Like it is

Hogs get lucky bounces, take full advantage

Arkansas defensive back D.J. Dean (2) celebrates his interception in the LSU end zone in the second half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015. Arkansas won 31-14. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Arkansas defensive back D.J. Dean (2) celebrates his interception in the LSU end zone in the second half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015. Arkansas won 31-14. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Every team has to have luck to win.

Doesn't matter if you are Alabama or Arkansas State, at some point in a season, a team has to have good, old-fashioned luck.

The best luck is the luck a team makes.

Such as Arkansas has the past two games.

The Razorbacks made their luck last Saturday night in Baton Rouge, and more than 100,000 fans, except for a few thousand Razorbacks fans, vanished along the way. Luck wasn't why Arkansas won, but it contributed.

For instance, it wasn't luck Brandon Allen made a good throw to receiver Dominique Reed for what appeared to be a first down on Arkansas' second possession. But Reed created some good fortune when he stiff-armed an LSU defender onto the turf, and when Reed turned the corner he only had to outrun one guy, and outrun him he did.

That was not luck, but it was different. Usually, it's the Tigers, not the Hogs, who run like members of a sprint-relay team.

More good fortune arrived when the Hogs faced a second and 20 in the second quarter. Razorback Alex Collins took a handoff, got lucky when the LSU safety misread the play, but Collins made his own luck by cutting through the space where the defensive back was supposed to be and didn't slow down until he was pushed into the end zone.

Collins might not have been able to beat the guy who chased him in a foot race, but the end zone got there just in time.

The play that set up the Hogs' third touchdown, and what would prove to be the winning score, didn't involve luck when Dre Greenlaw chased down LSU quarterback Brandon Harris for a 14-yard sack.

There was some luck that the ball came loose.

It was a little lucky that Brooks Ellis was there to scoop it up and return it 4 yards, setting the Hogs up with a first and 10 from the LSU 11. But Ellis and Greenlaw always seem to be around the ball any time it is within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage.

Put the whole thing together, though, and the Hogs were lucky that Greenlaw is a linebacker with free-safety speed.

There was no luck in Collins carrying twice for a touchdown. He got great blocking and he ran with his eyes.

LSU got lucky when Harris completed 9 of 10 passes to lead the Tigers on a touchdown drive. Harris isn't that good.

Jared Cornelius didn't need much luck on his 69-yard end-around touchdown run, except for some fortuitous downfield blocking by Reed.

That touchdown made it 31-14 and with 10:18 to play the Tigers Nation rushed into the night.

There was some luck involved a week earlier when the Hogs won in overtime at Oxford -- yes, they won back-to-back road games -- but it wasn't all luck.

Hunter Henry's lateral was a heady intentional play. He had nothing to lose by trying to keep the ball alive, so he did what any smart player would do. He heaved it backward.

It was luck that Dan Skipper got a hand on the ball to keep it alive, and it took a lucky bounce to Collins. What Collins did was make his own luck. His running-back mentality kicked into high gear and, even though he didn't realize it at the time, he was able to get the Hogs new life after facing fourth and 25.

It wasn't luck Collins tried to lateral. He didn't realize the Hogs could pick up a first down, but it was luck Reed was there to recover. Scoring a touchdown wasn't luck. It was Allen and Drew Morgan doing what they do.

When Allen got sacked on the two-point conversion, the Hogs got lucky to get a do-over when Ole Miss was hit with a face-mask penalty.

Allen made his own luck on the two-point conversion. He rolled right, saw a hole and carried a defender as he cut into the end zone.

Arkansas has been lucky the past two games, but mostly it was luck the Razorbacks created.

Sports on 11/17/2015

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