By JAMES MORAN | Tiger Rag Associate Editor
STOCK UP: Halftime Adjustments
Not sure if the adjustments were schematic or if Ed Orgeron gave his sleepwalking team a halftime wake-up call, but the LSU offense came out of the intermission like a ball of fire. It started with feeding Derrius Guice, who gobbled up 71 yards and two touchdowns on seven third-quarter carries, but the passing game came alive, too. Danny Etling hit some first-down throws to open up the running lanes and hooked up with a streaking D.J. Chark for a 68-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice. LSU scored touchdowns on its first three drives of the second half.
STOCK UP: Do-it-all Donte
LSU opened the game with Donte Jackson playing safety in the base defense for the second week in a row and the speedy defensive back immediately made his presence felt. He defended two passes on Arkansas’ initial drive. The next drive he made an open-field tackle in the backfield for a loss and come unblocked for a sack on a nickel blitz. The wrinkle, instituted during the bye to get Jackson more involved when quarterbacks avoid throwing at him, seems to be paying real dividends. He finished with seven tackles and a pass break up.
STOCK DOWN: Kicking
Don’t look now, but LSU’s place kicking problem may be starting to crop up again. Connor Culp had seemingly put those concerns to bed of late, making eight straight field goals over the span of a month, including the game-winning kick in the comeback win against Auburn. He missed a 32-yard field goal just left of the upright in the first half of a scoreless game. Then he missed back-to-back extra points wide left following LSU touchdowns in the third quarter. Jack Gonsoulin replaced him and converted two PATs.
STOCK DOWN: Killer Instinct
Dominating the field position battle against a struggling team, LSU had numerous chances to bury Arkansas in the first half. Culp missed a 32-yard field goal. Another drive ended with a punt in Hog territory after Derrick Dillon couldn’t hang on to an Etling deep ball in the back of the end zone. Those wasted opportunities allowed Arkansas to hang around, and predictably, that set the stage for a 10-play, 86-yard touchdown march that knotted the game at 7-7 just before halftime. The Hogs had amassed only 46 total yards of offense up to that point.
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