Two plays, 81 yards and 34 seconds ended LSU’s chance for a second SEC West title and another crack at the conference championship, as the Tigers fell to Arkansas 21-20.
With Arkansas trailing 20-14, quarterback Matt Jones took his team down the field, connecting with DeCori Birmingham from 31 yards out to tie the game. Birmingham slid behind cornerback Randall Gay and beat Travis Daniels to the ball in the right corner of the end zone.
The Razorbacks were penalized 15 yards for excessive celebration, but David Carlton still hit the long extra point with nine seconds on the clock for the go-ahead score.
“It’s something I always dream about, making the big catch in the big game,” Birmingham said. “We worked hard for this, we never gave up.”
Jones, who had completed only two passes for 46 yards until the final drive, hit an open Richard Smith for a 50-yard pass to set up the last touchdown.
“I couldn’t believe Richard got behind that guy,” Jones said.” If I could have thrown the ball about 10 yards farther, we would have scored on that play.”
The Razorbacks (9-3, 5-3 SEC) move on to face Georgia in the SEC Championship game Dec. 7 in Atlanta. Despite solid play from quarterback Marcus Randall, LSU (8-4, 5-3) could not put Arkansas away and must wait another week to learn its bowl fate.
Randall completed 14 of 25 passes for 203 yards, including a 67-yard strike to Skyler Green in the first quarter to put the Tigers up 7-0. Green replaced the injured Devery Henderson, catching three passes for 92 yards.
After Corey Webster intercepted a third-down pass from Jones in the end zone, Corbello hit a 48-yard field goal to give LSU a 10-0 halftime lead. Arkansas bounced back in the second half, holding LSU on its first drive, then scoring on a fourth-and-goal plunge by Mark Pierce to make the score 10-7.
LSU led 17-7 midway through the fourth quarter, but a 56-yard Fred Talley touchdown run cut the lead to three with 6:33 remaining. John Corbello extended the lead on a 29-yard field goal, but the 6-point advantage was not enough to keep the Hogs at bay.
“The last two or three series when we were out there, we felt like we needed one more score to really put the game away,” Randall said. “But we never got that touchdown.”
LSU players felt the heartbreak of a last-second loss this time, after being on the opposite end of one less than three weeks ago.
“Now I know how Kentucky felt when we were down there, but, hey, that’s how it happens,” Randall said.
LSU could not duplicate what it did in the final seconds in Lexington, Ky., against Arkansas. With seven seconds on the clock and the ball at the three, Randall fumbled in the end zone, and one LSU player recovered but was tackled as time expired.
“A victory’s a victory, whatever you call it,” Birmingham said.
Linebacker Bradie James had 10 tackles for LSU in his final regular season game. He said losing the game was disappointing because the team did not fulfill its goal to defend the SEC title.
“I feel like if I could have just made one more play, we could have made it to the [title] game,” James said. “Hopefully, what I’ve done is passed the torch to these younger guys, starting a legacy here to always play for the SEC championship.”