Offensive line credit
The work of the Arkansas offensive line and the running of Knile Davis and Broderick Green in the fourth quarter appeared to wear down LSU.
Arkansas kept the ball for just more than six minutes, and ran the ball 11 times during the drive.
For the 12th straight game, Arkansas has started Ray Dominguez at right tackle; Alvin Bailey, right guard; Travis Swanson, center; Wade Grayson, left guard; and DeMarcus Love, left tackle. Dominguez, a senior out of Bainbridge, Ga., has started 29 straight games, more than any current Razorback.
The 88-yard fourth-quarter scoring drive from the Arkansas 10 was mostly on the ground, but was sparked on the first play when D.J. Williams took a pass in the right flat and sidestepped and fought off defenders to gain 14 yards. The only other pass in the drive was an incomplete screen to Chris Gragg with a second and goal from the 7. Zach Hocker’s kick made it 31-20.
At War Memorial
Arkansas has had considerable success playing at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, which hosts two home games each season. Arkansas entered Saturday’s game on a seven-game winning streak in Little Rock. The streak was tied for seventh in program history. At War Memorial, the Razorbacks entered the matchup with a 145-52-2 mark.
When No. 12 …
The numbers didn’t stack up very well for Arkansas going into Saturday’s game — at least the ranking numbers. The Razorbacks had been ranked 12th going into 23 games before meeting LSU at War Memorial Stadium. The Razorbacks had lost nine times and one game ended in a tie. That means more than half — 13 — were Arkansas victories. Not too bad. Fourteen — even better.
Arkansas had played two other games as the 12th-ranked team this season, defeating Georgia and losing to Auburn. LSU was No. 6 in the AP rankings entering Saturday’s game and the Razorbacks were a dismal 3-9 against teams ranked No. 6. The win improved that to 4-9. The last five times before Saturday that Arkansas faced a team ranked sixth, the games ended up in the loss column. Prior to LSU, the most recent victory against a No. 6 team was against Nebraska in the 1965 Cotton Bowl, which Arkansas won, 10-7.
Saturday marked the fifth time Arkansas had faced a ranked opponent this season. The NCAA ranked Arkansas’ schedule the sixth toughest in the country.
Going bowling
It’s getting close to time to hand out bowl invitations, so several representatives showed up Saturday in the press box at War Memorial Stadium.
The bowl picture won’t clear up until the conclusion of next week’s games. If Auburn beats South Carolina, it opens up the possibility that Arkansas would represent the SEC in the Sugar Bowl. If South Carolina beats Auburn, the picture is cloudier.
Representatives from two BCS bowls — the Orange and Sugar bowls — were at Saturday’s game, along with scouts from the Cotton, Chick fil-A Peach Bowl and the Capital One Bowl.
The rivalry boot
In addition to the victory, there was the boot to boot for Arkansas on Saturday — the Golden Boot, that is.
The Golden Boot, shaped like the states of Arkansas and Louisiana, is believed to be the heaviest trophy in college football, at about 75 pounds, and is a bit unwieldy because of its shape. Several Razorback linemen hauled the trophy off the field after the 31-23 victory against the Tigers.
The trophy, the brainchild of former Arkansas linebacker and promoter David Bazzel, goes annually to the Arkansas-LSU winner. It became part of the rivalry prior to the 1996 game.
Critical zone
Bobby Petrino calls it the critical zone — that area inside the opponent’s 20-yard line commonly referred to as the red zone. His teams have been consistently good, especially the last two seasons.
Against LSU, Arkansas scored at the 2:30 mark of the first quarter on its first trip inside the 20. For the game, Arkansas scored twice with the ball inside the 20.
Arkansas started the game 40 of 43 from inside the 20, ranked No. 1 in the SEC and tied for third nationally in the efficiency statistic.
Last season, Arkansas was 47 of 49 in the red zone, tied for the top spot in the NCAA.
Passing season
The Arkansas Razorbacks broke the school’s single-season passing yards record Saturday against LSU. The record was 3,842 yards in 2009. By the end of the half, the Razorbacks had moved the needle to 3,987.
Clock malfunction
The play clock at War Memorial Stadium went out near the end of the third period. By the beginning of the fourth, the scoreboard showed the score at 0-0. But less than a minute later, both the clock and play clock were functioning again. Officials on the field kept the play clock during the outage. The play clock went out again with about six minutes left in the game. Referee Steve Shaw announced that the play clock would be kept on the field.
- Dennis A. Byrd
