Just minutes after a stunning 31-30 loss to Arkansas (5-7, 2-6), LSU players struggled to provide any explanation for the Tigers’ late-game demise.”Really, I don’t know,” said junior linebacker Perry Riley.But words were not necessary. Their stunned faces said it all as they soaked in the reality of a five-loss season.”We are 3-5 in the SEC,” said junior wide receiver Brandon LaFell. “This is a losing season for us. It’s hard.”A 16-point third quarter lead was just a distant memory for the Tigers. In its place was the sobering recollection of an Arkansas rally that stole victory from the jaws of defeat.The Razorbacks, trailing 30-24 with 2:14 on the clock, drove 69 yards with no timeouts to take a one-point lead with just 0:21 remaining.Arkansas senior quarterback Casey Dick, who came off the bench in the second half to relieve younger brother Nathan Dick, connected with London Crawford for the game-winning 24-yard touchdown pass.The loss renewed fan speculation that LSU’s defensive coaching staff, including co-defensive coordinators Bradley Dale Peveto and Doug Mallory, may be in for a shake-up.Verge Ausberry, LSU senior associate athletic director, said Monday that the rampant chatter is unfounded.”There’s a lot of talk, but all that talk is rumors,” he said. “Those people have no contact with coach Miles or the athletic department.”LSU now ranks No. 9 in the SEC in total defense and No. 11 in scoring defense. The Tigers rank last in interceptions and in pass defense.The demise of the defense is startling to many fans, considering the 2007 BCS national championship team ranked near the top of many national defensive statistics under former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, who left the Tigers to become head coach at Nebraska after last season.But the defense on the field Friday was a far cry from the reliable unit that often willed the Tigers to victory last season. After holding a 30-14 lead at the beginning of the third quarter, the Tigers allowed 17 unanswered Arkansas points.Miles placed most of the blame on LSU’s excessive penalties, which totaled eight flags for 77 yards.”I can tell you, the football team should win that game. The football team should manage that game,” he said. “We have to play smarter.”The costliest penalties occurred during a 90-yard Arkansas drive that started near the 6:00 mark in the third quarter and extended into the fourth quarter. Arkansas scored on a 22-yard field goal that narrowed LSU’s lead to 30-24 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.”I told the team, that’s the last time,” Miles said. “… Those people that get back on that plane and go back to Baton Rouge will work awfully hard.”Senior linebacker Darry Beckwith acknowledged sideline emotions were at a high as the Tigers struggled to make sense of the loss.”Frustration, frustration, frustration,” he said. “When you play that hard … and to lose it like that…”—-Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]