There are vivid memories from my childhood of the great crooners, as my mom called them. She played their albums on our huge record player in the living room.
One of her favorites was Frank Sinatra. I can sing many of his classics, including “Pennies from Heaven.”
As LSU welcomes the Arkansas football team to Tiger Stadium on Saturday night, I’m reminded that pennies can fall from hell, too.
They call that place Death Valley — as former LSU coach Les Miles loved to say, “Where dreams go to die.” It’s raucous all the time, but worse at night.
“It sure is,” said Curt Davis, a UA letterman from 1998-01 who was a captain as a senior.
Davis, a native of Monroe, La., looked forward to trips to Baton Rouge to play the Tigers. It was all about embracing the nastiness and the pennies from hell.
“My first time to play there was as a sophomore in 1999,” Davis said. “Their fans were lined up to meet the busses. They shook them and they had families lined up — kids, dads, grandmas — with all of them shooting us the bird.”
Clark Moore told stories about grandmas holding babies with the little ones’ hands formed into a middle finger extended as the Hogs unloaded at the stadium.
“Yeah, that’s the kind of stuff they do,” Davis said. “They are all grinning.”
Apparently, the Hogs smiled, too.
“You know it’s coming and you can’t help but laugh,” Davis said. “They have all those smokers going and they have pig on a stick waving in the air.”
Visitors leave the locker room with a protective tarp over the entrance to the field. It’s no secret why the tarp is needed.
“That first time we are about to go out and someone grabbed me and said, ‘Put on your helmet,’” Davis said. “They throw pennies. Sure enough, you come out from under that tarp and it’s ‘ding, ding, ding’ off your helmet.”
My daughters sat in that hellish stadium one time, for a 1993 game the Hogs won 42-24. Oscar Malone (143 yards), Carlton Calvin (123) and Marius Johnson (106) all topped the century mark rushing with Barry Lunney Jr. executing the triple option to perfection.
Hawgs Illustrated had a deal with a travel agent for SEC packages that sometimes included tickets. My family was given 50-yard line seats in the LSU section. My contact at Total Travel did provide a scouting report on Tiger Stadium: Don’t wear red or cheer for the Hogs.
My family didn’t listen and as the Tiger faithful were filing out early in the fourth quarter, they joined a Hog Call. Beer and whiskey came from every direction. Middle schoolers have a hard time understanding “Tiger Bait” chants. Almost 30 years later that experience makes them appreciate every LSU loss, in any sport.
Davis has heard that story several times through the years and noted this week, “It’s a crazy place with crazy people. You get ahead of them there, they start filing out. It may only take a 10-point lead for them to let go of the rope. They’d rather be in the parking lot at their tailgate.”
The team can let go of the rope, too.
“I’ve seen that,” he said. “The key is to get an early lead and quiet that crowd. And, it might just be to survive the first quarter. You just have to avoid mistakes that will take the wind out of your sail and fire up their fans. They can only yell so long.”
Davis, who was a gritty nose tackle and four-year starter, has the scouting report on the team, too. It’s the real reason the Hogs are 3-11 at Death Valley, not the fans.
“They are talented, they play hard and they are always skilled,” Davis said. “I played against Texas and Oklahoma, and neither hit as hard as LSU. Playing Texas and Oklahoma was like being in a pillow fight; not LSU. How can they not (win) with that kind of talent is just an hour from campus?”
Therein lies the real issue: the huge talent advantage in south Louisiana. And, it’s pretty good across north Louisiana on the I-20 corridor where Davis was raised.
Fitz Hill, an Arkansas wide receivers coach from 1992-2000, was famous for pulling stars out of Louisiana who the Tigers didn’t offer. He parlayed those successes into a head-coaching job at San Jose State (2001-04). Davis was one of his signees.
“I did the analytics when I was recruiting coordinator at Arkansas,” said Hill, named assistant head coach under Houston Nutt.
“They said, ‘Go to Louisiana.’ Now, this data is (pre-Hurricane) Katrina, but at one time one out of every 39,000 residents of that state was a Division I athlete. They produced the most Division I athletes of any state.
“I was coaching at Northwestern (La.) State and I had two wide receivers go to the NFL. They had supreme athletic ability and LSU didn’t have room for them.”
Hill said the Tigers should always be a force, but with one qualifier.
“If they find a quarterback,” he said. “You look at what they’ve done of late with three national titles, it’s about quarterback.
“So what’s going on this year? They say they are going to try two different quarterbacks and they were doing the same thing last year. They don’t have a great quarterback to go with all of that talent.
“They showed that last week even with quarterback problems by playing Alabama so well. With good quarterback play, they would have won.
“Historically, that’s the deal there. Who is the quarterback? They have the talent and they get the number one pick on the top players in the state.
“My deal was, they can only take 25 and there is plenty left that is top talent. I just tried to figure out who LSU was taking, then concentrate on the others. It worked more times than it didn’t.”
Davis agreed with Hill’s assessment.
“My sophomore year at Ouachita Parrish we had nine players get Division I scholarships,” Davis said. “We played in the state title game in the Superdome against Destrehan. There were 17 DI players in the game.”
There are never games like that in Arkansas.
“I don’t think so,” said Davis, who lives in Fayetteville. “It’s gotten better since they added 7-on-7 and spring ball. Coach (Houston) Nutt got that changed and it’s helped.
“But as a redshirt as a true freshman, I remember walking over from campus to watch Fayetteville High play. They were the No. 1 team in the state. My jaw dropped. I remember thinking my JV team from high school would beat them. They had one D1 player on that team, Jeremiah Washburn.”
No one ever disputes that LSU has a deeper pool of local talent. And, there are few that think the Tigers are suddenly at low ebb despite a 4-5 start (and 2-4 in the SEC) that has cost LSU Ed Orgeron his job.
It will still take a major effort by the Hogs to win in Tiger Stadium. That’s where we will start our weekly keys to victory ahead of the 6:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff.
Effort
That’s the pride of the Sam Pittman era at Arkansas. The Hogs play hard for their second-year coach every week. So that should be a given, especially after the way the Hogs fought in a 31-28 victory over Mississippi State last week.
The real issue is what kind of effort will LSU produce after a disappointing 20-14 loss at Alabama. The Tigers threw a pass into the end zone in the closing seconds that could have led to a victory.
But everyone knows the Tigers get more agitated to play Alabama than they do Arkansas. Will their effort slip a bunch, or just a little?
With Orgeron out after the season, are the Tigers still taking cues from him, and his staff? Or are they just playing out the string with an eye toward the NFL draft?
Those are the biggest questions. Motivation for the Tigers is sometimes hard to quantify. There have been years when they have gone through the motions against Arkansas, but turned on the jets after halftime when threatened. Other times, they never seemed interested.
Louisiana Flavor
The Hogs don’t recruit Louisiana as well as they did in the 1990s with Hill, but there are still some players from that state sprinkled in the two-deep.
Safety Joe Foucha, a team captain from New Orleans, is playing in his fourth LSU game. He’s fourth on the team with 57 tackles.
Starting wide receiver De’Vion Warren (Monroe), nickel back Greg Brooks (Harvey) and cornerback Devin Bush (New Orleans) are others from Louisiana in the two-deep for the Hogs.
Penalties
This is a real concern for the Hogs. It’s been an issue most of the season. Conversely, the Tigers are the nation’s No. 1 team in limiting penalty yards. LSU averages just 31.4 yards in penalties per game.
Arkansas averages 8.6 penalties per game, twice as many as LSU. The Hogs rank No. 122 in that category.
Pittman said this week that there are usually going to be a couple of holding calls per game, but the pre-snap penalties like offsides and procedure have been too high. He said that’s on him and promised heavy attention to those problems this week. However, he’s said that at other times this season.
Penalties were a big part of several touchdown drives for both teams in the victory over Mississippi State.
Injuries
This is the point of the season when a head count in pre-game warmups is warranted. Who has whom?
It was the key to last year’s game when LSU took advantage of Arkansas’ covid-19 losses in a 27-24 victory. The Hogs were depleted in the defensive line and an LSU team that had not mounted an effective running game took advantage with simple dive plays.
The Tigers are the team with roster problems. They have had as many as 12 starters out this year for various reasons. The latest issues are in the offensive line where both starting guards, Ed Ingram and Chasen Hines, are out with injuries this week.
The Tigers have absorbed some of their injuries without missing a beat. They have lost two cornerbacks expected to be drafted, but Cordale Flott and Dwight McGlothern have competed well at times.
Third Down
This might be the most interesting stat for the night. LSU wasn’t a good third-down defense last year, but the Hogs went 0 for 10 on conversion attempts. It was a major reason LSU dominated in time of possession, 41:43 to 18:17.
Thanks to a solid run game and improved possession passing from KJ Jefferson, the Hogs have improved some on third down offense. They are at 39.7%. That’s still only 10th in the SEC and 75th in the nation.
The UA third-down defense has shown dramatic improvement. At 30.1%, the Hogs are first in the SEC and eighth in the nation. LSU’s offense is at 12th in the SEC at 37.2%.
The Run
Can the Hogs get Dominique Johnson going again? The 240-pound sophomore made 107 yards last week and scored two touchdowns. LSU’s run defense was superb against Alabama, allowing just a net 6 yards.
The Arkansas offense averages 243.8 yards on the ground, first in the SEC. LSU’s defense is seventh with a yield of 148.2.
Conversely, LSU has improved its running game as the season has progressed. Tyrion Davis-Price has 731 yards on the season with a per-carry average of 5.1. But he’s scored only six touchdowns on 143 carries. Johnson has six in just 56 carries for the Hogs.
The Quarterbacks
It’s always the biggest key in the game. Arkansas has gotten steady play from Jefferson. He’s thrown for 16 touchdowns against three interceptions. He’s also rushed for five touchdowns with 433 rushing yards.
That would seem to give the Hogs the edge, especially since Orgeron split time this week between Max Johnson and Garrett Nussmeier. Johnson has gotten the bulk of the reps this year and will likely start.
However, Orgeron said Nussmeier will play early and the quarterback who is most effective will finish the game.
The key is that LSU’s receivers have been up and down. Injuries have played a role, but this is an area where the Tigers have always had talent. They still may have an edge against a UA secondary that has often played deep to avoid big plays.
Can either of these LSU quarterbacks find the soft spot in the middle exposed by Mississippi State last week?
Scheme
What’s the plan this week from Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom? An old coaching adage says to blitz against young quarterbacks, but defend against veterans with ability.
But Odom has been reluctant to blitz much. His standard alignment the past two seasons calls for three defensive lineman and six defensive backs. Injuries in the secondary have been a big factor.
Conversely, LSU abandoned what had been vanilla coverage calls and went for more blitzes against Alabama, with good success. Pittman said the blitzes seemed to come from all directions.
However, the most serious problems were produced by stunts through the A gap where Alabama had to restructure its offensive line after the starting center went out with an ankle injury. A shuffle with the guard moving to center weakened two spots.
Special Teams
Perhaps never has that been so obvious than it was after last week’s victory over State when the Hogs nailed three field goals and the Bulldogs missed three.
Pittman reminded on his weekly radio show that there is a reason he awards scholarships to place kickers. Cam Little, the No. 1 kicking prospect last year, has dazzled as a true freshman. He’s made 14 of 18 field goals this season.
However, the Hogs may not have an advantage this week. LSU place kicker Cade York is one of the nation’s best. He’s 9 of 10 on the season with a long of 56. A second-team All-American last season, York has made 48 of 58 career field goal attempts.
The Middle
It’s where the action is this week. After the Tigers dominated that area with their defense last week, can Arkansas center Ricky Stromberg and guards Beaux Limmer, Brady Latham and Ty Clary hold up?
LSU’s defensive tackles, Glen Logan and Neil Farrell, are both graduated seniors with four letters. They are studs.
Linebacker Damone Clark is taking advantage of the havoc wreaked by Logan and Ferrell. He has 106 tackles, far and away the most for LSU.
The Hogs rely on a steady linebacker rotation of Bumper Pool (87 tackles), Hayden Henry (69) and Grant Morgan (67) behind nose tackle John Ridgeway. How that group fares against backup guards might be a huge part of the game.