LSU can't shake Arkansas, nor can it ever be counted out | LSU

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – At the Buttered Biscuit, a cheekily named eatery in Bentonville, Arkansas, not far from the Walmart Museum (yes, that's a thing), there was cautious confidence in the Arkansas Razorbacks' ability to defeat No. 8 LSU.

“After they beat Tennessee, I had to say yes,” Lindsay Naramore said Friday.

Perhaps nervous confidence would be a more accurate description. Anne Medin, eating lunch with her friend Sandy Sowder in a Cardinals-colored Arkansas T-shirt, said her die-hard Hogs fan roommate invited his doctor to watch Saturday night's game.

You never know.

“Of course I’m nervous,” said Medin, a Minnesota transplant who can now “Woo Pig Sooie!” with the best of them. “But I’m hopeful.”

They broke the ice in this rivalry – literally. For years, this game was played on Black Friday or in the middle of the cold November months that dominate the Ozark foothills.

The weather for Saturday's 6 p.m. kickoff here at Reynolds Razorback Stadium promises to be as perfect a fall evening as you could hope for, about 70 degrees at kickoff.

The fact that there's still half a football season left may ease the chill factor, but it does little to dampen the urgency of this game. The Heat facing LSU — the second straight top-10 opponent to visit Fayetteville after Arkansas stumbled 19-14 against No. 4 Tennessee two weeks ago — is just as dangerous.

This also applies to the Hogs.

“It’s the SEC,” LSU tailback Josh Williams said this week. “Arkansas is a tough team. We respect this team. We don't overlook them. They will be physical and so will we.”

Williams, a sixth-grader, knows. He knows that, for whatever reason, this is a classic game where things are always close. Five of the last six LSU-Arkansas games have been decided by a touchdown or less. In the last four games, these teams have been separated by just one field goal each time.

Once upon a time, LSU was the David to Arkansas' Goliath. As heavy underdogs, the Tigers defeated No. 2 Arkansas 14-7 in the 1966 Cotton Bowl, ending the Razorbacks' 22-game winning streak. It remains one of the biggest upsets in LSU football history and one of Arkansas' bitterest defeats, potentially costing the program the national title of the wire service era.

Arkansas pulled off more surprises against LSU. The Razorbacks have had a lot more practice. Arkansas has beaten top-10 LSU teams as the lower-ranked or unranked team three times since 2007, including the epic 50-48 decision in three overtimes 17 years ago.

That loss, LSU's second of 2007, somehow didn't derail the Tigers' push to win the BCS National Championship that year. A second loss to Arkansas might not end LSU's hopes of reaching the new 12-team, economy-sized College Football Playoff. But it would mean the Tigers (5-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) would have to be at the top of the table in their final five games to get there. LSU cannot assume that this would not be the case.

The Tigers have flirted with defeat in both SEC games so far, only to bounce back impressively both times. The Tigers lost 0:17 in South Carolina, but then stormed back and won 36:33. Last Saturday, they trailed Ole Miss 10-0 in the second quarter before winning 29-26 in overtime.

Is LSU in for disaster and defeat? Or is this a team that never gets eliminated in any game? If the former is true – that any of the Tigers' final six games on their schedule can be lost – then it is equally true that LSU could win any of the six games.

Brian Kelly said his team is learning to do whatever it takes to achieve the latter. The main reason, Williams said, was quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.

Nussmeier hasn't been outstanding on every snap this season, but he's been mighty good when it counts, leading the SEC in completions (160) and touchdown passes (18) with six interceptions. The Nut Bus wasn't at full speed for most of the game against the Rebels, completing just 20 of its first 49 pass attempts.

However, his last two throws were considered legendary: a 23-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Anderson on fourth-and-5 to force overtime and a 25-yard game-winner in OT to Kyren Lacy. One could argue that neither Heisman winner Joe Burrow nor Jayden Daniels ever completed more consecutive throws in their LSU careers than those two passes against a top-10 opponent like the Rebels.

“Garrett, he never lets his players give up,” Williams said. “We always believe we will win the game.”

What makes this game such compelling theater is the fact that LSU appears to have a team that can't be counted on against anyone, but, aside from a 56-20 win in 2019, hasn't in the past either was capable of shaking Arkansas.

That makes LSU fans nervous and The Buttered Biscuit's Arkansas fans just as worried.

That's what makes a quality SEC rivalry.