LSU clinches SEC West title with victory vs. Arkansas, Mississippi loss to Alabama
No. 8 LSU football has won the SEC West.
The Tigers (8-2, 6-1 SEC) clinched the divisional crown after Mississippi's 30-24 loss to Alabama and LSU's 13-10 win against Arkansas on Saturday.
Harold Perkins, the freshman phenom, made sure the Tigers escaped Arkansas with a win.
LSU had the ball with four minutes left and a 13-10 lead but could only muster a single first down. Despite the lackluster drive, the Tigers still pinned Arkansas inside its own 25-yard line with under two minutes left.
Then on first-and-10 at the Arkansas 38, Perkins forced his second fumble of the game. The fumble and LSU recovery clinched the win for LSU, as Arkansas did not have any timeouts left.
SEC: No. 5 Tennessee dominates Missouri to bolster College Football Playoff case
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With only one loss in conference play and wins over both the Rebels and Crimson Tide, LSU holds a one-game lead and the tiebreaker over its two closest rivals in the division with only one conference game left to play.
The Tigers face Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday before finishing the regular season at Texas A&M in two weeks.
Mississippi has two conference games left to play against Arkansas and Mississippi State. Alabama finishes its conference slate against Auburn in two weeks.
The past five weeks have been a whirlwind of pleasant surprises for LSU.
After a demoralizing loss to Tennessee in Week 6, the Tigers scored 45 points in a road win at Florida the next week before upsetting Mississippi 45-20. After an open week, LSU pulled off another upset, beating 32-31 in overtime on a game-winning two-point conversion.
LSU is in the SEC Championship game for the first time since 2019, when it won the national title. It's just the third time since 2011 that LSU is playing in the conference title game.
Just as in 2019 and 2011, LSU will likely face No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship. The Bulldogs will clinch the SEC East with a win over Mississippi State on Saturday.
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LSU football SEC West champions after Mississippi's loss to Alabama
