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LSU Football - Game Notes vs. Arkansas
Top-Ranked LSU Hosts No. 3 Arkansas With SEC Title Game Spot On The Line
LSU
goes after the school’s first 12-0 start on Friday as the top-ranked
Tigers host No. 3 Arkansas with a berth in the Southeastern Conference
Championship Game on the line. The game will feature the highest-ranked
teams in Tiger Stadium since 1959 when No. 1 LSU beat No. 3 Ole Miss,
7-3, on Halloween Night. Kickoff between the Tigers and the Razorbacks
is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in a sold out Tiger Stadium with CBS
televising the contest to a national audience. The
game also serves as the annual “Battle for the Boot” between the two
teams as well as being “Senior Day” for the Tigers. LSU will honor its
25 seniors prior to kickoff on Friday. LSU,
which currently has the nation’s longest winning streak at 12 games, is
11-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play following its 52-3 win over Ole
Miss last week. LSU is 7-0 in SEC play for the first time in school
history. LSU remains a game ahead of both Arkansas and Alabama in the
SEC Western Division standings going into the final weekend of
play. Arkansas
is 10-1 overall and 6-1 in league play after its 44-17 victory over
Mississippi State last week. The Razorbacks have won seven straight
since dropping a 38-14 decision to Alabama. Arkansas represents the
seventh Top 25 team, and the third ranked in the top three, that the
Tigers have faced this year. LSU
is one Top 25 win away from tying the school record for victories over
a ranked opponent, which was set in 2007. LSU goes into the game ranked
No. 1 in the nation in all of the major polls for the fifth consecutive
week. LSU also has a perfect 1.000 rating in the BCS Standings, the
first for any team in college football since 2006 when Ohio State did
it during in the final standings. LSU is playing its eighth straight
game as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team – the longest stretch since
1959. LSU is 21-3 all-time in games played as the nation’s No. 1 ranked
team, which includes a 9-2 mark under Les Miles. LSU brings one of the
top defenses in the nation into the Arkansas game as the Tigers are
ranked in the top 5 nationally in five major categories – total defense
(No. 2 at 247.91), scoring defense (No. 2 at 10.0), pass efficiency
defense (No. 2 at 92.33 rating), rush defense (No. 3 at 89.64) and pass
defense (No. 5 at 158.27). Offensively, LSU is second in the SEC in
scoring with 37.9 points per game as the Tigers have tied the school
record set in 2007 with seven 40-point games. LSU is averaging 377.1
total yards per game (209.5 rushing, 167.6 passing). QBs Jarrett Lee
and Jordan Jefferson have combined to complete 131-of-208 passes for
1,752 yards, 18 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. A trio of
sophomores lead the Tigers in rushing – Spencer Ware (6500 yards, 7
TDs), Michael Ford (625 yards, 7 TDs) and Alfred Blue (445 yards, 6
TDs). Rueben Randle (39 catches, 755 yards, 8 TDs) and true freshman WR
Odell Beckham Jr. (33 catches, 410 yards, 2 TDs) lead the Tigers in
receiving. Defensively, LSU has allowed just four TDs in its seven SEC
games (1 each to Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Auburn) and the
Tigers have held their first seven conference opponents to a combined
50 points. S Brandon Taylor leads the Tigers with 61 tackles, while S
Eric Reid and CB Tyrann Mathieu follow with 58 tackles. CB Morris
Claiborne is tops on the team in interceptions with 4. Other defensive
standouts include DE Sam Montgomery (37 tackles, 10.0 TFL, 7.0 sacks),
DT Bennie Logan (41 tackles, 5.0 TFL, 2.0 sacks) and DE Barkevious
Mingo (32 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 5.0 sacks).
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