BATON ROUGE — For the 13th consecutive year, LSU and Arkansas will square off on the Friday after Thanksgiving in a contest that has come to be known as the “Battle for the Boot”.
Kickoff for the regular-season finale for both teams in scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The game will be televised nationally by CBS.
LSU goes into the game with a 7-4 overall mark and a 3-4 league record. The Tigers will attempt to use Friday’s contest as a springboard into a date in a January bowl game. The Hogs lost their bid to become bowl eligible last week, falling to Mississippi State by a 31-28 count. The Razorbacks, under first year coach Bobby Petrino, are 4-7 overall.
“The Boot”, a 24-karat gold trophy molded in the shape of the states of Louisiana and Arkansas that makes the prize resemble that of a boot, will reside on the Arkansas sidelines during the game. Last year, the Razorbacks captured The Boot for the first time since 2002 with a thrilling 50-48 triple overtime win over LSU in Tiger Stadium.
Since the inception of “The Boot” back in 1996, LSU has been on the winning end of the game eight times with the Hogs taking home the trophy four times. The last three meetings between the teams have been decided by a total of nine points, which included last year’s 50-48 triple-overtime win by the Razorbacks in Tiger Stadium.
Last year’s win by Arkansas appeared to have knocked LSU out of the national title game. However, a series of events, including a 21-14 win by LSU over Tennessee in the league’s title game, sent the Tigers into the BCS National Championship Game against Ohio State.
The following is a look back at some of the more memorable LSU-Arkansas game during the history of the school’s playing for the coveted Boot:
1996: LSU 17, Arkansas 7
Kevin Faulk rushed for 139 yards and one TD and Herb Tyler passed for 191 yards and a score as the Tigers beat the Razorbacks, 17-7, in Little Rock for their ninth win of the season. The nine victories were the most by an LSU team since 1987 and put the Tigers in the Peach Bowl. LSU wasted little time in taking control of the game, scoring 14 first quarter points. LSU stretched the margin to 17-0 in the third quarter before the Hogs pulled to within 17-7 later in the quarter. LSU’s defense held the Razorbacks in check for the final 15 minutes as the Tigers captured The Boot for the first time.
1999: LSU 35, Arkansas 10
LSU, under interim coach Hal Hunter, stunned the 17th-ranked and Cotton Bowl-bound Razorbacks, 35-10, in Tiger Stadium. The game came on the heels of the dismissal of LSU head coach Gerry DiNardo, who was replaced for the game by Hunter. After spotting Arkansas an early 3-0 lead, the Tigers took control, scoring 21 unanswered first half points to take a 21-3 lead at halftime. Big plays were the theme for LSU in the first half as Reggie Robinson scored on a 67-yard pass from Rohan Davey to make it 14-3 followed by a Rondell Mealey scoring reception of 48-yards to run the score to 21-3 at halftime. Mealey scored on a 20-yard run to open the third quarter, stretching the margin to 28-3. The Tigers closed out the upset win in the fourth quarter when Robinson hauled in a 60-yard scoring pass from Davey.
2000: Arkansas 14, LSU 3
Arkansas turned a pair of LSU turnovers into 14 points as the Razorbacks upset the 24th-ranked Tigers, 14-3, on cold and rainy afternoon in Little Rock. The loss ended LSU’s hopes to clinching a share of the SEC Western Division title and it also snapped the Tigers four-game winning streak. The Razorbacks got all the scoring they would need on LSU’s first play from scrimmage as linebacker Quinton Caver intercepted a Josh Booty pass and returned it 33-yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. LSU marched down field on its next possession, however, the drive stalled inside the Razorback 10-yard line and the Tigers were forced to settle for a John Corbello 27-yard field goal. Arkansas added another TD midway through the fourth quarter after LSU fumbled a punt. The Tigers managed a season-low 149 yards of total offense, including only 36 yards in the second half. LSU’s defense held Arkansas to just 253 yards of total offense.
2001: LSU 41, Arkansas 38
LaBrandon Toefield rushed for 173 yards and 3 TDs and Rohan Davey passed for 359 yards and 3 scores as the Tigers held off 24th-ranked Arkansas, 41-38, in Tiger Stadium. Toefield scored on a 62-yard run just four plays into the contest, however the Tigers kept the Razorbacks in the game with five turnovers, inlcuding three in the first half. Arkansas led 13-7 early in the second quarter before the Tigers came back to take a 20-19 lead at halftime. The Tigers stretched their lead to 41-25 with 8:21 to play on a 17-yard TD run by Toefield, the 18th of his career, which broke the LSU record for single-season rushing TDs. Arkansas scored a pair of TDs in the final 6:29 of the contest, the last with 2:27 to play, but the Razorbacks never got the ball back again. Josh Reed broke the SEC single-season receiving record in the game as he caught seven passes for 183 yards to run his total for the year to 1,494 yards. The win over the Razorbacks setup LSU’s shot at clinching a spot in the SEC Championship Game, which they did a week later with a 27-14 victory over Auburn, in a game that was postponed from earlier in the season.
2002: Arkansas 21, LSU 20
Matt Jones connected with Decori Birmingham on a 30-yard TD pass with nine seconds left as the Razorbacks overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to beat LSU, 21-20. LSU appeared to have iced the contest, and a spot in the SEC Championship Game, with a 29-yard field goal by John Corbello with 40 seconds left, however the Razorbacks went 81 yards in 31 seconds, keyed by a 50-yard pass from Jones to Richard Smith, to record the come-from-behind win. LSU dominated the first half, leading 10-0 at halftime on a 67-yard Marcus Randall-to-Skyler Green pass followed by a 49-yard field goal by Corbello at the halftime buzzer. Arkansas pulled to within 10-7 on a 1-yard run by Mark Pierce before LSU stretched the margin to 17-7 on a 5-yard run by Randall late in third quarter. Fred Talley pulled the Razorbacks to within 17-14 on a 56-yard run midway through the fourth quarter. Randall completed 14 of 25 passes for 203 yards and 1 TD for the Tigers, while Domanick Davis rushed for 67 yards. Jones completed only 4 of 16 passes for the Razorbacks, with two coming on their final possession of the game.
2003: LSU 55, Arkansas 24
Justin Vincent rushed for 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Matt Mauck tied a school-record with 4 TD passes as third-ranked LSU clinched a berth in the SEC Championship game with a 55-24 win over Arkansas. The win was LSU’s 11th of the season, tying the school-record set in 1958. The Tigers also won seven SEC games for the first time in school history. After spotting Arkansas an early 7-0 lead, the Tigers battled back, getting a 38-yard field goal from Chris Jackson and then taking a 10-7 lead on a 25-yard fumble return for a TD by Eric Alexander. The Razorbacks tied the game at 10-10 before LSU regained the lead at 17-10 on a 10-yard pass from Mauck to Clayton, which game him a school-record 20 TD receptions. The Hogs tied the game two plays later at 17-17 on a 20-yard run by Cedric Cobbs. From there, it was all LSU as the Tigers closed the half with a 17-0 run to take a 34-17 lead on a 22-yard pass from Mauck to Devery Henderson. The Tigers stretched the margin to 41-17 early in the third quarter on a 37-yard pass from Mauck to David Jones and then increased it once again to 48-17 on a 23-yard run by Vincent. The Tigers got their final points on a 2-yard run by Vincent to stretch the lead to 55-17 late in the third quarter. For the game, LSU piled up 436 yards of offense, including 250 on the ground. Mauck finished 12 of 19 for 186 yards with four TD passes, all going to different receivers.
2004: LSU 43, Arkansas 14
Marcus Randall accounted for 4 touchdowns (2 rushing, 2 passing) as the Tigers rolled up 468 yards of offense in a 43-14 win over Arkansas in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The win was the sixth straight for the Tigers and it snapped Arkansas’ 17-game winning streak in Little Rock. Starting for the first time since the Troy game, Randall connected on 10 of 14 passes for 173 yards and 2 scores and added another 79 yards rushing and 2 TDs in the Tiger win. Randall threw first half scoring passes of 20 and 29 yards to Joseph Addai before scoring on a 1-yard run just before half to give the Tigers a 27-14 lead at intermission. Randall extended the margin to 34-14 early in the third quarter with a 7-yard run. Chris Jackson added a 47-yard field goal and Shyrone Carey scored on a 9-yard run to cap the scoring for the Tigers. In all, LSU rolled up 25 first downs to Arkansas’ 15, while the Tiger defensive held Razorback quarterback Matt Jones to minus-10 yards rushing and only 12 of 29 passing with 2 interceptions. Alley Broussard led the Tiger rushing attack with 81 yards, while Craig Davis caught 5 passes for 70 yards. Marcus Spears keyed an LSU defense with 9 tackles and 2 sacks.
2005: LSU 19, Arkansas 17
LSU held the SEC’s top ranked rushing offense to just 35 yards, 200 below its season average, as the third-ranked Tigers held off a late Arkansas rally for a 19-17 win in Tiger Stadium. With the win, the Tigers clinched a spot in the SEC Championship Game for the third time in five years. After a scoreless first quarter, the Tigers got on the board first with a 26-yard field goal by Colt David at the 13:24 mark in the second quarter. LSU stretched the lead to 10-0 just three minutes later when JaMarcus Russell connected with Bennie Brazell on a 50-yard TD pass. LSU led 12-3 at halftime when Early Doucet tackled Arkansas punter Jacob Skinner in the endzone with 12 seconds left before intermission. LSU appeared to have the game in hand when Justin Vincent scored from 4-yards out early in the third quarter to put the Tigers up 19-3. However, the Razorbacks battled back, cutting the deficit to 19-17 on a 1-yard run by Darren McFadden early in the fourth quarter. The Tiger defense held Arkansas to 1-net yard on its next three possessions to secure the victory and a spot in the league’s title game. Vincent led LSU with 59 yards rushing and 1 TD, while Russell completed 13 of 29 passes for 194 yards, 1 TD and 2 interceptions for the Tigers. Defensively, Melvin Oliver led the Tigers with 9 tackles and 3 sacks as LSU held Arkansas to only 12 first downs and just 241 yards of total offense.
2006: LSU 31, Arkansas 26
Trindon Holliday returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter as LSU held off a furious rally by fifth-ranked Arkansas to post a 31-26 win over the Razorbacks. Holliday’s kickoff return came just seconds after Arkansas’ Darren McFadden went 80 yards for a score to pull the Hogs to within 24-19 with 10:31 to play. Holliday’s return stretched the margin to 31-19 at the 10:14 mark. The Hogs pulled to within 31-26 with 4:53 left on a 5-yard run by Felix Jones, but that was as close as they would get as the Tiger defense stopped Arkansas on four downs with less than two minutes left in the contest to seal the win. Arkansas opened the contest with a 6-play, 80-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the contest on a 1-yard run by McFadden. The Tigers then responded with back-to-back scores as LSU took a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter on a 47-yard reception by Craig Davis. LSU led 14-12 at halftime. In the second half, the Tigers stretched the margin to 17-12 on a 27-yard field goal by Colt David. The Tigers then increased the lead to 24-12 on a 7-yard TD pass from JaMarcus Russell to Early Doucet with 10:59 left in the contest. That score set off a chain of events that saw the two teams score three touchdowns in a span of 45 seconds. The Doucet TD was followed by the 80-yard run by McFadden just 28 seconds later, which was then answered by Holliday’s 92-yard kickoff return, just 17 seconds later. For the game, Russell connected on 14 of 22 passes for 210 yards and 2 scores, while McFadden led the Hogs with 182 yards a 2 TDs. LSU gave up a season-high 298 yards rushing, but limited Arkansas to only 62 yards passing.
2007: Arkansas 50, LSU 48 3OT
Matt Flynn’s potential game-tying two-point conversion in triple-overtime was intercepted as top-ranked LSU dropped a 50-48 decision to Arkansas in the regular-season finale in Tiger Stadium. The loss snapped LSU’s 19-game home winning streak and it also marked the Tigers’ first loss in a game played in November since 2002. In a game that featured five ties, Arkansas came out on top as the Tigers’ couldn’t contain the Razorback rushing attack as Arkansas rushed for 385 yards and five scores. Arkansas led 7-6 at halftime and then built a 14-6 lead early in the third quarter before the Tigers tied the score on a 12-yard run by Jacob Hester. Arkansas regained at 21-14 on a 65-yard TD run, but the Tigers came back to tie the game on a 7-yard TD pass from Flynn to Demetrius Byrd. Trailing 28-21 late in the contest, LSU tied the game at 28-28 with less than a minute left when Flynn on fourth-and-goal, connected with Byrd on a 2-yard TD pass to send the game into overtime. The teams traded touchdowns in the first two overtimes before the game-clincher in the third extended period. Arkansas took the lead for good in the third overtime when the converted on the two-point conversion, running its lead to 50-42. LSU responded on its possession during the third overtime, this time Flynn connected with Brandon LaFell on a 9-yard TD pass bringing the Tigers to with 50-48. LSU’s attempt on the two-point conversion was denied as Arkansas beat the Tigers for the first time since 2002. For the game, Hester led the Tigers with 126 yards and 2 TDs, while Flynn threw for 209 yards and 3 scores. Ali Highsmith had 19 tackles to pace the Tigers on defense.