A week ago against the Ole Miss Rebels, special teams nearly cost No. 9 LSU its Bowl Championship Series chances.
But special teams atoned for its poor play against the Rebels against No. 5 University of Arkansas on Friday and kept the Tigers BCS hopes alive in a big way.
LSU freshman wide receiver Trindon Holliday’s 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was the Tigers’ saving grace, and it helped propel LSU (10-2, 6-2) to a 31-26 win against the Razorbacks at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark.
“How about that little No. 8 [Trindon Holliday],” LSU coach Les Miles said in a WWL radio interview after the game. “We know if that if they give him a sliver…they’re not going to catch him.”
Holliday’s score capped a 45-second span when the two teams combined for 21 points.
The Razorbacks had the final possession of the game with 2:04 left to play, but four straight incompletions by sophomore quarterback Casey Dick ended the Razorbacks’ chances of victory and national title hopes.
“The team cheered and chanted B-C-S [after the game],” Miles said. “We’ll line up against anybody. The shame of it is — we’re not in the [Southeastern Conference] title game.”
The final drive concluded a dismal outing for Dick, who completed only 3 of 17 pass attempts for 29 yards, an interception and a touchdown in the game.
Razorbacks sophomore tailack Darren McFadden was the most effective Arkansas quarterback. He connected on both of his passes for 33 yards.
“That McFadden may the best in America,” Miles said. “He’d certainly get my vote.”
McFadden led all rushers with 183 yards on 21 carries. The Tigers also allowed Jones to rush for 137 yards on 16 attempts.
Down 31-19 following Holliday’s score, Arkansas (10-2, 7-1) closed the Tigers’ advantage to 31-26 with 4:53 to play after sophomore running back Felix Jones ran into the end zone from the 5 yards out for the last score of the game.
Jones helped his own cause for the scoring run by taking the preceding kickoff 62 yards to the LSU 37-yard line.
Before Holliday’s touchdown return, the Razorbacks climbed to within 5 points of LSU with 10:31 left to play on a 80-yard touchdown run through the middle of LSU’s defense by McFadden.
McFadden’s 80-yard score answered a 7-yard LSU touchdown pass from junior quarterback JaMarcus Russell to junior wide receiver Early Doucet, which had extended the Tigers’ lead to 24-12.           Russell completed 14 of 22 passes for 210 yards and two scores in the game.     LSU senior safety LaRon Landry set up the touchdown from Russell to Doucet when he intercepted Dick’s pass at the Arkansas 32-yard line and returned it 23 yards to the 9-yard line with 12:07 left in the game.
The only third-quarter score came on a 27-yard LSU field goal by Colt David.
In the first half, the Tigers took a 14-12 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Arkansas got on the board first on its initial drive of the game.
The Razorbacks went 80 yards in six plays to take a 6-0 lead after a missed extra point.
But LSU answered with its own six-play drive that spanned 70 yards. Tigers true freshman unning back Keiland Williams put an exclamation point on LSU’s first score by dashing 29 yards into the endzone.
David converted the extra point to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead.
LSU added a touchdown to make its advantage 14-6 with 10:55 left in the second quarter. Russell connected with senior wide receiver Craig Davis for a 47-yard touchdown reception.
But the Razorbacks answered with one more score before the first half when Dick connected on a 21-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Marcus Monk.
—–Contact Kyle Whitfield at [email protected]