Todd Politz
LSU Director of Digital Media
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — LSU built a 24-3 lead through three quarters and held off Arkansas in the closing minutes to keep “The Golden Boot” in Baton Rouge, 24-17, on a chilly Saturday night at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
LSU (8-2, 5-2 SEC) won its eighth game for the 19th-straight season. Arkansas, which scored its two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make the game interesting, fell to 2-8 overall and 0-6 in SEC play.
“Good win for our football team man,” LSU head coach Ed Oregeron said. “We had 164 yards rushing, we held them to 16. That’s the difference in the ball game. Tough week for our football team, want to commend our team. Didn’t always go our way all game, but there are some parts where we could get better. I am proud of our win. We’re 8-2 right now. Our focus was to come here and win the football game and that’s what we did.”
The victory came a week after the Tigers, ranked No. 10 in the Amway Coaches Poll, fell to No. 1 Alabama 29-0 in Tiger Stadium.
“It was great,” Orgeron said. “It was just great to see the players happy again. They worked all week. It was good to get on a plane, get out of Baton Rouge and come to a tough place to play. Although it wasn’t pretty we won the football game. The guys feel good about themselves.”
This Saturday, the Tigers return to Tiger Stadium for the final home game of the 2018 season, taking on Rice at 6:30 p.m.
Despite several starters who weren’t able to play or left the game with injuries, the Tigers dominated play for the better part of three quarters. Arkansas gained 125 of its 216 yards in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Joe Burrow completed 15-of-21 passes for 195 with a 40-yard touchdown to Justin Jefferson, who had a career effort with six grabs and 117 yards.
Running backs Nick Brossette (23 rushes, 90 yards) and Clyde Edwards-Helaire (17 rushes, 56 yards) scored touchdowns of 12 and 13 yards, respectively. LSU out-rushed Arkansas, 164-16.
LSU held the ball for 35:47 and had a 359-216 advantage in total offense. The Tigers were 5-of-14 on third down, while holding Arkansas to 2-of-12.
Safety Grant Delpit led LSU with six tackles, a sack and two pass breakups.
