Arkansas football will shock SEC with win over LSU in Week 12

Can Arkansas football put an ugly loss to Florida behind it by taking down defending national champion LSU in Week 12?

For Arkansas, this season has been a light in what has been years of a dark tunnel. Years of mediocrity looks to be near its end with the impressions that this years team has had after going 2-10 in back-to-back seasons. Now sitting at 3-4 and a chance to get to .500, Sam Pittman is looking to do something the Razorbacks haven’t done since 2015: beat LSU.

Coming into this season, there was no chance of LSU replicating the success that they had last year. Headlined by one of the best offenses in college football history and a defense that had double-digit players in the NFL. However, LSU fans were not expecting this kind of a performance from a program that hasn’t lost since their 74-72 all-time classic with Texas A&M in 2018.

The situation went from bad to worse two weeks ago when the Tigers gave up 506 yards and turned the ball over three times in a blowout loss to Auburn. LSU might have dodged a bullet last week in a sense when their tilt with No. 1 Alabama was cancelled, due to COVID-19. Now the Tigers turn their attention to an Arkansas squad that is no slouch and can easily be 5-2 rather than 3-4.

After Myles Brennan went down with an injury, TJ Finley would step in and perform brilliantly against South Carolina. He could not have had a more opposite of a game against Auburn as he threw for 143 yards on 54 percent completions and two interceptions.

LSU was horrendous on the ground as they averaged barely over one yard per carry and freshman running back Tank Bigsby put on a show for Auburn with 71 yards and two touchdowns.

One of the bigger bright spots on this team has been the arrival of WR1 Terrace Marshall Jr. After being the No. 3 option last year, behind Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, Marshall has become the clear guy and has done the most with his opportunity. He has 31 catches for 540 yards and nine touchdowns so far in 2020.

On defense, the most athletic defender and best coverage man has been freshman cornerback Eli Ricks. The defense is in a complete rebuild from last year’s squad and Ricks has come in and made an immediate impact.

With players like Grant Delpit and Kristian Fulton leaving, it was up to Ricks and Derek Stingley Jr. to keep the tradition going. Ricks has three interceptions, two pass deflections and a touchdown while Stingley has been trying to get fully healthy from his early-season injury.

For Arkansas, this is has been a blend of what ifs, but also signs of heading in the right direction and changing the paradigm. However, it does not help getting sliced up by Heisman candidate Kyle Trask and 63 points put on your defense. A blown call late against Auburn, could’ve easily turned into a win for the Razorbacks.

Normally, it’s unique when a team goes out and hires an offensive line coach as its head man. However, it has worked out for Arkansas in year one as lead by quarterback Feleipe Franks have been respectable this year. Franks has put up gaudy stats, throwing for 1,678 yards and 16 touchdowns to just three interceptions.

The duo of Rakeem Boyd and Trelon Smith have been solid in the backfield and Treylon Burks has been a nice surprise to the passing game (508 receiving yards and five touchdowns).

On defense, Arkansas is anchored by quite possibly one of the best linebacking cores in the conference with Grant Morgan and Bumper Pool combining for 156 tackles and 11.5 tackles for loss on the season. The defense forces quite a few turnovers (14) and can make plays when they need to. In the secondary, they are led by safety Jalen Catalon, who is playing some of the best football in the SEC.

However, that has been few and far in between as the Razorbacks have given up way too many big plays. They rank 74th in points allowed per game and give up 428 yards per game.

Here’s how to watch the game between the Razorbacks and the Tigers:

Date: Saturday, Nov. 21
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Fayetteville, Ark.
Venue: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium
TV: SEC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN or FuboTV

Keys to Victory

LSU absolutely has to limit turnovers. Losing the turnover battle in their last game was just a piece of their disastrous performance in Auburn. Finley cannot afford to make those mistakes against an Arkansas team that can create turnovers, when they need to.

Getting Racey McMath and Marshall heavily involved will be a big key, as they’re going to have to put up much more than 11 to escape Fayetteville with a win.

For the Razorbacks, their front seven has to create pressure on Finley. Even with creating turnovers, the defensive line is the weakest part of this team. They have mustered just 11 sacks on the season and only one player has more than one.

This team is not good at getting to the quarterback and Finley has shown he can play well, if his pocket stays protected for the majority of a game.

Prediction

Both programs are moving in different directions and the sense of the outcome of this game has become more and more hazy by the week. Both teams have glaring weaknesses, but also have clear positives that they can attack the other with.

In the end, it’ll come down to quarterback play and which one can step up and make the big throws. In this case, Franks out-duels the redshirt freshman and Arkansas gets back to .500 on the season.

Final Score: LSU 20, Arkansas 31