The Arkansas Razorbacks (4-2, 2-1 SEC) will look to earn their fourth straight win off a bye week under head coach Sam Pittman when No. 8 LSU (5-1, 2-0 SEC) comes to town Saturday for a matchup at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
Both teams knocked off top-10 opponents on their home fields last time out, as Arkansas upset Tennessee, 19-14, prior to last week's bye and the Tigers defeated Ole Miss, 29-26, in overtime last weekend.
LSU is powered by the nation's 8th-best passing offense, while the Razorbacks check in at 8th nationally in both total offense and third down conversion percentage on offense. The Razorbacks are statistically better than the Tigers in every defensive category we've listed other than sacks and turnovers.
"Our players, we’ll be ready," Pittman said Wednesday. "LSU will be ready. I’m looking forward to the drive in. All the tents up and the people and the excitement on their faces. A loud, loud, loud crowd and, you know, our fans can be a major problem for opponents when we give them excitement. So, we need to start fast. Get the crowd involved. They’ll be involved early.
"We need to start fast and it’s just, I said it last week, nobody really had anything on that gameday experience on us across the country. Now, I’m not saying that we were No. 1, but we were up there with all the programs in the country with atmosphere that last night, that last time when we played Tennessee, and I expect it to be that or even better on Saturday night."
LSU has graded out better than the Hogs in three of the six main offensive categories and all of the defensive categories on Pro Football Focus, which is a football analytics website that provides grades for each individual player and full teams after analyzing each game for all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Grades are given from 0-100, with the higher the grade signifying better performance.
Here's a look at how both teams stack up based on stats from this year and high school star ratings:
LSU || Arkansas
Scoring: 34.2 (t-31st) | 33.0 (t-39th)
Total yards: 460.3 (24th) | 484.8 (8th)
Passing: 337.0 (6th) | 285.3 (24th)
Rushing: 123.3 (99th) | 199.5 (t-32nd)
Third downs: 48.1% (24th) | 52.8% (8th)
Sacks allowed/game: 0.3 (4th) | 2.3 (t-86th)
Turnovers: 7 (t-47th) | 9 (t-82nd)
Defense
LSU || Arkansas
Scoring: 22.3 (55th) | 19.2 (29th)
Total yards: 372.0 (77th) | 321.5 (34th)
Passing: 244.3 (101st) | 215.0 (69th)
Rushing: 127.7 (53rd) | 106.5 (28th)
Third downs: 39.0% (76th) | 33.3% (t-33rd)
Sacks/game: 3.5 (t-4th) | 2.3 (t-36th)
Turnovers forced: 8 (t-58th) | 7 (t-81st)
NR - Not rated
Team Grades (LSU | Arkansas)
Overall: 89.5 | 87.6
Offense: 78.8 | 79.9
Passing: 82.5 | 81.7
Rushing: 73.3 | 84.4
Receiving: 77.0 | 72.2
Pass blocking: 81.8 | 64.9
Run blocking: 62.0 | 67.0
Defense: 83.5 | 76.3
Run defense: 79.7 | 85.6
Tackling: 75.0 | 62.4
Pass rush: 82.2 | 67.1
Coverage: 72.6 | 64.6
Special teams: 71.3 | 79.8
PFF Comparison - LSU vs. Arkansas
Both teams knocked off top-10 opponents on their home fields last time out, as Arkansas upset Tennessee, 19-14, prior to last week's bye and the Tigers defeated Ole Miss, 29-26, in overtime last weekend.
LSU is powered by the nation's 8th-best passing offense, while the Razorbacks check in at 8th nationally in both total offense and third down conversion percentage on offense. The Razorbacks are statistically better than the Tigers in every defensive category we've listed other than sacks and turnovers.
"Our players, we’ll be ready," Pittman said Wednesday. "LSU will be ready. I’m looking forward to the drive in. All the tents up and the people and the excitement on their faces. A loud, loud, loud crowd and, you know, our fans can be a major problem for opponents when we give them excitement. So, we need to start fast. Get the crowd involved. They’ll be involved early.
"We need to start fast and it’s just, I said it last week, nobody really had anything on that gameday experience on us across the country. Now, I’m not saying that we were No. 1, but we were up there with all the programs in the country with atmosphere that last night, that last time when we played Tennessee, and I expect it to be that or even better on Saturday night."
LSU has graded out better than the Hogs in three of the six main offensive categories and all of the defensive categories on Pro Football Focus, which is a football analytics website that provides grades for each individual player and full teams after analyzing each game for all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Grades are given from 0-100, with the higher the grade signifying better performance.
Here's a look at how both teams stack up based on stats from this year and high school star ratings:
Season Stats - LSU | Arkansas (FBS rank out of 134 teams)
OffenseLSU || Arkansas
Scoring: 34.2 (t-31st) | 33.0 (t-39th)
Total yards: 460.3 (24th) | 484.8 (8th)
Passing: 337.0 (6th) | 285.3 (24th)
Rushing: 123.3 (99th) | 199.5 (t-32nd)
Third downs: 48.1% (24th) | 52.8% (8th)
Sacks allowed/game: 0.3 (4th) | 2.3 (t-86th)
Turnovers: 7 (t-47th) | 9 (t-82nd)
Defense
LSU || Arkansas
Scoring: 22.3 (55th) | 19.2 (29th)
Total yards: 372.0 (77th) | 321.5 (34th)
Passing: 244.3 (101st) | 215.0 (69th)
Rushing: 127.7 (53rd) | 106.5 (28th)
Third downs: 39.0% (76th) | 33.3% (t-33rd)
Sacks/game: 3.5 (t-4th) | 2.3 (t-36th)
Turnovers forced: 8 (t-58th) | 7 (t-81st)
Star Comparison (using Rivals ratings)
Star Comparison - LSU vs ArkansasNR - Not rated
| LSU | Stars | Arkansas | Stars |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Garrett Nussmeier | 4 | QB Taylen Green | 2 |
| RB Josh Williams | 2 | RB Ja'Quinden Jackson | 4 |
| TE Mason Taylor | 4 | TE Luke Hasz | 4 |
| WR Kyren Lacy | 2 | WR Andrew Armstrong | 2 |
| WR CJ Daniels | 2 | WR Tyrone Broden | 2 |
| WR Aaron Anderson | 5 | WR Isaiah Sategna | 4 |
| LT Will Campbell | 4 | LT Fernando Carmona Jr. | 2 |
| LG Garrett Dellinger | 4 | LG E'Marion Harris | 4 |
| C DJ Chester | 4 | C Addison Nichols | 4 |
| RG Miles Frazier | 2 | RG Joshua Braun | 4 |
| RT Emery Jones Jr. | 4 | RT Keyshawn Blackstock | 4 |
| DE Sai'vion Jones | 4 | DE Landon Jackson | 4 |
| DT Gio Paez | 3 | DT Eric Gregory | 4 |
| DT Paris Shand | 2 | DT Cam Ball | 3 |
| JACK Bradyn Swinson | 3 | DE Nico Davillier | 4 |
| LB West Weeks | 3 | LB Brad Spence | 3 |
| LB Greg Penn III | 4 | LB Xavian Sorey Jr. | 4 |
| STAR Major Burns | 4 | HOG Doneiko Slaughter | 4 |
| S Sage Ryan | 5 | S Jayden Johnson | 3 |
| S Dashawn Spears | 4 | S TJ Metcalf | 4 |
| CB Ashton Stamps | 3 | CB Jaheim Singletary | 5 |
| CB Zy Alexander | 2 | CB Marquise Robinson | 2 |
Pro Football Focus Comparison (using season grades)
Team Grades (LSU | Arkansas)
Overall: 89.5 | 87.6
Offense: 78.8 | 79.9
Passing: 82.5 | 81.7
Rushing: 73.3 | 84.4
Receiving: 77.0 | 72.2
Pass blocking: 81.8 | 64.9
Run blocking: 62.0 | 67.0
Defense: 83.5 | 76.3
Run defense: 79.7 | 85.6
Tackling: 75.0 | 62.4
Pass rush: 82.2 | 67.1
Coverage: 72.6 | 64.6
Special teams: 71.3 | 79.8
PFF Comparison - LSU vs. Arkansas
| LSU | PFF Grades (Snaps) | Arkansas | PFF Grades (Snaps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Garrett Nussmeier | 85.6 (413) | QB Taylen Green | 84.1 (422) |
| RB Josh Williams | 68.0 (191) | RB Ja'Quinden Jackson | 81.7 (294) |
| TE Mason Taylor | 65.9 (414) | TE Luke Hasz | 63.4 (246) |
| WR Kyren Lacy | 73.5 (330) | WR Andrew Armstrong | 84.2 (326) |
| WR CJ Daniels | 60.4 (301) | WR Tyrone Broden | 51.7 (371) |
| WR Aaron Anderson | 76.3 (235) | WR Isaiah Sategna | 71.5 (298) |
| LT Will Campbell | 73.2 (416) | LT Fernando Carmona Jr. | 70.5 (446) |
| LG Garrett Dellinger | 76.2 (356) | LG E'Marion Harris | 57.7 (458) |
| C DJ Chester | 53.0 (415) | C Addison Nichols | 64.0 (380) |
| RG Miles Frazier | 65.4 (417) | RG Joshua Braun | 70.5 (445) |
| RT Emery Jones Jr. | 58.7 (414) | RT Keyshawn Blackstock | 60.8 (445) |
| DE Sai'vion Jones | 63.2 (291) | DE Landon Jackson | 82.1 (320) |
| DT Gio Paez | 62.7 (197) | DT Eric Gregory | 74.0 (262) |
| DT Paris Shand | 70.8 (58199 | DT Cam Ball | 60.7 (248) |
| JACK Bradyn Swinson | 79.8 (298) | DE Nico Davillier | 65.2 (226) |
| LB Whit Weeks | 71.9 (335) | LB Brad Spence | 56.2 (166) |
| LB Greg Penn III | 73.4 (325) | LB Xavian Sorey Jr. | 65.5 (290) |
| STAR Major Burns | 61.4 (339) | HOG Doneiko Slaughter | 51.7 (321) |
| CB Ashton Stamps | 66.3 (369) | CB Jaheim Singletary | 51.4 (274) |
| CB Zy Alexander | 88.9 (189) | S Jayden Johnson | 70.1 (332) |
| S Sage Ryan | 65.8 (263) | S TJ Metcalf | 68.3 (372) |
| S Dashawn Spears | 58.1 (151) | CB Marquise Robinson | 74.8 (278) |
