LSU Football: 3 takeaways from clutch win over Arkansas

1. LSU minimized defensive exposure

The LSU defense has been atrocious this season and even though they have had a couple of breaks from the field because of COVID-19 and are rusty, they had to do better in this game.

In the first quarter, the Tigers kept the Razorbacks on the field for short spurts of just over one minute or less. The Tigers put two scores up during the first quarter, while the Razorbacks only had the opportunity to reach the end zone one time.

The second quarter was very similar to the first as far as LSU keeping their defense off of the field as much as possible, while wearing out and tiring the Arkansas defense. As mentioned above, LSU spent well over half, and nearly three times the amount of time on the field offensively than Arkansas did.

The Tigers again only allowed the Razorbacks to reach the end zone one time in the second half, while the Razorbacks let the Tigers score twice and let them in the red zone once, forcing a field goal.

What worked for the Tigers in the first half was the game plan going forward in the second half of the game: keep the Razorbacks defense on the field for as much time as possible, while keeping their own defense on the sidelines.

LSU almost allowed another touchdown to open the fourth quarter, but the defense held the Razorbacks at the goal line and forced a field goal score instead. The defense did allow a touchdown in the third quarter, but blocked the game tying field goal attempt to secure the victory over Arkansas.