Razorbacks fail to finish job

LSU receiver Tarvin Dural catches the go-ahead touchdown pass late in the 4th quarter against Arkansas during Friday afternoon's game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

BATON ROUGE - Arkansas linebacker Braylon Mitchell didn’t think he could bear to watch, so he stood on the sideline with his eyes closed.

LSU was trying to overcome a three-point deficit with less than two minutes left, and the Tigers were facing third and 10 from the Arkansas 49 with true freshman quarterback Anthony Jennings leading the offense in place of injured senior Zach Mettenberger.

Mitchell had come out of the game because the Razorbacks’ had inserted safety Rohan Gaines to give them five defensive backs.

“I closed my eyes because I was hoping for a miracle,” said Mitchell, referring to the Razorbacks trying to break their school-record eight-game losing streak. “We’d played our butts off the whole game.

“I was just hoping that when I opened them, it would be for something good.”

Then Mitchell heard the Tiger Stadium crowd roaring, and he couldn’t keep his eyes closed any longer.

“I opened my eyes up and - boom - he scored a touchdown,” Mitchell said. “One of our defenders was getting beat. I was just hoping he didn’t catch the ball, man, and he ended up bringing it in.”

Jennings hit a wide-open Travin Dural, who had run past cornerback Jared Collins, for a 49-yard touchdown pass with 1:15 left to rally LSU to a 31-27 victory.

“I just thought that when it came down to that last play, we were going to get the job done,” said Mitchell, who had seven tackles, including a sack, and forced a fumble. “That was a very tough way to lose.”

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said Collins was supposed to have help from a safety on the touchdown pass, but he didn’t name the specific player who blew the coverage.

“We just got beat over the top and the receiver was able to make a play,” Razorbacks junior safety Alan Turner said.

Jennings’ touchdown pass capped a 99-yard drive that started at the LSU 1 with 3:14 left. He completed 4 of 6 passes for 76 yards and had 2 carries for 23 yards on the drive.

Coming into the game, Jennings had completed 2 of 3 passes for 23 yards.

“He stayed calm and made a lot of plays for them,” said Turner, who led the Razorbacks with 11 tackles and had an interception against Mettenberger. “For the most part, he did real well.”

While Arkansas had LSU backed up to its end zone after Sam Irwin-Hill’s rolling 65-yard punt, the Razorbacks said they weren’t overconfident.

“I didn’t think we had them, because I know games come down to the end,” Turner said. “You’ve got to play every play.”

It was the third time this season the Razorbacks have blown a lead in the fourth quarter, including a 28-24 loss at Rutgers that started their losing streak and a 24-17 overtime loss to Mississippi State last week.

“We knew we had a while left to go,” Mitchell said. “Our mind-set was to get our offense back the ball and let them do their thing and run the clock out.”

The Razorbacks’ had two three-and-out possessions in the fourth quarter, punting on fourth and 1 both times from their 26 and 34.

“It was pretty tough coming up that short two straight times by a few inches,” said freshman tight end Hunter Henry, who caught two touchdown passes. “We’ve just got to learn how to finish. We’ve got to step on people’s throats and continue to press. We’ll learn that.”

Several Razorbacks said it was the toughest loss of the season - tougher than 52-7 at home to South Carolina or 52-0 at Alabama - because of how close they came to a victory in the seniors’ last game and claiming the Boot, the trophy awarded to the Arkansas-LSU winner.

“I feel like the whole game few had the mind-set that no matter what, when we leave Louisiana, we’re taking the Boot with us,” Mitchell said. “So to have it come down to that one play and us not bringing back the Boot is very difficult.

“It’s a very emotional locker room right now. We’ve got a bunch of seniors that put their blood, sweat and tears into this season and also their whole careers into being Razorbacks.”

Senior center Travis Swanson made his 50th consecutive start.

“It’s heart-breaking, because we’re ahead with time winding down,” Swanson said. “You just wish it would have worked out for us. The fact it was the last game just adds to it.

“We felt the momentum was going our way. We executed great. The atmosphere and the venue really didn’t get to any of us. But if we could go back, obviously we’d do some things differently.”

The Razorbacks entered the game as 24 ½ -point underdogs but said they practiced well all week and believed they would win.

“We didn’t back down one bit, but we should have won that game,” Henry said. “…This is tough.”

Sports, Pages 24 on 11/30/2013