ArkansasRazorbacks.com: Tigers survive comeback in OT, 33-30
Josh Jasper tied the LSU school record with four field goals as LSU escaped the comeback Arkansas Razorbacks with a 33-30 overtime victory before a crowd of 93,013 at Tiger Stadium.
Also:
- ArkansasRazorbacks.com: Game Stats (PDF), Post-game Quotes, Heartbreak in overtime (Video)
- ESPN.com: LSU survives after Arkansas pulls tying FG in OT, ESPNews Highlight Of The Night (Video)
- AP Photos / Getty Images: Arkansas vs. LSU Game Photos
- Chris Bahn: Arkansas Plays Better, Gets Same Result on Road, Two-Minute Drill
- Jim Harris: LSU Gets Its Kicks, While Arkansas Falls Shy
- Robbie Neiswanger: Rise Before The Fall
- Scott Faldon: Mallett Takes Responsibility
- Harry King: Missed FG Costs UA
I went through a gammit of emotions in this game.
Frustrated because Mallet could not settle down in the first half.
Embarrased that the crown of the field was mentioned.
Ecstatic in the way all phases of the game improved in the Second Half.
Angry at going to the prevent defense on the last drive after we had dominated their offense in the second half.
Confused at the play calling on the overtime series when we were in an awesome position to finish the game.
All in all a better year than I hoped for. I really think the coaches let these kids down a little bit in the last two minutes of the game on defense and the overtime series on offense.
Kudos overall to the kids and coaches on many improvements. I really want a good punter, some offensive and defensive linemen, and a couple of playmakers in the secondary for Christmas.
When does baseball start?
Don't forget a field goal kicker that can make one in a pressure situation.
Pretty much sums up my roller coaster. It was an entertaining game for sure.
Another woulda, coulda, shoulda game!
I hope folks will finally agree that we need a change at d coordinator. The last drive of regulation is a perfect example. We have all the momentum and willy decides to sit back and let Jefferson pick at us on a gimpy leg with the 4th string rb. Horrible!!
Most folks may want to hang tejada, but he is the one that kept us in the game.
Overall a really good season with much to build from. If we can get a capable d coordinator and generate an average defense, we'll be in great shape.
Agree with you on both points. If you are not going to throw for the first down in overtime, you set Tejada up in the middle of the field. I agree that Tejada had a good game. He was much improved this year.
I also agree on the Defense going soft at the end.
Hopefully since Mallet had an average game he will stay another year.
I haven't pointed out many things this season I disagreed with concerning Coach Petrino, but I have no clue what he was thinking, instructing M. Smith to defer the 1st offensive posession to LSU in OT. Are you kidding me?
Give the ball right back to them when their still into an offensive rythem?
Our freakin Defense just came off the field after that last LSU drive in regulation.
Here's why i'm upset about this decision the most. If we take the ball at the 25 yard line 1st, there's less pressure on Mallett to convert 1st downs and possibly a TD, and even if we still had to settle for a FG, If Tejada misses, it's still a tie game, if he makes it with no pressure to win the game, the pressure is immediately put back on their young QB, J. Jefferson, and eventually could have been put on the LSU kicker in that exact same spot to win the game. I really confused about that one.
Kudos to Alex Tejada. I know he missed at the end, but I thought he kicked one of his better games this season. (3/4 FG conversions)
Always go last in overtime…always. You always want to know what you have to do to win or tie.
Thank you Walking. I'm really surprised that Gonzo didn't know that. I'm still wondering where you thought LSU was going to get 37 points (in regulation).
Is it me or does Mallett always come in jumpy for the big games. I mean all year long the big game gets to him atleast half the game before he finds a way to get it together. I knew when the game came down to Tajeda that it was over he has not hit a meaningful field goal since he has been here. I don't put the game on him though. I put it on BP because he should know his kicker by now and why wouldn't he go for the middle of the field to make it as easy as possible.
You could make a case that BP did know his kicker. The previous play was designed to score a touchdown and one broken tackle would have given that result. BP always thinks touchdown.
Remember, Mallet is a sophmore playing in a prime time game in a hostile SEC environment. That's huge, and expected of young players. Good enough reason for him to stay at least one more year in the SEC and learn how to control his emotions.
not a meaninful fieldgoal for tejada? how about the 3 he hit during the game to give us a chance? he bailed out our inability to score touchdowns 3 times so we could come away with some points…including one over 40 yards.
It makes no sense to blame tejada when our defense can't stop my son's middle school team.
A Tale of Two Kickers: I found it interesting that Vern and Gary found the end of the game so "erriely similar to the LSU-Ole Miss matchup". And that LSU managed the clock better with the Hogs. However, I don't think it was all the clock management's fault in last week's LSU game. Jefferson made two bad decisions that cost LSU that game, a sack and underthrown pass that put LSU out of FG range. The Hail Mary pass (Enough Hail but not enough Mary)did not get to the end zone and there was nothing LSU could do with the time left. If Miles had run the ball three times, even for no yards, Jasper, most probably, would have kicked the winning field goal, based on his previous performances as well as on his kick on Saturday night. Miles didn't trust his kicker at that distance and he lost one; he had no choice but to trust him last night and Jasper won it for him. One of the reasons for the LSU timeout fiasco and confusion on the sidelines with Ole Miss was that LSU was in a running down the clock mode which backfired. LSU would now be 9-3. Miles put the Ole Miss game in Jefferson's hands and he blew it. Petrino took the game out of Mallet's hands last night with the first play as a run and put the game into Tejada's hands (foot). But Tejada booted it. I'm losing count as to the number of critical field goals Tejada has missed. But its not disasterous to this season. Arkansas will still get a good bowl and should do well. Petrino's big thing at the moment is to get Tejada's head on straight confidence-wise because there's one more to go.
Quibbles: 1. To show you how far under the radar Arkansas is, Vern initially identified Michael Smith, the running king of the SEC last year, as Michael Thompson! Arkansas needs a signature win such as what USC got against Ga Tech to get attention. 2. Demozette writer Tom Murphy reported that 93,000 fans were standing at the end of the game. Maybe they were also standing in the parking lot since the stadium was only half full by that time. 3. Reason, above, complained about the lack of a rush on Jefferson at the end of the game. Willy was playing conservative. Didn't want to give up a big play. Prevent defense might do that (not guaranteed) but it also depends on the offense screwing up. Willy probably was willing to give up a field goal, if necessary, to give Mallet the opportunity to win it in overtime. Mallet versus Jefferson in overtime? Theoretically no contest, but it does require exchanging field goals if needed. 4. Everything was in the HOG's favor at the end: Tigers get the ball first and the best they can do is kick a field goal and hold their breath…but… 5. In case anybody didn't notice, LSU was being succesful with a three man rush in the 1st quarter and upsetting Mallet's timing. The HOGs changed their blocking schemes and LSU had to send more, and that opened up the running game. 6. If Mallet had pulled the game out, there probably would have been some NFL interest. Not now. 6. Even though Mallet had a good game it was not good enough to be the first team SEC QB. It's now probably Tebow's and Tebow's for sure if the Gators win next week. Football and football glory are games of inches.
You can say that again, Jim Dogg (inches), and these decisions come fast and relentless. Another thought: my son saw the game in person, having only seen the Hogs on TV up to now. He says he was amazed at how small our defense was compared to LSU's entire team. Accordingly, he noted this realization left him very impressed with how well the D have held up given how outmanned they've been in the big games. As these courageous young men are joined by the larger, longer recruits coming in, the defense will almost certainly begin to catch up with the offense.
Here's some insight into the size of LSU linemen. It's not just their bulk but they are buffed up to the max. My youngest grandson played on a sixth grade rec team in the Klein school district in Houston. His coach* had just completed an internship with LSU at their strengh facility (He's a personal trainer and was more hard nosed and tougher with the boys than a marine drill sergeant). The LSU players really get serious in the weight room. Also ask your son how long it took to get out of the parking area. I was at the shootout two years ago and it took about 2 1/2 hours to get to a road. *(there was a coach for every unit,including special teams, even at that level – they take their football seriously in Texas – At a recent senior high game at Allen Texas the invocation ended with God bless Texas and God bless football – I'm not making that up).
jim dogg – Mallett checked out of whatever play Petrino called on the Hogs 1st play of the overtime. Can't say at that point that Petrino was putting the game in the hands of the kicker.
I'm with soupdhog – I think the kicker kept us in the game when the quarterback for overthrowing receivers and ignoring wide open check down guys. If Mallett had stayed calm and just ran the offense we would have been fine. He still has a lot of growing up to do. His leadership and play on the road this year has been pretty poor. He did not have a good game.
Way too much went wrong on the field to blame the game on the final field goal. That distance at that angle is one of the most difficult kicks to make. That field goal was 50-50 at best for any kicker.
Agreed about Tejada. Play I would question is third down. Not throwing for first and to the side of the field instead of keeping it in the middle.
To win and be consistent in the red zone, we have to be able to run the ball successfully when we NEED to. Our running game is defunct! Is it our O-line that is ill prepared? With our better than average passing, we should be able to have a successful running attack. We have to get our ground grove back. We thought that we had some of the best backs but the running attack is very inconsistent. Some would say "What ground attack?"
For our coach to be such a QB guru, why can't he settle a third year guy down? Mallett has the equivalency of a third year guy, but it is up and down at best. He can throw any type pass "they say", but then we see that he cannnot do so consistently. Got great receivers, perhaps the best ones, but here they go dropping easy passes. And our QB is going to get them killed if he keeps throwing passes as if he was throwing to 8 foot giants. Come on Coach, train that QB better than that. Earn your frigging pay! And what has Smith done to our excellent FG kicker? I do not agfree that he has had a great year but I do not blame him. And what happened to our tight ends? All they do is block, block, block, and we still cannot run the ball well. What happened to that so called 5 star DB by the name of Winston? Is he still on the team?
Which toilet bowl are we going to? At least coaches get to do a lot more coaching if they can take advantage of it.
O-L What game were you watching? Arkansas had one more yard rushing than LSU with 3 fewer carries. LSU has one of the top defenses in the country and the HOGs piled up almost 400 total yards; not too shabby. Add to that Arkansas scored the most points on LSU than any other opponent this year and at Tiger Stadium to boot (Oddly, the next best was MSU). The Hogs played a helluva game. Kudos to them. For those here who are being critical of Mallet, do you need to be reminded that this is actually only his first full season as QB? Toilet Bowl? How disrespectful. Whatever bowl, go HOGS.
It was yet another heartbreaking loss for the hogs! it seems like everysingle LSU game comes down to the very end and stresses everyone out to high hell. I mean yeah Tejada made 3 field goals for us in the game and kept us in it….but since he showed up on campus he can not kick a field goal when it really matters and i dont know why. I knew as soon as they showed the angle he was going to b kicking from that theres no way he was going to make it. Is he a senior yet?? we need to recruit a good kicked and especially a good punter! By next year, our offense will be phenominal and the defense will have made significant strides and be able to compete with the rest of the SEC…..we just have to do something about our special teams in the off season and i think next season we will rise up to be atleast in the top 10, especially since next years schedule is not nearly as hard as the run we had this year. We just gotta win out on the bowl game and look forward to having a hell of a year next year! GO HOGS!
with 20 some seconds left the LSU reciever was down in bounds but called out of bounds to stop the clock. this enabled LSU to kick a field goal. this was another official helping LSU win. was i the only one who noticed?
Exactly, thank you for saying what I knew to be true.
You are correct about him not getting out of bounce and the official stopping the clock.
I still think they would have had time to kick a field goal.
I saw that too and my impression was that his back was down and the only thing out of bounds was his outstretched arm with the ball above the line, but not directly touching it until after the stretch. They didn't replay it but my son records the games so I'll ask him. I thought I might have not seen it correctly since Vern and Gary didn't make anything of it. Have those guys sold out? Anybody else have an opinion on this.
A TU fan that was watching the game, texted me when they stopped the clock on the sidelines play clearly stating that the clock should have been left running. They probably had time, but with the clock running down they would have been in full panic mode maybe.
Very good points.
Personally I tend to lean toward getting Tejada a scholly to UCA. As for Willy; yes, we need more defense. We are small and thin. We do some things that make you scratch your head but, until we have players it is hard to judge. I am happy leaving Willy alone for now.
Mallett will be back. And, we have a good running game. Bobby needs to check his play calling and control his QB a little bit. Mallet worked underneath well against SCar. They both seem too anxious to hit the big 40 yard strike. It will be so much easier in the midst of a complete offense than this way. I hope Bobby really evaluates this in the off season. He is not ready to go 11-1 in the SEC the way he is doing it now. And next year could be his year.
Thanks Tejada, for once again missing when it mattered. Clean up man needs to come back!! Haddock wouldn't have missed the field goal.
Maybe you need to lace up and give it a shot!
I guess the 3 he hit in regulation to even give us a chance didn't matter?
Geez, lay off the kid. Owasso's right..all you that get on the kickers should give it a try some time, especially at a difficult angle.
A field goal kicker is one of the most stressful jobs on a football team. You're sitting on the sidelines most of the game then are expected to be a hero every time in the clutch – on the road in the SEC. That's why good ones are very hard to find. Tejada's had a pretty good year – much better than last year.
Instead of Tejada you maybe you should focus on our defensive play calling that gave up 40 passing yards to tie the game. Or maybe our O line for not protecting Mallett better in the first half. Or maybe our recievers for dropping catchable balls in the first half. Or maybe the decision to punt to Holliday? Point being Tejada didn't lose the game for us, the entire team and coaches had a part in it.
I'm proud of most of the attitudes reflected here. In the past we might have been in a panic, blame everyone frame of mind but it seems folks have pretty good perspective. We are what we thought we'd be and we are making progress.
I thought Wingo was awesome.
I think Dennis Johnson is underrated as a runningback but the man is a gamer. He had several critical plays including a crucial 3rd down on the last drive where he got extra yardage by pure determination.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Joe Adams is nasty.
Finally, I think something important happened the other night that will go unnoticed because we didn't deliver the win. Our last drive in regulation was a coming of age drive. In a hostile environment, LSU playing great defense, and Mallet and our young offense slugged it out and got the points. That was the best drive we had all season. Not pretty, not smooth, but getting it done.
Is there a more underrated rivalry than Arkansas-LSU? Great game 5 years in a row. Go Hogs!
Re: LSU/Hog rivalry – I agree. Someone posted on this board some time ago that LSU doesn't give us a second thought….most of us disagreed. Watching the fans storm the field after the win last Saturday you can bet this is growing into something big. Not that it was small before. I know some 30 year long LSU season ticket holders and they say their fan base is always nervous about playing Arkansas, especially the past few years. They take us very seriously and see us as a big win.
Given the close games, proximity, divisional battle, fighting after recruits, etc it's gotta be up there. I just wish it was still on Fridays. Although prime time Sat on ESPN isn't bad either.
Soup
Rivalry games are interesting from a psychological viewpoint. Some are natural in-state contests, while others have developed over a long period of time. Arkansas' long time rival, was of course, Texas, which points out another apsect of rivalry. Sometimes it's so one sided that the rivalry exists only on one side. I came to Arkansas in 1968 and it was my impression, with the exception of the big shootout, Texas did not take the HOGS anymore seriously than other SWC opponents. Texas big rival was, and has always been, A & M. Rivalries take time and ripening, and usually some sort of balance in the wins and losses. When I was a student at LSU the big rivalry game was with Ole Miss (followed by Tulane). Which also points out that rivalries are most heated when students and alumni have some close interaction with their opposites. The fans must hate, really hate, really really hate losing to the rival for bragging rights. Arkansas has benefited from playing lSU the week after their Ole Miss game. Also Arkansas hasn't been in the SEC long enough to develope a serious rivalry, although it may well be heading in that direction with LSU considering the last 5 games. Consider that USC, the other new SEC member, has as its rival Clemson rather than a team from the SEC, a long time interstate foe. Sometimes rivalries are more a reflection of the coaches than fans, strange as that may seem. I think that Ole Miss was sky high for Arkansas because of Nutt, but down for the Egg Bowl. MSU, on the other hand, was more up, from my perspective for Ole Miss. I predicted this and my son-in-law thought I was nutts (play on a word here). Because of Nutt I think that Ole Miss wil become an important rivalry game in the future. But Preparation and attitude cannot be at a peak for every game, so a team can only have 1 or 2, in order to balance the efforts for the full season.
Did a little research on Tejada's history of kicking. While he wasn't the reason we lost the game, he didn't exactly extend it for us, either. So the blame isn't on him, but his record isn't that great:
* 2009 Loss to Florida, 23-20, Tejada 2/4 on FGs
* 2009 Loss to LSU, 33-30, Tejada 3/4 on FGs
* 2008 Loss to Mississippi State, 31-28, Tejada 0/2 on FGs
* 2007 Loss to Auburn, 9-7, Tejada 0/1 on FGs
I actually can't find a game where he won it, or forced it into OT. Maybe the bowl game soon, or, next year?
Seth -
You may recall one of Tejada's misses at Florida from 52 (?) yards out was actually good, but negated due to a penalty, and admittedly Tejada really stunk it up in 2008.
You pointed out our losses, but what would be more interesting is the other side – how many games did we win by 1-4 points where Tejada made a field goal or PATs during any part of the game? Don't forget PATs count too, so you should look at that stat as well.
Man, I feel like I'm Tejada's mom defending him like this – but the point is Tejada isn't the only reason we lost close games..he's a contributor, but to call him out as the cause isn't fair.
I would love to see a day where we have reliable special teams so we don't have to defend our kickers or play around them. We haven't had that in 10-15 years.
You make a good point, and after looking at the things you mentioned, here's what I found:
* 2009 — No game won by 1-4 points.
* 2008 — 28-24 win over Western Illinois, 0/0 on FG, 4/4 on XP
* 2008 — 28-27 win over Louisiana-Monroe, 0/2 on FG, 0/1 on XP
* 2008 — 30-23 win over Tulsa, 3/3 on FG, 3/3 on XP (added bc he was a factor)
* 2008 — 31-30 win over LSU, 1/1 on FG, 4/4 on XP
* 2007 — 50-48 win over LSU, 0/0 on FG, 6/6 on XP
So yes, he's helped. But more times than not, he contributed to the loss. I never said he's the reason we lost. My point is that he's not very reliable.
Anyone miss Kendall Trainor?
Wow sg what a great analysis! Thanks for doing this – that's why I love this site.
I do agree that he has contributed to losses, but it's a stretch to say that he is accountable for them. As you demonstrate, it would seem by the numbers that he has been a contributed to more wins than losses.
What is interesting to me here is that I thought Tejada really stunk it up in 2008, but looking at the data if he didn't come through on PATs we wouldn't have had a chance in many of the 2008 games.
To fully judge Tejada, the other factor is kickoffs and starting field position and how it contributes to opponents scoring. I'm sure you're working on those numbers already
Just kidding….
I was much more upset about the missed field goals in last year's loss to Mississippi State than the loss this past weekend to LSU. The Miss. State loss turned out to cost the Hogs a bowl game…and bowl practices.
Tejada did at least kick a successful onside kick in that Miss. State game to give the Hogs a chance. He has kicked those fairly well over the years.
Les Miles makes me so mad.When the girl (announcer) caught up with him at the end of the game his responce on the win was "Nothing to it"he is such a smart you know what.I wish he would get out of the SEC and go back up North where he belongs
You have to laugh when it takes him several seconds to think up something lame to say. Maybe that is how he keeps himself occupied when he is not making that hand motion to spike the ball the loses the Ole Miss game. He made that call brutha.
I've hated Miles since his R-Kansas comment before DMac shoved it up his a$$.
Personally, I enjoyed seeing him strung up due to his 'risks' catching up to him this year.