No. 1 LSU had the nation’s No. 2 defense, a home-field advantage and the inside track to the BCS national championship game.
Why This Game Matters
Beating the nation’s No. 1 team on its home field is always a memorable event. And Houston Nutt pulled it off in what turned out to be his final game as the Razorbacks coach. The victory improved the Razorbacks’ overtime record to 7-1, furthering their reputation as college football’s overtime kings.
Most Memorable Games
http://www.wholehog…">No. 25: Arkansas 29, Kansas State 16 - Jan. 6, 2012
http://www.wholehog…">No. 24: Florida 34, Arkansas 3 - Dec. 2, 1995
http://www.wholehog…">No. 23: Florida 23, Arkansas 20 - Oct. 17, 2009
http://www.wholehog…">No. 22: Arkansas 42, Texas A&M 38 - Oct. 1, 2011
http://www.wholehog…">No. 21: Arkansas 27, Auburn 10 - Oct. 7, 2006
http://www.wholehog…">No. 20: Arkansas 48, South Carolina 36 - Nov. 3, 2007
http://www.wholehog…">No. 19: Louisiana-Monroe 34, Arkansas 31, OT - Sept. 8, 2012
http://www.wholehog…">No. 18: Southern Cal 70, Arkansas 17 - Sept. 17, 2005
http://www.wholehog…">No. 17: Arkansas 31, LSU 30 - Nov. 28, 2008
http://www.wholehog…">No. 16: Arkansas 42, Alabama 6 - Sept. 26, 1998
http://www.wholehog…">No. 15: Arkansas 27, Texas 6 - Jan. 1, 2000
http://www.wholehog…">No. 14: Arkansas 38, Texas 28 - Sept. 13, 2003
http://www.wholehog…">No. 13: Arkansas 20, Alabama 19 - Sept. 16, 1995
http://www.wholehog…">No. 12: Florida 38, Arkansas 28 - Dec. 2, 2006
http://www.wholehog…">No. 11: Arkansas 25, Tennessee 24 - Oct. 10, 1992
http://www.wholehog…">No. 10: Arkansas 31, LSU 23 - Nov. 27, 2010
http://www.wholehog…">No. 9: Ohio State 31, Arkansas 26 - Jan. 4, 2011
http://www.wholehog…">No. 8: Arkansas 71, Kentucky 63 (7 OT) - Nov. 1, 2003
http://www.wholehog…">No. 7: Arkansas 28, Tennessee 24 - Nov. 13, 1999
http://www.wholehog…">No. 6: The Citadel 10, Arkansas 3 - Sept. 5, 1992
http://www.wholehog…">No. 5: Arkansas 52, Ole Miss 45 - Nov. 7, 2015
The Arkansas Razorbacks, a 13-point underdog under beleaguered Coach Houston Nutt, had two-time Heisman Trophy runnerup Darren McFadden and the Wild Hog formation in their corner.
They also had a bone to pick with the Tigers, who had knocked them out of national championship contention the year before with a 31-26 victory in Little Rock.
For some reason, LSU Coach Les Miles referred to the Tigers’ Thanksgiving weekend opponent as Ar-Kansas on several occasions during the week of the game.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette tried to set Miles’ mispronunciation straight with a cartoon rebus that week featuring the letter “R,” a tin can and a saw.
The Razorbacks got their revenge on the field.
Arkansas won 50-48 in triple overtime, a classic that ranks as the No. 4 game in the Democrat-Gazette’s countdown of the 25 most memorable games of the Razorbacks’ 25 seasons in the SEC.
It was Arkansas’ first victory over a No. 1 team since a 42-11 beatdown of Texas in 1981.
McFadden took snaps at Wild Hog quarterback on all four Arkansas touchdowns in regulation. The Little Rock native rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns and threw a scoring pass to Peyton Hillis, who had 127 yards total offense and a career-high four touchdowns.
“That’s got to be my No. 1 game of all time,” McFadden said last summer.
Nutt had asked trainer Dean Weber to make small wooden bats for every member of the travel squad to take to the road game with a Razorbacks logo and “Bring the Wood” in big letters on them.
McFadden brandished his after the upset, shouting “We got that wood right here!” as he broke into Nutt’s postgame interview with CBS.
“It’s Arkansas, baby,” McFadden said as a reminder to Miles.
Arkansas improved to 7-1 in overtime games.
Hillis caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Casey Dick in the first overtime.
McFadden scored from 9 yards out in the second overtime, and Hills barreled in from the 3 in the third overtime. Felix Jones ran over left tackle on the mandatory two-point conversion try.
The Tigers pulled within 50-48 on Brandon LaFell’s 9-yard touchdown pass from Matt Flynn. Arkansas defensive back Matterral Richardson broke in front of Demetrius Byrd and picked off Flynn’s slant pass in the end zone for the final play of the game.
Richardson raced behind the Arkansas bench to celebrate while the Razorbacks rejoiced on the field.
“The only people who believed were the people in that locker room, our players and coaches,” Richardson said that night. “It just feels so good because nobody gave us a chance.”
Nutt proclaimed that McFadden needed to be back in the Heisman Trophy conversation and classified the upset as perhaps the best game of his coaching career.
“It has to be,” Nutt said. “They were ranked No. 1. I always think about [big wins against] Texas and Tennessee, but to come down here in Baton Rouge and win, it was huge.”
An iconic moment in that game came early in the third quarter near the end of McFadden’s 73-yard touchdown run, which gave Arkansas a 14-6 lead.
Quarterback Casey Dick, who had been flanked out in the Wild Hog formation, blocked safety Chad Jones away from McFadden 50 yards down field.
“I don’t know if he’d have caught him, but [Jones] can definitely run,” said Dick, who is now offensive coordinator at Bentonville West High School. “I had to help him out. He helped us out a lot throughout his career. I had to repay the favor a little.”
The Wild Hog was a crucial part of Arkansas’ victory.
“We felt like in watching the film … the thing about the Wild Hog, we felt like it would slow them down, the discipline of their eyes,” Nutt said this summer. “With Felix Jones coming in motion, with Peyton Hillis in the backfield and Marcus Monk on the outside and Darren handling the ball, we felt, ‘This is going to be a good way to not let them play fast.’
“That was our No. 1 thing. We’re not going to let LSU play fast and we’re going to make them cover all their bases.”
The game did not start well for Arkansas, especially for McFadden, who lost a fumble on the opening kickoff, then recovered his own fumble on the next kickoff after LSU converted the early takeaway into a field goal.
The Razorbacks led 7-6 at halftime, so there was no indication a shootout would ensue.
But that’s exactly what happened.
Arkansas finished with 513 total yards, 100 more than the Tigers.
The fortunes for both teams took immediate turns.
Nutt resigned a few days later and take the head coaching reins at Ole Miss. The Razorbacks earned a coveted Cotton Bowl berth with the victory, but played uninspired in a 38-7 loss to Missouri in Dallas.
Miles was distraught after the game, saying “We understand that this cost us and what was at stake.”
But his team got an unlikely reprieve. The Tigers fell only to No. 5, went on to defeat Tennessee 21-14 in the SEC championship game, and thanks to a series of upsets, they cycled back up to No. 2 in the BCS rankings and thumped Ohio State 38-24 in the Superdome to win the national championship.
McFadden, now approaching his 10th season in the NFL, said revenge was uppermost in his mind entering the game.
“We were 10-1 [in 2006) and they knocked us out of a chance to go to the national championship,” McFadden said. “It’s just a great feeling to be able to return the favor.”
The Razorbacks not only brought home the Golden Boot Trophy, they created some lifetime memories.
“I’ll talk about it for the rest of my life,” Arkansas linebacker Weston Dacus said.
“Any time you can go into Death Valley, they’re ranked No. 1, it’s at night, it’s the day after Thanksgiving, it’s an overwhelming experience,” Dick said. “There’s a lot of people who go in there and get losses and we were able to go in there and get a W out of it.”
Nutt said he usually stops what he’s doing when he sees the replay of the 2007 game at LSU on TV.
“I’ll be sitting at home and I can feel myself actually getting butterflies and thinking, ‘Are we going to make this third down? … How are we going to make this fourth-down play?’
“It always turns out right, but even sitting in that chair watching when you know the outcome, man, you still get a little nervous thinking ‘How are we going to pull this thing out?’ ”
Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs said games like this were what made playing in the SEC special.
“Because it seems like almost every year Arkansas plays the No. 1 team or the national champion,” said Luigs, who won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center in 2007. “You love to play in those types of games. That’s why you come to Arkansas, to play against teams of that caliber.
“It’s really cool to look back and say we beat the No. 1 team, we beat the eventual national champion. That’s a great memory.”
Box Score
Nov. 23, 2007
Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge
Arkansas 0 7 14 7 7 7 8 — 50
LSU;6 0 15 7 7 7 6 — 48
FIRST QUARTER
LSU—FG David 32, 13:19
LSU—FG David 49, 7:16
SECOND QUARTER
ARK—McFadden 16 run (Tejada kick), 7:33
THIRD QUARTER
ARK—McFadden 73 run (Tejada kick), 9:49
LSU—Hester 12 run (Flynn run), 7:48
ARK—Hillis 65 run (Tejada kick), 5:46
LSU—Byrd 7 pass from Flynn (David kick), 2:22
FOURTH QUARTER
ARK—Hillis 24 pass from McFadden (Tejada kick), 5:06
LSU—Byrd 2 pass from Flynn (David kick), :57
FIRST OVERTIME
LSU—Flynn 12 run (David kick)
ARK—Hillis 10 pass from Dick (Tejada kick)
SECOND OVERTIME
ARK—McFadden 9 run (Tejada kick)
LSU—Hester 2 run (David kick)
THIRD OVERTIME
ARK—Hillis 3 run (Jones run)
LSU—LaFell 9 pass from Flynn (pass intercepted)
Attendance—92,606
TEAM STATISTICS
;ARK;LSU
First downs;21;25
Rushes-yards;53-385;48-204
Passing;129;209
Comp-Att-Int;13-24-0;22-47-0
Return yards;125;115
Fumbles-lost;3-1;3-0
Penalties-yards;9-62;4-35
Possession time;28:33;31:27
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Arkansas, McFadden 32-206, Hillis 11-89, Jones 9-85, Crawford 1-5. LSU, Hester 28-126, Williams 10-47, Flynn 9-27, Scott 104.
PASSING—Arkansas, Dick 10-180 94, McFadden 3-6-0 34. LSU, Flynn 22-47-0 209.
RECEIVING—Arkansas, Hillis 5-62, Monk 2-12, Jones 2-10, Miller 1-16, Williams 1-12, Davie 1-8, Johnson 1-8. LSU, Doucet 7-52, Byrd 6-46, Dickson 5-69, LaFell 3-22, Scott 1-20.