It took a little more than one quarter for the high-powered LSU offense to warm up against Arkansas, but once it did the rout was on in Death Valley.
Heisman frontrunner and Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow effortlessly completed 23 of 28 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns in two-plus quarters of work against a historically dreadful Razorbacks defense, securing LSU's place in next month's SEC championship game and handing Arkansas its school-record 18th consecutive loss in conference play.
"The way we started, the way we finished was really good," Arkansas interim coach Barry Lunney Jr. said. "In between, we ran into a really good football team. I don’t think anything changed with our intetionality of playing hard and playing tenacious. I think we just ran into an excellent football team.
"Very proud of them. Can we play better? Yeah. And we’re going to have to. We need to. We need to play cleaner. We need to play better, but they did what we asked them to do, and for that I thank them."
There is no secret to the Tigers' offensive plans. Burrow, week in and week out, utilizes two of the best receivers in all of college football in Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, both of whom are up for the Biletnikoff Award this year. Chase was the star on Saturday, reeling in six passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns.
Chase's first scoring grab of the night, a 37-yard bomb on which he beat Arkansas defensive back LaDarrius Bishop by several steps, put LSU on the board less than three minutes in. He then capped his big night with a 50-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter to put the Tigers up 35-6.
As has been the case for a majority of the 2019 season, opposing teams gashed the John Chavis-led Arkansas defense with little resistance. Not only did Burrow put together a near-perfect outing, and not only did Chase notch his fourth consecutive 100-plus yard receiving game, but Tigers running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for a career-high 188 yards and three touchdowns.
He needed only six carries to do so.
Here is a rundown of his final four carries: 27 yards, touchdown; 35 yards, first down; 26 yards, touchdown; 89 yards, touchdown. Edwards-Helaire, the fourth running back to top 180 rushing yards against Arkansas this season, also caught a team-high seven passes for 65 yards.
Lunney said he was impressed with how fast the LSU offense operated.
"I mean, I didn't even realize the speed at which they went," he added. "They go quickly. They're under control yet they go very fast, and I thought our guys did a good job lining up, but they just keep coming at you with weapons and calls."
Early in the second quarter, after Connor Limpert connected on his second field goal of the night, Arkansas found itself trailing only 7-6. Defensively, the Razorbacks appeared to be playing with renewed energy and heart. They forced a punt in the first quarter and another to begin the second quarter, but it was all LSU after Limpert's 47-yard kick with 9:43 to go before halftime.
The Tigers ripped off 49 unanswered points and ballooned their lead to 56-6 just eight seconds into the fourth quarter on running back John Emery's 39-yard rushing score. It was the sixth LSU touchdown of 25-plus yards in the game.
For the night, Ed Orgeron's offense put up 612 total yards one week after setting a school record with more than 700 at Ole Miss.
"At the beginning of the game we got the 3-and-out, we're playing with a lot of heart, but they started executing," safety Kam Curl said. "They’re the No. 1 team in the nation for a reason. They started executing. We’ve just got to keep working on playing the whole 60 minutes."
Arkansas, on the other side of the ball, remained consistently inconsistent. Saturday marked the sixth consecutive game in which Razorbacks quarterbacks failed to complete even 50 percent of their passes. True freshman KJ Jefferson, Nick Starkel and Jack Lindsey combined to hit 13 of 28 throws for 190 yards and a touchdown. Lindsey had the lone passing score, a 24-yard strike to sophomore receiver Mike Woods in the fourth quarter.
Lunney noted following the game that Jefferson is going to be evaluated for a concussion, and Starkel is in a similar situation. Jefferson is "very questionable" for Missouri, especially on a short week.
Jefferson's first college start did not go the way he'd hoped, but it was certainly a learning experience. Lunney and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock decided shortly after Chad Morris' dismissal that Jefferson would lead the offense against the Tigers. Jefferson showed flashes of great play and also made some freshman mistakes, including running and sliding short of the line to gain twice on third down.
"He competed hard," Lunney said. "I think he was a microcosm of our football team. He competed hard. He did the things we asked him to do. We just didn’t have enough gas in our tank to stay with these guys for four quarters."
Freshman receiver Treylon Burks was also a bright spot. He caught three passes from Jefferson that totaled 80 yards to lead the team. The 80 yards are his most in a game since Arkansas' win over Colorado State in September.
With one week remaining in the season, Lunney said his charge is to send the Razorbacks (2-9, 0-7 SEC) and their fans out on a high note against Missouri in War Memorial Stadium on Friday.
"I want them to have that Razorback, War Memorial feel," he added. "I know that's going to be a challenge for us. We haven't done much to give our fans that encouragement, that win, that feather in their cap lately, but I know our people, I know our state is proud and they're proud of their Razorbacks. We're going to need them to show up and come inside. That's what we're going to need.
"Then what I'm going to need to do and what our staff is going to need to do is deliver a team that when they roll out inside that stadium that they play like Razorbacks. That's going to be my job. If we can do that together, if they do theirs and we do ours, we can make Friday afternoon really special in War Memorial."