BATON ROUGE -- No. 1 LSU had deeper talent, more speed and athleticism than the University of Arkansas and a Heisman Trophy caliber quarterback, and the Tigers flexed all those strengths on a cool Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.
LSU had three touchdown drives of two plays or less to pull away in the third quarter, but it took the Tigers some time to get roaring as they clinched their first SEC West title since 2011 with a 56-20 rout of the Razorbacks before a crowd of 101,173.
Arkansas played with more passion early in its first game under interim Coach Barry Lunney Jr., but the Razorbacks could not hold off the LSU onslaught after pulling within a point at 7-6 midway through the second quarter.
Lunney spoke fondly of the Razorbacks' heart after the game.
"We didn't play near clean enough or good enough to beat a great team on the road," Lunney said. "But the way we prepared and the way we approached the game mentally and more importantly the way we approached the game with being committed to play with heart, it gave us a chance there early, to keep it interesting early."
The Razorbacks (2-9, 0-7 SEC) dropped their eighth consecutive game and lost their school-record 18th consecutive conference game dating to a 38-37 victory at Ole Miss on Oct. 28, 2017.
After scoring three times in the second quarter to lead 28-6 at halftime, LSU (11-0, 7-0 SEC) got its high-functioning offensive machine going in the third quarter with a series of big-play touchdowns and wound up with a 612-304 advantage in total offense.
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The Tigers, who will face Eastern Division winner Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, can complete their first unbeaten regular season since 2011 with a home victory against Texas A&M on Saturday.
"Obviously it's a goal of ours, but we have bigger goals," LSU Coach Ed Orgeron said about winning the West. "We're not done yet."
Orgeron said the Tigers were expected to dominate against the Razorbacks.
"There wasn't going to be a celebration for beating Arkansas. They haven't beaten anyone in a long time," he said.
Fifth-year senior quarterback Joe Burrow, the NCAA completion percentage leader, connected on 23 of 28 passes for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns. He came out late in the third quarter with LSU leading 42-6.
The Tigers became the first school in SEC history with a 4,000-yard passer, a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson and a 1,000-yard rusher in Clyde Edwards-Helaire. All of those standouts played major roles against Arkansas.
Edwards-Helaire had 6 carries for 188 yards (31.3 ypc) and 3 touchdowns on runs of 27, 26 and 89 yards. He was at 99 yards when he went back out for a late third-quarter series in an attempt to reach 100. On the first snap, he charged through a big hole, hit the right sideline and went 89 yards to cap his big night.
Chase had six catches for 144 yards, including two touchdowns, while Jefferson added another scoring catch.
The Tigers ran 16 times for 260 yards and averaged 16.3 yards per carry. LSU averaged 12.8 yards per play to Arkansas' 4.3.
"Goodness, they go so fast," Lunney said. "I didn't even realize the speed at which they went. ... They're under control, yet they go very fast."
KJ Jefferson made his first start at quarterback for Arkansas, and the freshman had his ups and downs before going to the locker room in concussion protocol in the third quarter. Jefferson completed 7 of 14 passes for 105 yards and was sacked three times.
The Razorbacks used three quarterbacks, with juniors Nick Starkel and Jack Lindsey following Jefferson. Starkel went 3 of 10 for 34 yards before taking a hard shot early in the fourth quarter and coming out. Lunney said Starkel was in a similar medical evaluation as Jefferson.
Lindsey shined in his first college action. The Springdale High product had a 30-yard run on his first snap, then threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Mike Woods on his second play. He finished 3 of 4 for 51 yards.
The Razorbacks closed with a flourish. After the Woods touchdown, the Razorbacks tried an onside pooch kick that kept bouncing around before Arkansas defensive back Simeon Blair pounced on it at the LSU 11. Two plays later, after a pass interference call in the end zone, Devwah Whaley blasted in from the 2-yard line to make it 56-20.
"We've just got to strain against teams like that," Arkansas tailback Rakeem Boyd said. "You've got to put everything on the line and just strain, and that's what we didn't do."
Said Lunney, "The way we started, the way we finished was really good. In between, we ran into a really good football team. I don't think anything changed with our intentionality of playing hard and playing tenacious. I think we just ran into an excellent football team."
LSU, gouged by Ole Miss for 402 rushing yards last week in a 58-37 win in Oxford, Miss., was determined to not let the Razorbacks crease them on the edges, and they succeeded.
Jefferson had 12 carries for a net of zero yards. Boyd, the nation's 25th-leading rusher, was held to 33 yards on 13 carries.
LSU jumped on top immediately after winning the coin flip, as Burrow found Chase for a 37-yard touchdown to cap a six-play, 75-yard drive.
The Razorbacks forced punts on LSU's next two possessions and clawed their way back into the game.
Connor Limpert made a 24-yard field goal at the end of a 49-yard drive late in the first quarter to draw Arkansas within 7-3. Jefferson had a 31-yard pass to Treylon Burks as the key play in the sequence.
The Razorbacks pulled within 7-6 at the 9:43 mark of the second quarter after Limpert's second field goal, a 47-yarder, completed a 32-yard Arkansas drive. Boyd caught a 29-yard screen pass from Jefferson to convert a third-and-16 snap, to spark that series.
The Tigers took control in the second quarter. Included was a 90-yard drive in nine plays that ended on Justin Jefferson's 10-yard touchdown catch with 14 seconds remaining before the half.
Sports on 11/24/2019