Forget the officiating, which once again went against the Arkansas Razorbacks. LSU came out stronger and managed to finish that way for a 27-24 win.
The Razorbacks were in it because of big plays. Without them, it would have been ugly instead of respectable.
Arkansas converted 0 of 10 third downs, although the Hogs were 1 of 1 on fourth downs. Of their 443 yards, 340 came on Arkansas’ four scoring drives.
The last thing the Razorbacks needed was for their defense — which covid-19 made shorthanded by eliminating six from their two-deep — to be on the field for long periods of time.
And that’s what happened.
LSU was good enough to stay on the field for more than two-thirds of the game, marching up and down for 41:43. The Razorbacks were left with just 18:17 for an offense that lived by big plays.
Feleipe Franks had completions of 65, 51 and 50 two different times (both times Mike Woods was the receiver).
LSU ran 91 plays compared to Arkansas running 53 plays.
Yet, it came down to a 44-yard field goal with less than two minutes to play that would have tied the game to give the Hogs a chance in overtime.
A.J. Reed's kick was partially blocked and came up short.
Despite everything — including the fact that Jalen Catalon was not targeting even though he was called for it, and Joe Foucha recovered a fumble (second time this season officials have robbed him of a recovery) — the Hogs showed a mental toughness to match a physical one.
LSU dominated the line of scrimmage and the key statistics, but the Razorbacks were still fighting.