No. 8 LSU travels to face Arkansas Saturday evening in one of the SEC’s most fascinating clashes during a loaded Week 8 slate. The Tigers are coming off a huge win against Ole Miss, which served as a tremendous boon for their College Football Playoff hopes (the Tigers are currently getting +135 betting odds to make the CFP, according to Fanatics Sportsbook), while the Razorbacks had a bye to prepare for one of their top conference rivals.
LSU has won seven Battles for the Golden Boot in the past eight years and it is riding a two-game winning streak, but each of the modern installments in this historic feud have been extremely close. The last four games between the two have come down to one possession, including Arkansas’ 16-13 overtime victory in 2021 — its only win in the series since 2015.
That 2015 season was the last time that LSU lost against Arkansas as an AP-ranked team. The Razorbacks are also standing in the way of LSU’s first 3-0 start to conference play since a historic 2019 season. Keen fans will remember that the Tigers went 15-0 that year, en route to their first College Football Playoff National Championship in program history.
The Razorbacks are a huge obstacle. They’ve played ranked teams like Oklahoma State and Texas A&M close this season, and they finally broke through in Week 6 with a win against then-No. 4 Tennessee.
LSU vs. Arkansas: Need to know
LSU’s explosive passing attack, by the numbers: Hey, did you know that LSU is really good at passing the football? If you didn’t, you’ve certainly missed out on the last few years. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is the latest in a long string of great signal callers to don the purple and gold. He’s currently at, or near the top of, the SEC in several key categories:
- Passing touchdowns: 18 (1st in SEC)
- Pass yards per game: 331.5 (2nd)
- Dropbacks: 254 (1st)
- Consecutive games with two-plus passing TDs: Seven
So that tells us he’s getting a high volume of opportunities, and he’s making the most of them. But he’s also getting some help. LSU’s offensive line has played lights out thus far. In Nussmeier’s 254 dropbacks, he’s only been sacked twice — tied for the fewest among quarterbacks in the SEC. He’s also slinging the ball to some studs.
- Kyren Lacy: Currently tied for the SEC lead with six touchdowns receiving
- Aaron Anderson: Has three-plus receptions and 60-plus yards receiving in all six games this season
- Mason Taylor: His 33 receptions leads all SEC tight ends
The only concern surrounding LSU’s passing offense is that Nussmeier has been slightly careless with the ball lately. He has consecutive games with two interceptions and has thrown at least one pick in four out of six starts thus far, including both of LSU’s SEC games.
Sam Pittman turning things around: Pittman entered the 2024 season on the hot seat and has thus far delivered a surprising set of results that may have just changed his outlook. The Razorbacks are now 1-5 against top-10 foes under Pittman, but that one win came two weeks ago, at home, against No. 4 Tennessee. That was the program’s first win against an AP Top-5 team since 2007 versus LSU and it snapped a seven-game home losing streak against AP Top-5 teams.
Arkansas has never beaten two top-10 teams in a row, though it has had 17 chances to do so throughout the program’s history. That would certainly be a feather in the cap for Pittman, who has a chance to achieve a couple other things that haven’t been done in a while. Arkansas hasn’t started 5-2 since 2016, and it hasn’t started 4-0 at home since 2011.
Fascinating battle in the trenches: LSU has one of the best offensive lines in the country, anchored by a pair of All-American caliber offensive tackles in Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr. In fact, Campbell made CBS Sports’ Midseason All-American team. But those two will have their hands full against the Razorbacks. Defensive linemen Eric Gregory — who does play more on the interior and thus may not match up with the tackles as often — and Landon Jackson have been terrorizing opposing backfields all season. The two have combined for five sacks, nine total quarterback pressures and 8.5 tackles for loss.
How to watch LSU vs. Arkansas live
Date: Saturday, Oct. 19 | Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium — Fayetteville, Arkansas
TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (Free)
Streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime (Try It Free)
LSU vs. Arkansas prediction, picks
If you look at each team’s offensive production in conference play, you might balk at the over. But diving into the matchup shows that there should be a decent amount of points scored in this game, and I didn’t want to pick the spread since it’s extremely narrow and I think the final result could go either way. LSU’s defense was good against Ole Miss, but it hasn’t been great overall. Particularly concerning is the fact that the Tigers have the SEC’s fourth-worst rush defense, which bodes well for Arkansas’ pairing of quarterback Taylen Green and running back Ja’Quinden Jackson. Conversely, this will be the best passing attack that Arkansas has seen all year, and the Razorbacks’ secondary has looked suspect at times this year. Expect points. More of them than sports betting apps are predicting, in fact. Pick: Over 55.5 (-110)
All odds via Fanatics Sportsbook. Check out the latest Fanatics promo code to get in the game.
SportsLine’s proven computer model is calling for five outright upsets in Week 8 of college football. Visit SportsLine now to see them all, plus get spread picks for every game from the model that simulates each game 10,000 times.
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