LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Playing in his final regular season game, senior quarterback Marcus Randall accounted for four touchdowns — throwing for two and rushing for two — as 12th-ranked LSU rocked Arkansas, 43-14, to retain “The Boot” and win its sixth straight contest here Friday at War Memorial Stadium.
The Tigers (9-2, 6-2 SEC) wrapped up second place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division and closed out the regular season with six straight wins for the fourth time under head coach Nick Saban. They will await a New Year’s Day bowl bid, which is expected on Dec. 4, following the completion of next weekend’s SEC Championship Game between Auburn and Tennessee.
The Razorbacks (5-6, 3-5 SEC) failed to qualify for a record seventh consecutive bowl game and will finish in a three-way tie for third in the SEC West. It was also the first time head coach Houston Nutt had suffered a loss in Little Rock after winning 17 straight games during his current tenure.
For Saban, it was his first victory on the road at Arkansas and the first win by an LSU team in Little Rock since former head coach Gerry Dinardo directed the Tigers to a 17-7 win in 1996.
The Tigers physically dominated the Razorbacks, amassing 481 yards to Arkansas’ 269. The Hog rushing offense, rated the second-best in the league in yards per contest (196.6), was held to just 134 on the ground.
Meanwhile, the LSU ground game continued its recent success, rushing for over 250 yards for the third straight game. Alley Broussard accounted for 81 of the 331 yards on 16 carries, while Randall added a career-high 79 yards on 17 carries as the Tigers scored 26 unanswered points.
Randall, starting for the first time since the Troy game on Oct. 23, played perhaps the most complete game of his career and finished 10 of 14 for 173 yards in the air. The Baton Rouge native delivered touchdown strikes of 20 and 29 yards to Joseph Addai in the first half and then added two of his own on runs of one and seven yards.
Addai added 88 all-purpose yards, all in the first half. Place kicker Chris Jackson connected on three field goals, including a career-high 53-yarder in the first half. He has accounted for five field goals in the past two games.
Craig Davis highlighted all receivers, hauling in five passes for 70 yards.
Defensively, Marcus Spears closed out his final regular season game with another superb effort. The Bednarik and Lott Trophy finalist registered a team-high nine tackles, including two sacks for a loss of 27 yards. He moved into a tie for fifth-place with Chuck Wiley on the school’s all-time sack leaderboard with 19.
Razorback quarterback Matt Jones, bothered by a nagging hamstring injury, played his final game and finished 21 of 29 for 152 yards and two interceptions, both of which were picked off by free safety LaRon Landry.
LSU won the toss and elected to receive to start the game and immediately got great field position on Skyler Green’s 30-yard kick return.
After picking up eight yards on Broussard’s run to start the game, the Razorbacks held the Tigers at bay on the next two downs and forced them to punt.
LSU held its ground and with the help of an intentional grounding penalty, the Razorbacks were turned away on their first offensive series.
On its next possession, the Tigers took advantage of excellent field position and went 66 yards on seven plays to score first. The drive started when Randall found a wide-open Dwayne Bowe for 24 yards down to the Arkansas 42.
Then, it was two critical third down conversions that propelled the Tigers to an early 6-0 lead. David Jones’ 14-yard reception kept the drive alive, and then Addai hauled in Randall’s offering, scampering 20 yards into the endzone for the first score with 7:38 in the first quarter.
The momentum shifted immediately on the kickoff when DeCori Birmingham returned Chris Jackson’s boot 47 yards into LSU territory. On the first play from the Tiger 49, Peyton Hillis sprinted down the sideline, 42 yards down to the LSU 7. On the next play, Matt Jones connected with Hillis who would not be denied as he stretched the ball over the goal line for the score.
Chris Balseiro’s extra point knotted the score at 7-7 with 7:00 to play in the first quarter.
The Tigers responded by taking advantage of a depleted Arkansas run defense. Starting at its own 20 with 6:52 remaining in the first quarter, Broussard and Randall combined to rush for 51 net yards down to the Arkansas 21.
But then the drive stalled. Facing second and four Randall was sacked by Marcus Whitmore for a loss of 14 yards. On third down, Randall scrambled and fired to Dwayne Bowe who could not hold onto the pass at the goal line, forcing Chris Jackson to attempt a 46-yard field goal.
Jackson was successful on his attempt as the Tigers reclaimed the lead at 10-7 with 34 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Arkansas was unable to move the ball on its next possession, but punter Jeremy Davis looked to catch the Tigers off guard when he attempted to fake a punt. Davis scrambled and fired to Landon Leach down the field, but Travis Daniels’ brilliant knockdown turned the ball over on downs.
LSU wasted little time seizing the momentum. On the next play, Randall’s play action pass to Addai for 29 yards was good for six, his second touchdown of the game and seventh of the season.
The Tigers led 17-7 with 13:28 to play in the half.
The LSU defense stood tall and Spears’ sack of Jones on third and 11 seemed to have given LSU a chance to put the game away early.
Again, Davis came on to punt but the Tiger special teams faltered when Davis’ boot nailed blocker Chevis Jackson in the shoulder as he was racing down the field. Green attempted to corral the fumble but failed to do so and Pierre Brown recovered at the LSU 15.
With the crowd back into the game, Jones continued his scrambling abilities that made him successful the past four seasons. Facing second and eight, Jones rolled out and fired to Steven Harris for a 13-yard touchdown pass with 10:09 to play in the half. Balseiro’s PAT cut the deficit to three at 17-14.
Another special teams miscue pinned the Tigers back to their own 7-yard line. Green fielded the kick inside the LSU 5 and returned it 10 yards, but it was negated on an illegal block penalty.
Unaffected by the starting field position, Randall orchestrated a seven-play, 57-yard drive, culminated by Chris Jackson’s 53-yard field goal. Jackson, kicking behind a stiff south wind, connected on his career-high, breaking his previous high of 51 yards set last week against Ole Miss.
Arkansas drove down to the LSU 36 before their next drive stalled, yielding the ball back over to the Tigers.
With a little more than four minutes to play in the half, Randall continued his torrid first half play marching the Tigers down the field again. Five solid runs by Addai and Broussard and a 15-yard scramble by Randall carried LSU into Arkansas territory with less than one minute remaining in the half.
Randall then connected with Davis for three straight completions, including a 23-yarder down to the Hog 1. One play later, Randall rolled out and walked into the endzone for his second rushing touchdown of the season.
Ryan Gaudet’s extra point gave the Tigers a 13-point cushion with 20 seconds remaining, and the Hogs elected to run out the clock as the half expired.
Arkansas received to start the second half. After picking up a first down on a third and three scramble, Jones made his first mistake of the afternoon when he was intercepted by Landry at the LSU 38. The sophomore returned the pick 27 yards down to the Hog 35 with 11:55 remaining in the third quarter.
Randall and the Tiger offense took to the field again and put the game away on its first possession of the half. The Tigers went 35 yards on five plays to take a commanding 34-14 advantage.
Randall scrambled 29 yards down to the Arkansas 7, his longest rush of the day. Then, three plays later, the senior quarterback eluded three tacklers on a seven-yard run and found the endzone for the second time on the day.
LSU led 34-14 with 9:50 to go in the third quarter.
Landry made his presence felt again on the next series, intercepting Jones for the second time in the game and returning the ball 24 yards to the Tiger 45. LSU was unable to put anything together and went three and out.
Arkansas would not go quietly taking the ball into Tiger territory on a pair of rushes and a 14-yard precision pass to Chris Baker. Marcus Monk’s leaping 14-yard reception put the Hogs into the redzone down to the LSU 14, but Claude Wroten’s pivotal sack of Jones pinned Arkansas back to the Tiger 24.
With nothing to lose, the Razorbacks elected to go for the first down, facing fourth and 13 with 13 seconds to play in the third quarter. Jones scrambled and threw into the endzone for the intended Steven Harris, who was blanketed by Corey Webster and Landry.
The Tigers took over on downs, still leading 34-14 with just five seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The backbreaker came over the next 9:16, in which LSU ate up the clock on the longest drive of the season capped by Jackson’s third field goal of the day, a 37-yarder to extend the lead to 37-14 with 5:57 left in the game. The drive was dominated by Randall, who rushed on a series of draws for 26, 18 and 9 yards, respectively.
On LSU’s next possession, Shyrone Carey, seeing his first action since Oct. 30, ended the scoring barrage when he dashed into the endzone for nine yards with 1:37 remaining on the clock.
The Tiger defense capped the day on Arkansas’ final series of the game. Quarterback Robert Johnson replaced Matt Jones and tossed an interception to Ronnie Prude, who returned it 28 yards as time expired.