Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images
By Hunt Palmer
One interim head coach will add The Golden Boot to his resume on Saturday.
LSU and Arkansas have played for that 200 pound, $10,000 hunk of gold since 1996. The winner of this year’s game may need to melt it down to pay off a buy out.
Sam Pittman was fired at the end of September after an embarrassing loss at home to Notre Dame. Brian Kelly followed suit a month later after a thrashing at the hands of Texas A&M.
Now Bobby Petrino and Frank Wilson, a pair of men on round two at their current program, will lead their scuffling teams to battle Saturday morning in Tiger Stadium.
The rivalry has always felt a little bit forced.
Arkansas spent decades dueling with Texas-based rivals in the Southwest Conference. The Hogs joined the SEC in 1992, and they were paired with LSU in an annual season-ending showdown that no one really asked for.
Arkansas won the first two in the darkest years of LSU football, but the Tigers dominated the next decade and a half, winning 10 of 13 from 1994 to 2005.
Things evened up for a bit.
The programs split the 10 games between 2006 and 2015. LSU has now won eight of nine against the Hogs, the exception coming in 2021 when Ed Orgeron, who had already been informed of his firing, and the Tigers fell in overtime to Arkansas in 2021.
In the SEC era, LSU holds a 22-11 advantage. All time, LSU leads 45-23-2 in a series that has featured games in Baton Rouge, Fayetteville, Little Rock, Dallas and 23 games in Shreveport from 1913 to 1936.
The SEC announced LSU and Arkansas will be annual opponents the next four seasons. LSU also gets Ole Miss and Texas A&M while Arkansas draws Missouri and Texas.
Here are some of the best moments from LSU and Arkansas in the SEC era.
MIRACLE ON MARKHAM
Arkansas stunned LSU to advance to the SEC Championship game in 2002.
The Tigers led 17-7 entering the fourth quarter in Little Rock, and led by six with 34 second left as Arkansas took the ball at its own 19 without any timeouts. Quarterback Matt Jones fired a 50-yard pass to Richard Smith down to the LSU 31. On the next snap with 19 seconds left Jones found DeCori Birmingham in the corner of the right endzone (just out of eyesight of a 14-year-old Hunt Palmer bundled up in the same endzone) for a game-tying score.
An excessive celebration forced the extra point to come from 35 yards out. It was good, and the miracle comeback was complete.
#ThrowbackThursday
Arkansas- 21
#17 LSU- 20
2002
The Miracle on Markham pic.twitter.com/1IF0Buqm5f— WarMachine2013 (@WarMachine2013) June 12, 2025
WILD HOGS
Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis put on a show in Tiger Stadium, and it appeared that their triple overtime win would cost LSU a shot at a national title. Matt Flynn’s two-point pass in the third overtime was intercepted to seal the Razorback win.
The Off the Bench crew of Jacob Hester and Flynn accounted for 335 yards and four touchdowns in the game, but McFadden Hillis and Jones combined for 380 yards and five touchdowns.
LSU got the last laugh with an SEC title the following week and the program’s third national title weeks later.
TOP THREE TILT
LSU, Alabama and Arkansas separated themselves from the rest of the SEC in 2011. Arkansas finished. The teams were 18-0 when not playing one another. Outscoring opponents by 486 points or 27 points per game. Only two of the 16 games were decided by single-digits, and 13 of the 16 were decided by 20-plus.
Arkansas came to Tiger Stadium ranked third in the country to face the No. 1 ranked and unbeaten Tigers.
Tyler Wilson and the Hogs produced a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, and a defensive touchdown on a Michael Ford fumble followed to put Arkansas up 14-0 in the second quarter. From there, it was ALL LSU. The Tigers used a Tyrann Mathieu punt return touchdown to kick start a 41-3 onslaught to finish the regular season 12-0 for the first time in school history.
Tyrann Mathieu Vs Arkansas 2011
8 Tackles
2 Forced Fumbles
1 Fumble Recovery
1 92 YD Punt Return TD
SEC West Champs https://t.co/AHJJymwkYe pic.twitter.com/OT9PFguPi7— Boot Krewe Media (@BootKreweMedia) May 21, 2023
DEEP TO DURAL
In 2013, LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger’s 3,000 passing season ended with a torn ACL against Arkansas. Backup Anthony Jennings entered the game and faced a three-point deficit and 99 yards in front of him with 3:04 to play. LSU marched to midfield with 1:41 to play, and Jennings found a streaking Travin Dural wide open down the left sideline for the winning score with 1:04 left.
November 29th. 2013 QB. Zach Mettenberger and WR. Odell Beckham both left the game due to injuries and it was Mettenberger’s final game in Tiger Stadium. #15 LSU beat Arkansas 31-27 11 years ago today… pic.twitter.com/7vlHN7qZrr
— richard condon (@CondonBeingReal) November 29, 2024
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