13 Points: 13 Takeaways from LSU's road win

With a 13-10 win over Arkansas, LSU (8-2 overall, 6-1 in the SEC) heads back to Baton Rouge with just two regular season games remaining.

And before the night ended, the Tigers were SEC West Champions.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Tigers got the job done in Fayetteville, which kept LSU in the driver’s seat in the SEC West. Thanks to a win over Arkansas and an Ole Miss loss to Alabama, the Tigers will head to Atlanta for the SEC Championship in December.

As for the win over Arkansas, the Tigers simply found a way.

“Their team was prepared and they were a great challenge for us,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said after the win. “But, we found a way to win on the road. That’s really what this is about when you play a league like this, specifically in the SEC West, find a way to win. That’s what I am proud of. I am proud of our guys for having the mental toughness to battle and find a way to win a football game when we were challenged the way we were today.

“That’s kind of my takeaway. I am not sitting here disappointed. I am excited we won the football game in a very difficult environment. Our guys knew that. We are in a different realm now. We are being hunted. We are going to get everyone’s best shot. They understand that. We have some things to work on. We will enjoy this victory, then come back prepared for UAB and Senior Night.”

Here are my 13 takeaways on a day when LSU scored 13 points to get the win.

1… Harold Perkins is special. He’s different. He might be the best linebacker in college football. And he’s only a freshman. The former five-star shined from start to finish against the Razorbacks, coming up with play after play to help keep the Arkansas offense at bay. And when LSU needed him most, Perkins delivered by forcing a fumble in the final minutes as the Razorbacks attempted to either tie the game or take the lead. Perkins tied LSU’s single-game sack record (four), and he closed out with 8 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, a third forced fumble overturned and a number of quarterback hurries. Without Perkins on the field, this could have been a different outcome.

2… Kudos to the entire LSU defense. The Tigers went on the road in a hostile SEC environment, battled the elements of the cold and stood firm time and time again. Without a 3rd-and-17 conversion followed by a 40-yard touchdown pass down the sidelines, the Razorbacks would have never found the end zone on a day when they were held to under 150 yards in both the pass and run games. Arkansas ultimately had to change quarterbacks to find a spark, but even then, LSU defensive coordinator Matt House‘s unit kept answering the call. On a day when the offense couldn’t pass the football, the defensive bailed the team out.

3… Here’s a more-specific hat tip for the defense. Take a bow, linebackers. This was a game when LSU needed the trio of linebackers to rise to the occasion. Yes, Harold Perkins was brilliant. But don’t forget that Greg Penn turned in arguably his best game in purple-and-gold, leading LSU with nine tackles and logging 2.5 tackles for loss. Micah Baskerville was his normal self, helping captain the middle of the defense as a pair of young linebackers shined in a huge way.

4… LSU fans will remember this win largely because of the effort from Harold Perkins, but don’t forget what former walk-on Josh Williams did. On a day when LSU couldn’t find a way to move the football through the air, Williams carried the ball 19 times for a career-best 122 yards and a touchdown. He scored LSU’s lone touchdown, and though he got banged up late (Kelly said Williams is fine moving forward), Williams did enough to put LSU in a spot to seal the victory.

5… It was a day Jayden Daniels will want to forget. After throwing just one interception all season, Daniels tossed an interception on the opening drive of the game. Later in the first quarter, he fumbled the ball on a zone-read. It put LSU’s offense into an early hole, and the passing game never climbed out of it. Daniels was 8-for-15 passing for 86 yards and no touchdowns, and he logged just 10 yards on the ground after being sacked seven times. Brian Kelly said Daniels played hesitant, but also credited Arkansas with what the Razorbacks were able to do on defense. We’ve seen much better from Daniels and the passing attack this year, so the hope is this is just a rough day at the office and not an indicator of future performances.

6… The LSU wide receivers didn’t have a chance to do much on Saturday, though Kayshon Boutte did have a big catch that he took to the goal line to set up the lone touchdown by LSU’s offense. Boutte got four of his five targets for 46 yards, but Malik Nabers hauled in just two of his five targets for 24 yards. The lone other catch made by a receiver came from Jaray Jenkins, who picked up a timely third down late in the game. It should be noted that it’s now the second week in a row that LSU’s offense leaned solely on Boutte and Nabers while only one other receiver made a catch. Last week, it was Kyren Lacy who had one catch for five yards. This week, it was Jenkins with one catch for four yards.

7… Brian Kelly spent much of his postgame press conference praising the effort and game plan by Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman. He also had plenty of positive reviews for what Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom was able to do. Ultimately, the Razorbacks held LSU to just eight completed passes, one touchdown and 13 total points. LSU has plenty to clean up, but Arkansas certainly deserves some recognition for a game well played on defense.

8… The LSU football team is now 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the SEC. Remember, this is the same program that played a bowl game in January with fewer than 40 scholarship players, then turned around and signed just 15 high school prospects before inking the biggest transfer class in college football. With a new head coach, three new coordinators and nine of 10 on-field coaches being replaced, the Tigers went into the season with a transfer at quarterback, unknowns everywhere and an over/under set at seven total wins. With two regular season games remaining, LSU has a chance to hit 10-2, play in the SEC Championship and potentially book a ticket to the CFB Playoffs. That’s how far the Tigers have come in Year 1 under Kelly.

9… It was another solid day at the office for kicker Damian Ramos, who hit on his lone extra point and made both his field goal attempts to lead the Tigers in scoring with seven points. There weren’t expectations that Ramos could fill the void left by an NFL kicker like Cade York, but he’s come through in the clutch in a number of wins this season.

10… Here’s a stat worth remembering. Dating back to his time at Notre Dame, Brian Kelly coached teams have won 18 consecutive games in the month of November. That means Kelly is two wins away from winning every November game he’s coached over the past five seasons.

11… Sometimes, you have to grind out a win against a team you feel like you should beat. That’s what LSU did on Saturday. Was it perfect? Far from it. But not every team has the mental fortitude to stick with it when things go awry. LSU has just that. At this stage, the Tigers know how to win, which in the month of November means a good bit.

12… And that’s why Vegas knows best. The spread sat at LSU favored by three points all week long, and it quickly turned into the most-bet game in college football this week as heavy money poured in on the Tigers in what seemed like a gimme. LSU had just beaten Alabama, while Arkansas had just lost at home to Liberty. But when the final whistle sounded, the only thing that separated the teams? You guessed it. Three points.

13… The SEC West belongs to LSU. On Saturday evening, the Tigers clinched the SEC West crown thanks to the win over the Razorbacks and the Alabama win over Ole Miss. Now, LSU moves forward with just one conference loss (Tennessee), while the Tide and Rebels sit at two conference losses. Even if Texas A&M upsets LSU to end the regular season, the Tigers would own the tie-breaker over Alabama and Ole Miss as a result of head-to-head wins. In Brian Kelly’s first season in Baton Rouge, the Tigers are moving on to Atlanta.