NO. 17 LSU 31, ARKANSAS 27

Etched in infamy

Hogs (3-9) let Tigers go 99 yards for futile finish

Arkansas receiver Julian Horton falls to the ground after a heartbreaking 31-27 loss to LSU.
Arkansas receiver Julian Horton falls to the ground after a heartbreaking 31-27 loss to LSU.

BATON ROUGE, La. - The light at the end of Arkansas’ long, dark season appeared to be coming into focus in the twilight at Tiger Stadium on Friday.

Then it flickered back out of view.

The Razorbacks held a three-point lead with 3:04 remaining and had BCS No. 17 LSU pinned on its 1 with freshman quarterback Anthony Jennings leading the Tigers after LSU senior Zach Mettenberger’s knee injury.

Jennings came alive, scrambling 21 yards for a key first down, then launching a 49-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Travin Dural with 1:15 remaining as LSU came off the deck with a 99-yard scoring drive to stun the Razorbacks 31-27 before a crowd of 89,656.

photo

LSU players carry the Boot trophy to their locker room following their 31-27 win over the Razorbacks after Friday afternoon's game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

Arkansas senior Kiero Small reflected the mood of the dismayed Razorbacks, falling to his knees and breaking into tears on the sideline after the Tigers salted the victory by forcing a fumble from quarterback Brandon Allen in the final minute.

Sophomore Keon Hatcher took his share of responsibility after he came up less than a yard short of a first down that would have allowed Arkansas to run the clock for at least three more plays with slightly more than three minutes to play.

“You’ve got to finish … finish,” said Hatcher, who took the blame for not going beyond the first-down marker on his final catch. “We had the game, we just have to finish.”

Small and Hatcher were not the only disappointed Razorbacks.

“The reason they’re gutted right now is obviously they expected to win,” Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. “I’m numb. Frustrated. Wanted to give some good feeling going into the off season. I just wanted to give these seniors that golden boot. I wanted to see them run across the field. I wanted to see them celebrate.”

Instead, the Razorbacks (3-9, 0-8 SEC), who led most of the second half, extended their school-record losing streak to nine games, cementing Arkansas’ first nine-loss season in the process.

Of all the defeats this season, this one was the most excruciating for the Razorbacks.

“We thought we were going to win the entire time,” said freshman tight end Hunter Henry, who caught two touchdown passes among his five receptions. “We just gave it up.”

Said Allen, “We have it at the end and then let it slip away.”

LSU Coach Les Miles said Arkansas took the Tigers (9-3, 5-3) out of the style of game they would have preferred to play.

“What a game!” Miles said. “Really. … I tell you one thing, don’t pretend for a minute that it doesn’t touch a coach. It touches a coach to see kids fighting like that.”

The Tigers, facing a third and 10 from the Arkansas 49 with 1:22 remaining, caught a Razorbacks defensive back out of position on the game-winning play, as Duval raced beyond cornerback Jared Collins, who was expecting help behind him with Arkansas playing deep halves coverage.

“The deep half player obviously wasn’t there,” Bielema said without naming the defensive back. “We get them in third and long. You cannot win football games if you’re letting them throw the ball over your head.”

Arkansas outscored LSU 20-7 over a 21-minute span of the second and third quarters to take a 27-21 lead.

A 9-yard touchdown catch by Henry with 6:14 to play in the first half and his 2-yard touchdown catch with 50 seconds to play in the third quarter served as bookends to Arkansas’ period of dominance.

Arkansas, which used misdirection plays and well-designed play-action passing to grab the momentum, held a 336-278 advantage in total offense through three periods.

LSU owned the fourth quarter, despite Miles’ failed gamble on fourth and 2 at the Arkansas 18 early in the period when a field goal would have pulled the Tigers within three points. LSU out gained the Hogs 192-24 in the final period as the Razorbacks got away from their edge running game and the play-action passes that had helped produce their lead.

Arkansas came up 1 yard short of a first down on its first two fourth-quarter possessions and punted away each time as the Tigers began to build momentum and find their stride.

Mettenberger completed 14 of 22 passes for 156 yards, was sacked three times and threw a tipped interception to Alan Turner early in the third quarter that was returned 24 yards and led to Zach Hocker’s 28-yard field goal for a 20-14 Arkansas lead.

Mettenberger’s final pass, with LSU trailing 27-21, turned into one of the game’s most critical plays. As Mettenberger let the ball fly he was hit low by defensive tackle Byran Jones, and Mettenberger’s leftknee crumpled.

On the other end of the play deep down field, freshman cornerback D.J. Dean had excellent inside position on LSU’s Jarvis Landry as Dean turned to look for the ball. Landry reached over Dean’s back and made a one-handed falling catch for a 32-yard gain to the Arkansas 21, setting up Colby Delahoussaye’s 37-yard field goal with 4:56 left that pulled LSU within 27-24.

Landry, catching the bulk of LSU’s work in the passing game after fellow 1,000-yard receiver Odell Beckham Jr. came out early after aggravating a back injury, finished with eight catches for 113 yards.

Arkansas had a chance to melt the clock away after taking possession at its 25 with less than five minutes remaining. Alex Collins, who became the second Arkansas freshman to post a 1,000-yard season, gained 6 yards on first down, but was held to 1 yard on the next snap. On third and 3, Allen found Keon Hatcher for his seventh catch of the day, but the ball was spotted inches short of a first down.

“I mean, I’ve got to be disciplined enough to know where the chains are at and get the first down for my team,” said Hatcher, who caught a career-high 7 passes for 84 yards

Sam Irwin-Hill punted 66 yards, with the ball downed at the LSU 1, putting the Tigers’ backs against the wall, but not for long.

Game sketch

RECORDS Arkansas 3-9, 0-8 SEC; LSU 9-3, 5-3 STARS Arkansas freshman Hunter Henry had his first two-touchdown game. LSU tailback Terrance Magee scored two rushing touchdowns. LSU’s Jeremy Hill had 145 rushing yards and 1 TD.

TURNING POINT LSU freshman Travin Dural ran past the Arkansas secondary to grab a 49-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Anthony Jennings with 1:15 remaining to complete a 99-yard scoring drive

KEY STATS LSU had 192 total yards in the fourth quarter to 24 for Arkansas.

UP NEXT Arkansas’ season is completed.

Sports, Pages 21 on 11/30/2013

Upcoming Events