Arkansas’ offense had a fantastic start and a furious finish but not much in between in Friday’s 31-26 loss to LSU at War Memorial Stadium.

Much of the Razorbacks ’ struggles could be traced directly to an anemic passing game that produced just 62 yards, the fewest by an Arkansas team since a 23-0 victory over Troy State in 2002 in Little Rock.

“I’ll take the blame,” said Arkansas sophomore quarterback Casey Dick, who completed 3 of 17 passes for 29 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

LSU’s nationally top-ranked defense had plenty to do with Arkansas’ problems, especially during a second half in which Dick went 0 for 8 and wideout Robert Johnson had an incompletion.

Lowlights included defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois’ 15-yard sack of Dick on a fourth-and-3 play from the LSU 26 early in the fourth quarter, and free safety LaRon Landry’s interception that set up a 9-yard touchdown drive to give LSU a 24-12 lead with 10: 59 to play. Both plays typified Arkansas’ futile attempt to complement a 298-yard rushing day with any semblance of a passing attack.

“We just never got in a groove,” Dick said.

Dick also said Arkansas’ inability to establish a passing threat came as a surprise after the Razorbacks stormed 80 yards in six plays — including a 7-yard screen pass from Dick to tailback Darren McFadden and a 28-yard strike from McFadden to Johnson — on a game-opening possession that resulted in a 6-0 lead.

Dick completed only two more passes over the rest of the game, though, including one that Marcus Monk reached back to snag and turn into a 21-yard touchdown that brought Arkansas within 14-12 at halftime.

“He seemed to be a little bit off, but I thought he’d get going and make some plays for us,” Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt said of Dick, who guided the Razorbacks to victories over South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi State after replacing freshman Mitch Mustain.

Instead, the Razorbacks needed an 80-yard run from McFadden to draw within 24-19 with 10: 31 remaining, and a 37-yard touchdown drive on the heels of Felix Jones’ 62-yard kickoff return to get within 31-26 with 4: 53 to go.

“You can always look back and think through things, but you’ve got to keep a team like that off balance,” offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said. “I liked our approach. We just had some crucial plays in the game that we didn’t execute like we’d like.

“ We found some ways to move the football, but the bottom line is we didn’t score enough points.”

Arkansas’ biggest blown chance came when Dick was sacked by Jean-Francois. Malzahn said Dick had three options on the play, including two receivers on the left side of the field, but settled on trying to get the ball to Monk, who was the lone receiver on the right side.

When LSU double-teamed Monk and Dick was flushed out of the pocket, the play quickly disintegrated. Malzahn said he still believed the play call was a good one, though he couldn’t say that about the entire game.

“There were some other things I’d like to have back,” Malzahn said. “The ‘Wildcat’ package was pretty good to us.”

The “Wildcat” package features McFadden at quarterback, and his effort there underscored Arkansas’ overall struggles. Mc-Fadden passed only twice but completed both for a total of 33 yards — 4 more than Dick.

“We didn’t get it done,” Malzahn said.