Guice, Chark lead LSU over Hogs
BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU head coach Ed Orgeron has found the magic potion to solve the “Alabama hangover.”
For the second consecutive season, the Tigers bounced back from a loss to their rival Crimson Tide to dominate Arkansas, defeating the Razorbacks 33-10 Saturday in Baton Rouge.
Derrius Guice ran for 147 yards and three touchdowns and D.J. Clark had a pair of receiving touchdowns for LSU.
The win for the Tigers (7-3,
4-2) was their second consecutive victory over the Razorbacks (4-6,
1-5), who saw their two-game winning streak come to an end.
Prior to Orgeron taking over as the LSU head coach four games into last season the Tigers had dropped contests to Arkansas and Ole Miss in 2015 and Arkansas in
2014 after falling to Alabama. “I really feel like I’ve learned from (former USC and current Seattle Seahawks coach) Pete Carroll that you have to treat every game one game at a time,” Orgeron said. “If you make lofty goals—make the college football playoffs, win the championship— and stuff doesn’t go right, it makes it tough.
“We haven’t made Alabama the all-or-nothing, although it is important and we know it is. We’re going into every week treating it one game at a time. That’s what we’ve done, and I think the guys are catching on to it.”
Tied 7-7 at the half, LSU took the opening possession of the second half 75 yards in eight plays, culminating with Guice’s 6-yard touchdown. The Tigers missed the extra point.
Guice finished the game with 147 yards on 21 carries and three scores.
After Arkansas make it 13-10 on a 38-yard field goal by Connor Limpert on its next possession, Guice found the end zone again, this time from 33 yards out, making it 19-10 after another missed PAT.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Danny Etling connected with Chark for a 68-yard touchdown. The pair also hooked up for a 45-yard score in the first half. Chark finished the game with 130 yards on four catches.
After throwing for only 137 yards in a loss to Alabama last week, Etling threw for 217 yards, completing 11 of 16 passes.
“I think it’s a testament to how hard we worked this week after missing some opportunities last week,” Chark said. “I feel like the receivers and the quarterback were on a better page today. We still have room for improvement, but the O-line did a good job of making things happen.
“You’re going to make mistakes, but you can’t let those
things get you down. You have to be adamant about making plays the whole game and I’m blessed that I got another opportunity. Nobody wants to mess up, but when you do you want to be able to shake it off.”
Down 26-10 midway through the fourth quarter, a quarterback sneak by Arkansas’ Cole Kelley on fourth down inside the Razorback 30-yard line was unsuccessful.
Five plays later Guice capped off a 147-yard day with a 1-yard plunge.
The LSU defense was also impressive, holding Arkansas to 318 total yards of offense. The 10 points were the lowest output for the Razorbacks since a 41-9 loss to No. 2 Alabama on Oct. 14.
“We could have played a lot better, but the end of the day we didn’t allow points which is what matters,” LSU defensive tackle Rashard Lawrence said. “We got off the field when we needed to, we made third and fourth down stops. Overall, we can play a lot better and we know that. We’re looking forward to playing better next week. Allowing only 10 points to an SEC team is pretty good.”
The lone score of the first half for the Razorbacks came on its final possession of the second quarter when Devwah Whaley scored from a yard out.
David Williams was the leading rusher for Arkansas with 81 yards on 13 carries. Austin Allen completed 13 of 23 passes for 140 yards.
“Obviously had a tough day, second half I should say,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. “I give LSU all the credit. Obviously, we knew it was going to be a four-quarter game and we were able to survive in advance and take advantage of some things in the final stage there, but we just couldn’t make a play when we needed to.”
The takeaway
LSU: For the second consecutive season, the Tigers bounced back from a loss against Alabama to defeat the Razorbacks. LSU snapped a two-game losing streak to Arkansas last season with a 38-10 defeat in Fayetteville. The Tigers also remain on pace to win 10 games for the first time since 2013.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks have their work cut out for them if they are to make it to their fourth consecutive bowl game. Arkansas must defeat No 16 Miss. State on Nov. 18 and Missouri in the season finale on Nov. 24 to become bowl eligible.
Up next
LSU hits the road to take on Tennessee Arkansas returns home to host No. 16 Mississipp State