Oh, so sweet
UA craved Sugar after LSU victory
This article originally appeared in the Nov. 28, 2010, edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
As Arkansas fans rocked Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium with a chant of “BCS! BCS!” quarterback Ryan Mallett took a knee from the LSU to end a memorable SEC West clash in the Hogs’ favor Saturday.
The No. 12 Razorbacks stunned No. 5 LSU with their lightning-strike passing game and the punch of Knile Davis’ running power, and added a gutsy fourthdown touchdown call to top the Tigers 31-23 before a sold-out crowd of 55,808.
Arkansas (10-2, 6-2 SEC) moved within striking distance of its first Bowl Championship Series berth while winning its sixth consecutive game and posting the eighth 10-victory regular season in school history.
“It’s fun to be talked about in the BCS bowls,” said Mallett, who took over the school lead in career touchdown passes with 60 while throwing for 320 yards and three touchdowns.
Sugar Bowl President David Melius attended the game and hung out around the Razorbacks’ postgame celebration as Arkansas claimed the Golden Boot Trophy for the third time in four years.
“We’d be thrilled to have them if the opportunity comes,” Melius said of the Hogs.
Asked if an Auburn victory in the SEC Championship Game would cinch an Arkansas bid for the Sugar Bowl, Melius added, “I would certainly think so. I don’t see how that couldn’t happen.”
LSU (10-2, 6-2) allowed a 200-yard passer and a 100-yard rusher for the first time this season. The Tigers’ fifth-ranked defense gave up 464 yards and could not corral the Razorbacks’ running attack in the fourth quarter with the game in the balance.
“Certainly, this is not how it’s supposed to end for us,” LSU Coach Les Miles said. “Congratulations to Arkansas and Coach [Bobby] Petrino’s team. They were a great challenge.”
Arkansas connected for three touchdown passes of 39 yards or longer — including an 80-yard breakaway by Cobi Hamilton on the final play of the first half and a fourth-down 39-yarder to Joe Adams early in the fourth quarter — and Davis churned for 152 yards and a touchdown.
“We’re playing our best ball right now,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said. “We’re balanced and we’re playing offense the way we want to play offense.”
The Hogs called nine consecutive running plays for 69 yards during a fieldgoal drive that lasted 6:02 and gave Arkansas a 31-20 lead with 6:09 remaining.
“That long drive, it really hammered us,” Miles said.
Hamilton caught an 85yard score on a streak route to put the Hogs ahead 14-7, then weaved 80 yards for a touchdown when Arkansas went for broke with six seconds left in the first half.
“We were in the huddle talking like we thought we were just going to call a run play and go into halftime tied up, but he came in with a play that had my number on it,” said Hamilton, who had three receptions for 164 yards.
“We’ve got a fast receiver running a route, we’ve got a kid that can throw the ball, and he put the ball on him, and there it goes,” McGee said.
The Arkansas defense did its part as well, holding the Tigers to 294 total yards, sacking quarterback Jordan Jefferson four times and recovering three fumbles. LSU’s last chance, which began at its 6, ended when reserve safety Andru Stewart stripped the ball from Jefferson and linebacker Jerry Franklin recovered at the 1.
The Razorbacks held LSU to three second-half field goals, even after drive starts at the Arkansas 46, the Arkansas 9 and the LSU 49 on the Tigers’ first three series of the half.
“You score touchdowns and they kick field goals and you’re going to win the game,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said.
Hamilton’s touchdowns were a product of Arkansas’ prolific passing attack, but the Adams score was the call of Petrino’s career at Arkansas.
Facing a fourth-and-3 from the LSU 39, Mallett originally lined up under center and tried a hard count to get a defensive offside call. When that didn’t work, Mallett called timeout and the Razorbacks came back aggressive.
Petrino called veteran assistant coach John L. Smith over and asked him if the Hogs should go for it. Smith evidently liked the gamble.
“We always had kind of a saying, ‘We didn’t come to paint,’ ” Petrino said. “We came to win the game, so we went for it.”
LSU sent an all-out blitz against Arkansas’ maximum protection and had their cover men sit on routes at first-down distance. Adams caused freshman cornerback Tyrann Mathieu to bite on a quick plant, then got behind him for an unguarded 39-yard score.
“When I saw him line up, I kind of figured I was going to get behind him,” Adams said.
“We were max-protected and in man coverage,” Mallett said. “I feel like my guy is better than any guy on the field.”
The first half momentum flipped back and forth, often in the blink of an eye, as weird bounces on punts and loose balls rolled all over the artificial turf.
Arkansas dodged a bullet when Adams mishandled a punt and a few Tigers had a chance to fall on the ball, which caromed out of bounds at the Hogs’ 4.
The Razorbacks got a big break moments later when Dylan Breeding’s punt hit LSU blocker Connor Neighbors and was recovered by Maudracus Humphrey. However, the Tigers held and Zach Hocker’s 41-yard field-goal attempt drifted left.
LSU sped up the tempo and moved 50 yards to the Arkansas 26, but Josh Jasper missed a 43-yard field-goal try.
The end of the half contained the most bizarre sequence. LSU called two timeouts to get the ball back with 1:18 remaining, but Jefferson was not ready for the third-down snap, which bounced off him and was recovered by Arkansas linebacker Freddy Burton.
The Razorbacks couldn’t capitalize from the LSU 21, however, as cornerback Morris Claiborne intercepted Mallett’s pass for Jarius Wright in the end zone.
LSU could have run out the first half clock, but wound up punting to the end zone with six seconds left and the score tied 14-14.
Mallett found Hamilton streaking over the middle and the sophomore eluded two colliding LSU defenders near midfield, got a screen block from Jarius Wright on Patrick Peterson inside the 10 and scored an 80-yarder on the final play of the half for a 21-14 Arkansas lead.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of our football team,” Petrino said. “They’re a group that since we started this journey has had a great work ethic, very, very positive attitude and tremendous leadership within the team.”