Grading LSU football's narrow victory over Arkansas
BATON ROUGE – LSU football escaped with a big victory on Saturday, constructing a nine-play, 72-yard drive to defeat Arkansas on a go-ahead field goal with five seconds left.
Here are our grades from the tight LSU victory.
Offense: B+
LSU's offense got off to a slow start, failing to capitalize on any of its opportunities until the final minute of the first half. But two big touchdown throws to Brian Thomas Jr. got the attack back on track.
Defense: D
LSU's defense had trouble getting off the field, allowing too many time-consuming drives. A back-breaking 59-yard touchdown pass to start the fourth quarter and a roughing the passer call allowed Arkansas to tie the game twice in the fourth quarter.
Special teams: C+
LSU allowed a fake field goal run for a first down in the third quarter, completely fooling the Tigers' special teams unit.
Coaching: C+
LSU's defensive gameplan allowed too many easy completions for Arkansas' offense. However, LSU offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock had a strong night calling plays, despite the slow start.
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Overall: C
Arkansas showed that it was a better team than the one that lost to BYU a week ago. But the Tigers' defense still have plenty of questions they need to answer.
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Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football: Grading win over Arkansas in Tiger Stadium
