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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
This is a game every LSU Tiger, coach, and fan should be worried about.....
After the ultimate high of surviving punch after punch from Ole Miss, and delivering a comeback victory for the second time over their first 6 games, all as Death Valley became a hopping 102,000 strong night club, LSU are now faced with a stark reality:

For the first time since September 14th, LSU will travel away from home, headed up North to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on Sam Pittman's 4-2 Razorbacks squad, a group now rested following their own bye week, which arrived on the heels of their upset over #4 ranked Tennessee.
Yes, many believed Arkansas was a dead and bloated corpse when losing their 2nd game out of their first 5 contests, but if you inspect how Pittman's team lost both games, alongside their entire resume, you'll find a team that's dangerous for LSU to deal with:

Arkansas' first defeat arrived at the hands of a madcap double overtime marathon on the road @ #16 Oklahoma State (39-31), before only losing by 4 points in a Pythagorean slugfest at the hands of top 25 ranked Texas A&M (21-17).
Led by mobile QB Taylen Green, who's run heavy, explosive play only seems to rise when the lights get brighter & the better the opponent, Arkansas is always a difficult team for LSU to face.....usually due to the grinding violence & aggressive ethos this rivalry seems to be born from, but also the brutal scheduling:
Almost always scheduled immediately following LSU's showdowns vs ultimate rival Alabama, whether the Tigers took a trip to freezing Fayetteville in mid to late November, or hosted the Hogs inside a raucous Tiger Stadium, no matter the setting or situation either team faces headed into Saturday, no pre-game rankings, Vegas favorites, devastating injury absences, or pre-conceived notions ever have any affect on proceedings or anyone's ability to project what will occur when these two SEC West schools kick off.
4 years in a row, all 4 games between LSU and Arkansas were decided by 3 points....13 of the last 19 meetings since 2005 were decided by a single score.
Simply put, anything can happen, anyone can win, and something wild, wicked or incendiary almost always occurs when these two butt heads.

LSU have been through the gauntlet already this campaign, playing their first 3 games across 13 days, a journey that took the team from Nevada's bone dry desert to South Carolina's coastal palm trees....an exercise in exhaustion & stamina, all while losing John Emery Jr, Jacobian Guillory, Prince Malbrue for the season to injuries.
The season hasn't been kind to LSU, as the Tigers also lost superstar defender Harold Perkins Jr to an ACL tear in Week 4 vs UCLA, as well as a few nagging problems to a variety of other players, namely three different receivers (Hilton, Daniels & Parker) and now another linebacker, West Weeks, is now red shirting for the rest of 2024.

The Tigers are thin at spots like D-line, linebacker, and receiver due to these injuries, and now, facing the most dangerous segment of their schedule, will LSU be able to cope with their lack of depth???
We've already seen LSU stretch themselves to the limit of what team or fans alike thought was possible, taking all that Lane Kiffin's top 10 Ole Miss squad could give them for 4 quarters plus overtime....and still had the last laugh, quite literally at the final second.
Despite being maligned, dismissed, ignored as well as underrated by so many national analysts, even after beating top 10 Ole Miss, this team has the bedrock foundation at key spots to drag a victory over the line:

Over 6 games, first year starting QB Garrett Nussmeier is delivering in every way for LSU, leading 2 clutch comeback victories so far this campaign (3 over 7 career starts), as he tossed over 300+ yards during 5 of those 6 games.
Receivers Kyren Lacy & Aaron Anderson rank inside the top 6 of SEC receivers (Lacy at 5th with 463 and Anderson's 452 ranking 6th), while Lacy's 6 touchdowns (headlined by his overtime-stealing TD grab vs Ole Miss) ranks 1st in the SEC & 6th nationally.

Edge rushing phenom Bradyn Swinson is 5th in the nation for sacks, posting 7 in 6 games (3 performances creating multiple sacks), then, his 8.5 TFLs ranks 7th in the country, and he's now been honored with multiple SEC Player of the Week awards, as the best overall defender (South Carolina) & defensive lineman (last Saturday against Ole Miss).

Amid the fallout of Harold Perkins' season-ending injury, linebacker Whit Weeks emerged alongside Greg Penn III as the central hub & beating heart of LSU's 2024 defensive unit, the pair becoming the perfect linebacking tandem thus far under defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
Weeks registered a monstrous 18 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 PBU and 1 forced fumble during LSU's win over Ole Miss. His 59 total stops place him 1st in the SEC & 8th in all conferences; Penn III isn't far off, racking up 47 tackles & ranking 5th in the SEC.

Tight End Mason Taylor is still LSU's main target when a play must be made, as he proved once again vs Ole Miss (namely his 4th & 6 "game on the line" catch, followed by a 3rd and 13 snag inside the red zone), his 323 receiving yards ranking 17th in the SEC for all positions.
Bookend O-line tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr denied Ole Miss' dynamic D-line pair Jared Ivy and Walter Nolen a single sack and only a few pressures; Meanwhile, throughout the campaign, the future 1st round picks refused to allow a single sack, just 3 QB hits, and 14 QB hurries across 830 total plays.
Regardless of some strong indiciations of a very good to great team, LSU's offense has been the biggest surprise in 2024....as the unit fans are more worried about.

Augmenting their defensive squad through a variety of role players, plenty of freshmen / red shirt freshmen or sophomores starting or appearing in a significant amount of reps at key positions (Ahmad Breaux, Dashawn Spears, Dashawn Womack, Dominick McKinley, Ashton Stamps, Whit Weeks etc) Blake Baker's defense continues its massive improvement over last year, finding solutions and staying creative.....on the other hand, LSU's juggernaut offense of recent years is showing signs of regression, as many expected in 2024.
Seemingly only capable of operating at an acceptable pace or urgency when LSU face large deficits, Saturday evening in Fayetteville against Arkansas' rugged defense may not be the best place for an offensive revival.
In fact, I'll accept survival and advancement over a 300 yard game by Nuss or pretty stylish statistics....
.....actually, due to how poorly the Tigers run the ball, Nuss will likely be forced to throw for as many yards and scores as possible just to get the win over the line....
WILL LSU BE ABLE TO RUN THE BALL?

Still 6 games into 2024, LSU haven't been able to run the football outside of Caden Durham's explosive 128 yards vs South Alabama or crucial 98 vs South Carolina, LSU only have just one single game 100 yard rusher, and rushed for only 117 yards at most over 4 of those contests, totaling just 68 combined yards on the ground against Nicholls (Kaleb Jackson led the way with 28 yards), only 102 overall vs UCLA, and a leading rusher of a mere 37 yards last weekend vs Ole Miss, averaging around 3.5 yards per carry for half of the campaign thus far.

And now, LSU faces an Arkansas rushing defense that ranks 26th in America concerning run defense, allowing just 106.5 yards on the ground per game, giving up at most 174 total rushing to Tennessee (Dylan Sampson accounted for 138 of those yards), held Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter to 62 yards, and while letting La'veon Moss torch them for the biggest running plays they gave up all year, Moss's 117 yards made up for all but 17 of A&M's complete rushing efforts.........Arkansas even held Oklahoma State to 59 overall and University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 7 yards from 23 carries....good for 0.3 per touch....
LSU will face considerable challenges running the ball, however the emergence of Zavion Thomas as an additional backfield / jet sweep weapon, the promotion of tight end Trey'Dez Green as a dynamic, high octane receiving target, plus the probable return of Chris Hilton Jr and CJ Daniels to the receiving corps could definitely tilt the balance in LSU's favor,
Quite possibly, Saturday night may be 2024 LSU's version of the air raid for the majority of proceedings....
NOTES
-Arkansas QB Taylen Green is the Hogs' 2nd leading rusher at 326 yards & 4 rushing scores, although Green has only tossed 5 total touchdowns over 6 starts.

-LSU deliver the 4th best pressure rate in the country, while Arkansas' O-line rank 129th in pressures allowed....if Green's bone bruise injury, suffered vs Tennessee, affects his mobility, Swinson, Saivion Jones, Paris Shand among others could feast on the Arkansas quarterback.
-Keep an eye on a game-long chess match between Arkansas offensive coordinator & motorcycle cheating enthusiast Bobby Petrino vs LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker.....it should be riveting footballing warfare.
-Arkansas RB Jaquindon Jackson is the team's leading offensive playmaker, accounting for 566 rushing yards on 99 carries equaling 10 rushing TDs; Additionally, Jackson caught 10 passes for 118 receiving yards.

-Arkansas WR Andrew Armstrong leads the way with 552 yards, near the top of the SEC train & more than any LSU receiver....although Armstrong is yet to enter the end zone in 2024.
-No Arkansas WR or offensive player caught more than 1 TD over the first 6 games
PREDICTION

This game is more blood curdling and brain-peelingly concerning than the Ole Miss, USC or South Carolina contests....at least for my deranged mind.
Based on the timing of this meeting, LSU could be in a position Ole Miss found themselves in last week: A favorite who didn't physically perform as a favorite.....the "better team" who knew in the back of their heads they didn't quite have the vibe, the stamina, or the forthright intensity to see victory through to the end.
Arkansas can beat LSU here.....in fact, as much as it hurts my soul, I'm going to pick Arkansas to pull it off, sending the Tigers to 5-2....residing on the outer limits of the CFP Playoff picture once again.
You can't get away with zero running game, you can't get away with some of the injuries and lack of depth we have at certain spots, and you can't be as inconsistent & sloppy at the safety spots (as LSU have been throughout 2024) without getting punished at some point......and Arkansas' running game will expose the remaining flaws in Baker's defense maniacally.....but most of all, more than anything wrong with LSU or right about Arkansas, this is just the SEC doing what the SEC does best:
Create chaos.
ARKANSAS 23
LSU 21
I can see a pathway to victory for LSU, which includes Nussmeier throwing for over 400 yards and nearly 50 attempts to all manner of pass catchers, supplementing their nonexistent running game with quick little passes....a nonstop death by a 1,000 passes aerial assault.
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
©️ 2024 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
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