FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the fifth straight year, LSU was in a nerve-wracking battle with Arkansas. This time, it was a Razorback team plenty capable of toppling giants like No. 8 LSU – it had done just that to then-No. 4 Tennessee just two weeks prior.
An LSU offense that had struggled to find much traction and had drawn 10 penalties needed a lift. It came from a sophomore linebacker.
With LSU tenuously leading 16-10, Whit Weeks rocketed off the edge right into Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green’s lap, batted his pass up into the air and caught it himself.
At the end of the play, Weeks’ interception put LSU’s offense at the two-yard line. It set up an easy touchdown on the next play.
“It was the back breaker in the game,” head coach Brian Kelly said. “He’s active in virtually all the plays.”
That jolt was enough to stop Arkansas’ momentum in its tracks and power LSU to run away with the game. The Tigers eventually topped Arkansas 34-10 to retain possession of the Golden Boot and push LSU to 6-1 on the season.
Weeks impacted the game in a variety of ways, including as a reliable tackler, a rusher off the edge and a quarterback spy for the very speedy Green.
He led the way with nine tackles, including one for loss, and a sack in what was again an electric performance by the LSU defense.
As a whole, the unit, which was coming off its best performance of the season against a top-10 offense in Ole Miss, had three sacks and forced three turnovers.
“That’s what we expect,” Weeks said. “We’re the LSU Fighting Tigers. That’s the defense that you’d expect us to play.”
“Nothing seems to faze this group,” Kelly said.
Despite the LSU offense’s issues with penalties and failing to finish drives with touchdowns instead of field goals, it was another solid day for redshirt junior Garrett Nussmeier and company.
Nussmeier had 224 passing yards, while receivers CJ Daniels, Kyren Lacy and Aaron Anderson each had at least three catches and 30 yards. Daniels topped the trio with 86 yards – his best output as a Tiger.
The LSU rushing game also had one of its best games of the season with 158 yards on the ground on 4.3 yards per carry. The standout was once again freshman running back Caden Durham, who had 101 yards and three touchdowns.
“My coach tells me he needs me in big games, and it’s a big game, so it’s my time to shine,” Durham said.
Still, LSU’s first half was rife with mistakes for the offense. The Tigers most notably drew an astounding seven false starts. The Arkansas crowd seemed to have a significant impact on LSU’s timing and communication.
In addition, Nussmeier’s struggles from the prior game against Ole Miss cropped up again. He threw dangerous passes up for grabs and finished the half with a 56.5% completion percentage.
That came after the quarterback threw for two interceptions and a 43.1% completion percentage the week before in what he called the worst game of his career.
These penalties and questionable decisions led to several LSU offensive drives that stalled out once the Tigers crossed over into Arkansas territory. LSU settled for three field goals in the first half and headed into the locker room with a 16-7 lead that could’ve been much more sizable.
The touchdown allowed by the LSU defense came as a result of another Tiger gaffe, with junior safety Jardin Gilbert failing to protect the deep corner of the end zone as star Arkansas receiver Andrew Armstrong popped wide open.
That mistake proved to be the last glaring one of the night for LSU’s defense, which did a commendable job of preventing big plays once again.
“I know the group of guys we got, and I’m taking us over anybody,” Weeks said.
