Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins in the conference.
Thanks to the seven sacks, he had only 10 yards on 19 carries. Linebacker Drew Sanders said the Razorbacks knew he was a challenge and slowing him down would be critical to having a chance to pull off the upset.
“Just watching him on film, he just kind of seemed like the key to their success,” Sanders said. “We knew getting after the quarterback would help everybody else on defense. We just did a great job attacking.”
Five of Arkansas’ sacks came in the first half. Including their two after halftime, the Razorbacks now have 35 sacks this season. That ranks sixth on the UA single-season list and is their most since 2010, when they had 37.
It was actually backup linebacker Chris Paul Jr. who led the way with two sacks against LSU, but he was just one of seven players who contributed to the total. That group included Sanders, who was in on a pair of half-sacks, giving him a full one.
With those two plays, the Alabama transfer cracked the individual single-season top-10 list at Arkansas. He now has 8.5 sacks, which is tied with Chris Smith (2013) and Antwain Robinson (2006) for eighth in school history.
All-Around Dominant Defense
The seven sacks were just one part of a dominant showing by Arkansas’ defense on Saturday.
LSU posted its second-worst yardage total of the season, with only Auburn (270) holding it to fewer than the 284 yards it had against Arkansas. The Tigers 13 points matched a season low set against Tennessee.
The Razorbacks also forced two turnovers, including just the second interception of the year thrown by Jayden Daniels, and limited the Tigers to just 4 of 14 conversions (28.6%) on third down, their worst mark of the year.
“I thought our defense played lights out, by far the best game we’ve played all year,” Pittman said. “We covered well, pressured the quarterback well.”
It’s also worth noting that two of LSU’s three scoring drives came on short fields thanks to a fumble and turnover on downs by the offense. Not including their kneel downs at the end of each half, the Tigers had 12 possessions and they had only one drive that gained more than 40 yards.
Starting with a second-half shutout a week earlier against Liberty, Arkansas kept its opponents out of the end zone in four consecutive quarters. Even factoring in the first half against the Flames, the Razorbacks have allowed just 17 points and 299.5 yards per game in their last two matchups.
“I think we’ve been getting better progressively throughout the year,” linebacker Drew Sanders said. “I mean, we’ve had some hiccups in some games, but I think defensively we’re coming together as a unit. These past two games I think we’ve played some good ball, but we’ve still got some things to clean up.”
Even with losses in five of its last seven games, Arkansas and Pittman have reason for optimism heading into the final two games of the season because of the defense’s recent strong play.
Wins against Ole Miss and/or Missouri – only one of which is needed to gain bowl eligibility – aren’t totally outside the realm of possibility if the defense can continue playing like that and a healthy KJ Jefferson returns to the field.
First-Time Starters
Most of the attention was on quarterback Malik Hornsby, but he wasn’t the only Arkansas football player making his first career start Saturday afternoon.
Following an incredible breakout performance in his first game on defense last week, freshman Quincey McAdoo got the nod over Malik Chavis against LSU and was pretty solid once again. In addition to making six tackles, the Clarendon native also broke up two passes.
“I think he’s a really good player,” Pittman said. “I noticed they didn’t really catch too many balls over there on him. I’d have to watch the tape to be honest with you, but I did see him make several physical tackles.”
Back on the offensive side of things, Ty’Kieast Crawford started at right tackle because sixth-year super senior Dalton Wagner missed the game with a back injury.
Although he started three games as a true freshman at Charlotte in 2020, it was the junior’s first meaningful snaps on the offensive line at Arkansas. Crawford appeared to get picked on by freshman phenom Harold Perkins Jr. at times, but his teammates were high on his performance.
“Everybody’s first SEC start, you always have those two plays, or a couple plays,” center Ricky Stromberg said. “You can go back and analyze anybody’s first SEC starting game — they have a play where they get beat. It happens. But I thought Ty’Kieast played great.”
It’s also worth noting that sophomore Jayden Johnson, who had started five of the first six games of the season, filled in at nickel for the suspended Myles Slusher. He made eight tackles, including an excellent third-down stop just shy of the line to gain midway through the fourth quarter.
Attendance Check
The announced attendance for Saturday’s matchup between Arkansas and LSU was 73,750, which ranks 23rd all-time among Reynolds Razorback Stadium crowds.
With one home game remaining, the Razorbacks are averaging 73,029 fans. That five-game total would break the school record for a single season, which is currently 69,581 in 2016.
However, it’s worth noting that this is just the second year in modern Arkansas football history that it didn’t play a single game at War Memorial Stadium, which has a much smaller capacity.
Considering only games played in Fayetteville, this year currently ranks third in average attendance, behind the 2006 (73,895) and 2016 (73,347) seasons.
Arkansas Football Injury Report
Here’s the latest on various Arkansas football players dealing with injuries…
- QB KJ Jefferson (shoulder): Dressed out, but did not play… Pittman said the decision was made Thursday because he hadn’t been able to do much at practice
- OL Dalton Wagner (back): Did not dress out… Was not seen at practice Monday or Tuesday, but Pittman was optimistic that he’d be at Wednesday’s practice
- TE Nathan Bax (undisclosed): Dressed out and went through pregame warmups, but not listed on the participation chart… Second straight game missed with an injury suffered in the Wednesday practice of Liberty week
- DT Taurean Carter (knee): Been out since getting hurt in the Spring Showcase… Pittman had been hopeful that he might be able to return for Ole Miss, but has now said Missouri would be the earliest
- RB Dominique Johnson (ACL): Out for the year
- QB Kade Renfro (ACL): Out for the year
- CB LaDarrius Bishop (knee): Out for the year
- S Jalen Catalon (shoulder): Out for the year
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