The trophy stands four feet tall, weighs nearly 200 pounds and is valued at $10,000.
The “Golden Boot” trophy, which was introduced in 1996, has belonged to Arkansas the last two seasons, but it is up for grabs again tomorrow when the Tigers travel to Fayetteville to play the Razorbacks at 6 p.m.
The 24-karat gold trophy was molded into the shape of Arkansas and Louisiana — neighboring flagship universities, crafting two boot-looking pieces in the United States’ 50-part puzzle.
“It kind of looks like a bad neck chain from the 80s,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said Wednesday on the weekly Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference. “It’s a little gaudy. It’s a little big. But it’s gold plated.”
LSU coach Ed Orgeron was the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Arkansas from 1986-87, a role Orgeron said helped him earn a graduate assistantship and defensive line coach position at Miami.
“I spent two years in Fayetteville, Arkansas,” Orgeron said. “It’s a wonderful place. In fact, I loved it. It was one of my favorite places I ever coached, but it’s not easy to recruit up there.”
The Razorbacks have the third-ranked passing offense in the SEC, averaging 167 rushing yards per game. Orgeron said he was so captivated with Arkansas’ offensive scheme that he visited Bielema during his year off in 2014.
“It’s the biggest football team I’ve ever seen in college football,” Orgeron said. “His lines are bigger than some NFL teams. I like his physical style approach. He’s a player’s coach and a good recruiter. I think he’s done a fantastic job … They’re doing a good job of recruiting two- and three-star players and developing them into guys that are playing like five-star players.”
LSU’s defense will need to prepare for the Razorbacks’ balanced, pro-style attack, Orgeron said.
Stopping Arkansas begins with slowing the run and being prepared for the Razorbacks’ physical style of play, Orgeron said.
“I watched the film this morning, two yards, two yards, 70, two yards, two yards, 60, very explosive plays,” Orgeron said. “They try to wear you down. They bring in different personnel. We have to be ready to play our base and dig in play against the run. This quarterback’s very good and can throw the ball.”
LSU’s focus this weekend is avoiding another post-Alabama collapse.
Last season’s three-game skid beginning with Alabama included a loss to Arkansas. Orgeron isn’t going to let that happen this season.
“I do believe we have some guys that came back that want to finish very strong, the older guys on this football team,” Orgeron said. “We have a lot of juniors that came back. They want to finish strong. I’m sure they are thinking of going to a good bowl game. They want to finish with a winning season. They want to finish and give everything to LSU. We have a lot riding on the line.”