LSU's defensive star creates the conditions to thwart the Razorback offense in the second half

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Just like the previous three seasons, it appeared No. 8 LSU and Arkansas were in for another close game. LSU linebacker Whit Weeks had other ideas.

His interception in the fourth quarter ultimately paved the way for a 34-10 Tiger victory.

“We got it to 16-10 and I thought we had a really good chance,” coach Sam Pittman said. Unfortunately we tipped the ball up and wanted to intercept it. They scored on the next play. Three turnovers to no turnovers against a team like LSU because they're a really good team that's hard to win.

With Arkansas trailing 16-10 and looking to take the lead for the first time in the game, Weeks flew untouched into the backfield and batted quarterback Taylen Green's pass into the air. Then he lunged and landed the interception. One play later, running back Caleb Durham scored a 2-yard rushing touchdown.

“It's definitely a credit to him,” Green said of Weeks. “He has a strong motor and is really fast and fast and all over the field. When you make plays like that, you just put everything on the bench and learn from it.”

Weeks, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week after recording 18 tackles last week against Ole Miss, again led the Tigers with nine tackles to go, a sack, an interception and a pass breakup. That's 27 tackles in two weeks.

After that, Arkansas lost all rhythm on offense and really struggled to find any rhythm except for one drive. The LSU defense, which came into the night with 21 sacks. began to collapse in the fourth quarter.

The Razorbacks' offense never got out of second gear in the second half, managing just 101 yards of total offense, including -7 rushing yards. This was largely hampered by the limited availability of running back Ja'Quinden Jackson, who only ran five runs on the season before exiting due to injury in the fourth quarter.

LSU also took control of the game with Damian Ramos, who made all four of his field goal attempts, including two from over 45 yards. Ramos is now 12 of 14 this year.

The Razorbacks struggled to get off the field. LSU finished the night 8-14 on third down. The defense was slowly worn down in the second half by 60 minutes of methodical play from LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.

The LSU offense controlled the ball to make the score 38:51. Despite only completing two plays of more than 15 yards, LSU finished the night with 384 yards of total offense.

“Nussmeier was really good and their wideouts were really good,” Pittman said. “We have to get better because we’re going to see a lot of that over the course of the season, until the end of the season.”

Durham delivered the coup de grace with its third rushing touchdown of the game with 2:20 to play.

Arkansas will now look to bounce back on the road against Mississippi State. Kick-off is scheduled for October 26th at 11:45 a.m. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.

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