Behind the Box Score: Arkansas

Well, it was the Arkansas game. The Hogs were largely outmatched for the night, but you do have to give them credit for going down swinging. The Razorbacks added a late touchdown and immediately recovered an onside kick because of course they did.

And sure, it was totally doomed from the start and the comeback had absolutely no chance of working, but I love that they threw themselves into it full bore. Arkansas got crushed, but they showed a lot of heart, and I respect that.

6. Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s number of carries. On those six carries, he rushed for 188 yards and scored three touchdowns. That is an absurd game. The guy is pretty darn good.

100. Arkansas offensive yards in the first half. Technically, LSU’s defense was less effective in the second half again, but come on. Arkansas went for 204 yards in the second half, doubling their first half total to eclipse 300 on the day. But the averages stayed pretty much the same. Rushing went from 2.3 to 2.9 yards per attempt and passing did go from 5.1 to 7.9 though Arkansas did stay at the same 50% completion average. OK, LSU let up in the game’s final quarter. They were up by 50 points, y’all.

2-2. Both team’s red zone conversion rate, which is just weird, right? Arkansas scored 10 points in the red zone and LSU scored 14, so it was even close from a points standpoint. It’s just that LSU kept scoring from distance, not even bothering with that red zone stuff. CEH had touchdown runs of 26 and 27 yards, so LSU was at least knocking on the door, but half of LSU’s eight touchdowns were of 30 yards or more. Can’t stop those explosive plays.

40:29. Arkansas’ time of possession. Hey, not the worst strategy in the world: keep LSU’s offense off the field. They even went 5 of 17 on third downs, which, when you add a fourth down conversion, isn’t horrific. But LSU, after a slow start, was just scoring too quickly. LSU had four touchdown drives lasting between 2:00 and 2:30, including their first three. They closed out the first half with a two minute drill (1:37), but the third quarter was a blitzkrieg. 43, 9, and 26 seconds. Three touchdown drives took all of 1:18 off the clock. Game over.

3. JaCoby Stevens sacks. He added another TFL and finished with 8 total tackles. Stevens was everywhere all night long. In one game, Stevens recorded more sacks than any active player on the LSU roster has all season, and tied Michael Divinity’s season total.

3. Joe Burrow passes in the second half. He completed all of them for a total of 81 yards and a touchdown. Even when he takes it easy, he still puts up huge numbers. Burrow is a human cheat code.