By Hunt Palmer
The Battle for the Golden Boot. It’s not quite the Old Oaken Bucket or the Floyd of Rosedale. The Big 10 has always done goofy trophies better than the SEC. But it’s been a very competitive rivalry for three decades between LSU and Arkansas. Both programs are in an interesting spot. LSU was knocked down its annual season-opening peg making the high wire act of the next three months a dangerous one. But to this point this Tigers have walked it. Arkansas choked a game away at Oklahoma State and then suffered its annual loss against Texas A&M leaving Sam Pittman likely on the brink of termination again.
The last time out, both teams took a big step forward. Arkansas beat a Top 5 Tennessee team in front of a sellout crowd, and LSU took down Ole Miss to move into the Top 10 themselves. A win Saturday makes Arkansas feel like they’ve really got something with this coordinator duo and some significant momentum. A win for LSU, and Top 5 status is not out of the question, nor is the College Football Playoff.
As is the case every week in the SEC, this one is big. Here are some key matchups to pay attention to:
Arkansas Quarterback Taylen Green vs. LSU Edge Defenders
The first story here is Taylen Green’s health. Pittman said Wednesday that the Hog quarterback was not full speed yet but that there was hope he would be for Saturday. It’s a bone bruise on the knee for Green who uses his athleticism as much as any quarterback in the SEC. The assumption is that he will play.
Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has done an excellent job with Green so far this year. Green was only a 59 percent passer at Boise State. Precision and accuracy haven’t been hallmarks of his game. So Petrino doesn’t ask him to sit in the pocket and go to work. Arkansas gets him on the perimeter with bootlegs and half rolls to do a couple of things. One, it allows Green to tuck and run if he likes what he sees in front of him. Two, it cuts the field in half to simplify the read.
Green stands 6-foot-6 and is a long strider. It’s very Matt Jones-esque. Maybe a little Nick Fitzgerald from Mississippi State. He can churn up yardage on the ground as well as any signal caller in the SEC. He’s running for 53 yards per game this season on 13 attempts per game. At Auburn, he ran it 18 times for 118 before sack yardage came out. It’s a big part of what Arkansas wants to do.
Bradyn Swinson, Sai’vion Jones, DaShawn Womack and Major Burns will man the edges for LSU. A couple of things are crucial here. You cannot fly too far up the field and allow Green to slip right underneath the pass rush for rushing yardage. That’s one. And Swinson talked to reporters about that this week. He said Kevin Peoples insists that you never rush beyond the quarterback. Secondly, when it is time to rush on third and distance, you need to get home. Oklahoma State, Auburn and Texas A&M all came away with three sacks versus Arkansas. Tennessee had a couple. Green will hold the ball a little bit if he doesn’t like the picture.
Sacks can stall drives or put the Hogs in obvious passing downs which they don’t handle well. Petrino’s use of Green has limited those downs, and that’s why Arkansas is best in the SEC in third down conversions.
Arkansas Running Back Ja’Quinden Jackson vs. LSU Linebackers Greg Penn and Whit Weeks
Penn and Weeks were exceptional on Saturday. Weeks earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week for his 18 tackles against Ole Miss. Penn was second on the team right behind him. It will have to be another big night for that duo against an Arkansas rush offense that averages just a tick under 200 yards per game.
The Hogs ran for 238 at Oklahoma State though they weren’t as successful in the three SEC contests. Still, Arkansas ran the ball 55 times at Auburn. It’s what they want to do. Texas A&M and Tennessee probably have more pro-ready players on the defensive front than LSU, but the Tigers have acquitted themselves reasonably well against the run outside of some big plays.
Arkansas ranks second in the conference in rushing plays of 10-plus yards and fifth in rushes of 20+ yards. Those plays are generally on the second level to choke off.
Jackson is a converted high school quarterback with great size at 6-foot-2 and 233lbs. He’s also got some wiggle. He starred at Duncanville High School (Caden Durham’s alma mater) before playing at Utah and transferring to Arkansas. He’s a fifth-year senior who has run for a touchdown in six straight games. He’ll be featured early and often. LSU’s goal should be to keep him around 3.5 yards per carry and eliminate the big plays.
Garrett Nussmeier vs. Zone Coverage from Arkansas
Arkansas has only faced one capable passer this season, Oklahoma State’s Kyle Bowman. Texas A&M is 14th in the league in passing. Tennessee is 11th, and although Auburn is 6th, I don’t think Peyton Thorne is going to win the Heisman. He’s been benched twice.
Nussmeier might be a Top 3 passer in the conference. He will undoubtedly throw for substantial yardage on the Arkansas secondary Saturday night. The mistakes have to stop, though. What was a blip on the radar has now become an issue. Nussmeier made two bad decisions at South Carolina that resulted in interceptions, though one was called back. He threw two more against South Alabama that everyone swept under the rug. Then two more came last weekend, one at a massively inopportune time.
I don’t think blitzing this LSU offensive line is a good idea. It’s too strong in pass protection. My assumption is that defensive coordinators are going to test Nussmeier’s patience by dropping seven and eight to see if he’ll force the ball into one of those tight windows so the defensive backs can make a play on the ball.
Joe Sloan leaning more on the run will help here, but Nussmeier still has to be conscious of what he’s seeing and doing. Turnovers against South Alabama and at home can be overcome. A couple of more by disguised coverages could be an undoing in Fayetteville.
