BATON ROUGE -- Sam Pittman's artistic leanings were not inspired by his Arkansas Razorbacks' performance on Saturday night in LSU's Death Valley.
His impression of the game could have amounted to sloppy finger painting and he still would regard it as a masterpiece and not given a rip about any naysayers.
Not after the No. 25 University of Arkansas outlasted LSU 16-13 in a defensive slugfest to lodge a rare road win at Tiger Stadium before a largely hostile crowd of 98,772.
"It was ugly and beautiful and all in between," Pittman said.
The crowd was mostly hostile, but there was a notable roar from the pocket of red-clad fans in the southeast corner of the stadium when Montaric "Busta" Brown rose up and came down with an interception to end LSU's overtime possession in the far end zone.
And the cheers from that section were even louder when Cam Little calmly booted his third field goal of the night, a 37-yarder from dead center on the field. Little led a string of teammates on a wild romp down the field while another group of Razorbacks raced toward the north stands in celebration.
The Razorbacks (7-3, 3-3 SEC) re-entered The Associated Press Top 25 poll on Sunday at No. 21 after a four-week hiatus and the USA Today Coaches poll at No. 22 with their third win in a row.
Their newest designation in the College Football Playoff poll, which the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette uses as its poll of record, will be announced on Tuesday.
The Razorbacks had their lowest point total in a win since a 10-7 victory over No. 9 South Carolina and Coach Lou Holtz on Oct. 13, 2001. Arkansas won a game while scoring in the teens for the first time since blanking No. 17 LSU 17-0 on Nov. 15, 2014.
Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson, the Hogs' greatest weapon in the second-half comeback, didn't get greedy with Arkansas' overtime possession on orders from Pittman and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles. There was no need to take any risks with a kicker of Little's caliber in position to make the first game winner of his career.
"When Busta came away with the pick, I knew right then in that moment right that we were going to win," Jefferson said. "Going out there when the offense rolled out there, the main thing we had to do was protect the ball. We knew Cam was gonna make the field goal. He had it in his bag."
The Razorbacks failed to force a tie due to a blocked late field goal try against the Tigers last year, and they won it with Little's precision boot Saturday.
Pittman said last week the coaching staff had to show pictures to the players of the Golden Boot trophy, created by former Razorback David Bazzel, because none of them had seen it in person on campus.
Now the 175-pound trophy will reside in a blue-collar spot inside the Fred Smith Football Center for a while before it joins the Southwest Classic Trophy the Hogs earned with a 20-10 win over then-No. 7 Texas A&M on Sept. 25.
"We're going to put it where we put the Southwest Classic, right on the floor in the lobby," Pittman said. "It's going to sit there for a day and then we'll find a place to put it. But for a day I told the kids we're going to put it right in the middle of the floor and that's where we're going to put it."
The Razorbacks have not won two of their trophy games in the same season since 2015, with a 31-14 victory at then-No. 9 LSU and a 28-3 home win over Missouri in the Battle Line Rivalry. They have never been in possession of all three trophies at once.
"This is my first time to ever see the Boot up close and personally," Jefferson said. "To know it's going back home to Fayetteville means a lot. And then early in the season, Texas A&M, this is my first time.
"All this is new to me since this is my first year being a starter. All of it is new so I'm just soaking it all in."
Winning trophy games is still new to all the Razorbacks, none of whom had ever beaten LSU, Missouri or Texas A&M in a trophy game in their careers prior to 2021. Not even sixth-year seniors Grant Morgan, T.J. Hammonds, Blake Kern and Deon Edwards, the longest-tenured Razorbacks who started their college careers in 2016.
"It just means a lot," said the fourth-year senior Brown. "We put in the work in the offseason and it's paying off man. Just trusting the coaches and their game plan and they're putting us in the right positions."
Pittman is 5-5 in trophy games in his time as an Arkansas assistant coach and head coach.
The Razorbacks can claim the Southwest Classic, the Golden Boot and the Battle Line trophies all at once with a win at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Nov. 26 against Missouri.
"Yeah, we've got one more game to play for a trophy, but that's after we...," Pittman began late Saturday. "We're going to celebrate tonight, but we've got Alabama next week."
The Crimson Tide plastered New Mexico State 59-3 at home in an early kick on Saturday while the Razorbacks had to travel home late after the win in Baton Rouge, La. Alabama has won 14 consecutive games against the Razorbacks, the longest streak by any opponent in Arkansas history.
Pittman chuckled on Saturday's video conference when thinking about what lies ahead this week.
"I mean ... it's the life of the SEC West," Pittman said. "But yeah, we'd like to get them all, but certainly we're not ready to talk about that until that week comes."