10:08 p.m. 17-0 Arkansas, final — That’s it. Students are slowing but surely storming the field and the Hogs en masse rushed to get The Boot.
We’ll be back with stats and such shortly. Don’t forget the Hogzone on Channel 11 in Little Rock. Joe Adams will be with us along with Clint Stoerner, Mary Dunleavy and myself.
9:55 p.m. 17-0 Arkansas — I don’t think Arkansas defense can be denied now. Can Hog fans imagine how far this defense has come since Aug. 30?
The front four was especially an angry chasing bunch on LSU’s likely last hope, which started on the 20. QB Anthony Jennings was dumped for a 15-yard loss, then was barely able to get a yard on third down before the Tigers had to punt it out. Mitch Loewen and Deatrich Wise brought the heat on the big sack, while Wise and Darius Philon chased Jennings down on third down, giving him one rough landing on the cold turf.
9:45 p.m. 17-0 Arkansas — Jim Chaney always gives us something to wonder about. On third and 2 and in a position to just run the ball and run the clock under 6 minutes, Chaney sends in a PASS play for Brandon Allen to throw it away. I guess he saw some kind of wide open deal or expected it to salt the game away, but LSU had everything covered. So Arkansas probably saved LSU 40 seconds, didn’t get a first down simply by running Collins again, and LSU can still pull off what would really be the ultimate in gut-wrenching comebacks against the Hogs in the final 6:30.
9:40 p.m. — Huge play to stop LSU on a drive in Arkansas territory, going underneath Arkansas’s somewhat “prevent” defense. LSU took one deep shot on the first snap to keep the safeties back (Jared Collins, stepping up, defended well again).
So, Anthony Jennings started taking the underneath openings, plus carrying on his own across midfield. Arkansas was playing linebacker Martrelle Spaight too deep, in my opinion, considering how much he meant more in corralling Jennings.
So, with the ball on Arkansas’s 27 again, Jennings kept at right end but Spaight met him and forced the first LSU fumble of the game. Tackle Darius Philon ran it down for the Hogs 19 with 8:21 to play.
9:29 p.m. 17-0 Arkansas — Alex Collins finds an opening at right guard-right tackle, stumbles over tacklers and steps into the end zone from 5 yards out to extend Arkansas’s lead to three scores. Adam McFain converts the extra point and Arkansas just ate up 6:16 of the clock driving 55 yards following a punt.
Brandon Allen is playing his best SEC game as a Razorback, and this drive was the evidence. He found A.J. Derby for a key first down on a third-down pass to move the ball into LSU territory on the first play of the fourth quarter. On a third-and-11 after a screwed-up snap to “wildhog” Alex Collins on second down, Allen drilled one to Keon Hatcher at the left sideline for 14 yards to the 14. Two Jonathan Williams runs pushed it to the 5 for a third-and-1, bringing on Collins to hit the end zone.
Still, 11 minutes remain from a long-awaited Hog win in the SEC, but I’m not sure Arkansas has led LSU by 17 points since 1998.