FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.– From the first drive to the last, nothing went LSU’s way.
The lack of offensive production and the squandering of key opportunities combined to be a nightmare for the Tigers.
The 17-0 loss to Arkansas (5-5, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) was the first SEC shutout for the Razorbacks since defeating South Carolina in 2002.
LSU’s first possession of the game began with a rush for no gain by freshman running back Leonard Fournette, followed by using the team’s first timeout just six minutes into the contest. The timeout was the earliest called by the Tigers all season.
Fournette, a player who has been utilized more as the season progressed, was only given the ball five times. LSU coach Les Miles said it wasn’t due to punishment, but due to the plays the coaching staff felt would be most effective against Arkansas’ stingy defense.
“We just struggled offensively,” said senior running back Terrence Magee. “We just didn’t execute the way we should have. We prepared hard, but we didn’t execute like we needed to.”
On second down, senior center Elliott Porter snapped the ball high over sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings’ head. Jennings covered the ball at the 3 yard line to keep possession, but LSU lost 27 yards on the play.
The botched snap was just the first of many missed opportunities for the Tigers.
Sophomore kicker Colby Delahoussaye missed both of his field goal chances from 27 yards and 47 yards. The attempt from 47 came up nearly 10 yards short of the uprights.
“I talked to him after the first field goal. He said he toed it and said ‘I’ll fix it’,” Miles said. “I didn’t talk to him after the second miss. It should have been a good kick.”
It marked the first time Delahoussaye missed multiple field goal attempts in the same game this season.
Before the game, Delahoussaye hit 90.9 percent of the time and had made 10 of his 11 field goals. After the two misses against the Razorbacks, his field goal percentage dropped to 76.9 percent.
Arkansas held LSU to zero points in the first half, the first time Arkansas has held a Southeastern Conference opponent scoreless in the first half since Kentucky on Oct. 13, 2012. The Razorbacks’ 2012 game against Kentucky was also their last SEC win before they defeated the Tigers.
“I think defensively, one of the things we really addressed after last season was just tackling,” said Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema. “It sounds so silly, but defensively, you just have to tackle well and get the ball down and play another set of downs.”
The time of possession between LSU and Arkansas was very similar, with the Tigers holding the ball for 28:06 and the Razorbacks having possession for 31:54.
The difference between the two, however, was production. On Arkansas’ 65 plays, it gained a total of 264 yards, whereas LSU only gained 123 yards on its 54 plays for an average of 2.3 yards per play.
Only 36 of LSU’s 123 yards were gained on the ground, which is the second-worst rushing effort by a Tigers’ offense in the Miles era.
Sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings had the most rushing attempts with 12, but was only able to pick up 12 yards. Magee led the Tigers in the run game with 24 yards on 7 attempts
LSU wasn’t much better in the air. Jennings completed 12 of his 22 pass attempts for a total of 87 yards.
“I performed subpar at best. I have to improve. Obviously, you come into a hostile environment and weather conditions, but I think it is all a mindset,” Jennings said. “We came in with the mindset to win this game, but had a couple miscues and we just have to go back and get better.”
The offensive output of the Tigers was their worst of the season and the only game they were held below 200 yards of total offense.
“We just have to better job up front, have to do a better job moving the ball and executing on passing plays,” Magee said. “We just have to grow and get better this week coming up.”