It was a slow start for LSU on Saturday morning, but a second half surge against Arkansas pushed the Tigers to a 33-10 victory.
It is the second consecutive year that the team  bounced back from a loss to Alabama to defeat the Razorbacks.
“We had to bounce back and not have a hangover like we did in the past couple years,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said.
An Alabama hangover that is.
Senior quarterback Danny Etling, senior wide receiver DJ Chark and junior running back Derrius Guice highlighted LSU’s 425 total yards, with four touchdowns in the second half.
Chark scored his first receiving touchdown of the season off a 45-yard pass from Etling to give LSU a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Tigers held on to the slim lead until the Razorbacks put togethers an 86-yard scoring drive as the first half came to an end.
In the second quarter, LSU had just 16 total offensive yards compared to Arkansas’ 104 yards.
“Nobody blinked,” Orgeron said. “There was no hollering and screaming at halftime. We just stuck with the game plan and we took what they gave us.”
On the first drive of the second half, Guice scored from six yards out with Arkansas’ defenders on his back and pushed through a loaded box.
Guice ran for 147 yards on 21 attempts with three touchdowns.
LSU tried to force a run game against Arkansas, but the Razorbacks had up to eight defenders in the box at a time, making it difficult for Guice or senior running back Darrel Williams to break through.
So, Etling had to test out the intermediate passing game. It’s something that LSU’s offense hasn’t seen a lot of this season.
“The intermediate pass game is something we all wanted to improve on,” Orgeron said. “Those short, intermediate passes are going to be open when everyone is stacking the box.”
Etling connected on passes of 19, 15, 10, 9 and 8 yards. To start the second half, Etling completed his first four passes.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Etling found Chark again to complete a 68-yard touchdown pass.
Etling finished 11-for-16 with 217 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“I want Danny to know I’ve got confidence in him,” Orgeron said. “Danny has bled Purple and Gold. I wanted to give him a chance. In the third quarter, if he wouldn’t have performed like he would, we would have pulled him. I wanted to give him a chance.”
While Etling did his part, sophomore linebacker Devin White and LSU’s defense did its part.
White totaled a team high of 14 tackles and reached 100 tackles this season. The last LSU player to reach 100 tackles was Deion Jones in 2015. He did so in 12 games.
LSU will travel to Tennessee next weekend and are on track to complete their first 10-win season since 2013.