Perkins phenomenal as No. 7 LSU survives at Arkansas, wins SEC West

You had the feeling all week that it would be a clear letdown situation for LSU after the emotionally and physically draining victory over Alabama.

The suspicions proved to be legitimate.

LSU was ready, primed to be beaten at Fayetteville.

A freshman simply would not it happen.

Harold Perkins tied the single game record in LSU history with four sacks.

The last one proved decisive as he strip sacked Cade Fortin with Mekhi Wingo recovering it for the Tigers with just over a minute to play in the game as LSU survived Arkansas 13-10.

The win catapulted LSU into the SEC championship next month in Atlanta by virtue of wining the SEC West, thanks to Alabama beating Ole Miss at 30-24.

Perkins was incredible, with eight tackles, four sacks and two forced fumbles. He nearly had a third forced fumble.

As if that were not impressive enough, LSU coach Brian Kelly revealed afterwards that Perkins was battling the flu.

LSU got a break as dual threat quarterback KJ Jefferson could not play.

Malik Hornsby got the call.

He was not ready for the challenge.

After Arkansas took an early 3-0 lead, Perkins forced a fumble to set up a game-tying field goal.

The only points in the first half were field goals of 38 and 29 yards by Damian Ramos.

Jayden Daniels was totally ineffective in the first half, completing just 4 of 7 passes for 38 yards and rushing just 11 carries for four yards. Additionally, he was sacked six times, lost a fumble and threw an interception. It was the shape of things to come.

The offense finally made a play in the passing game when Daniels hit Kayshon Boutte on a 26-yard slant route to the 1-yard line. Josh Williams scored on the next play to make it 13-3 with 5:25 to play in the third quarter.

Fortin entered the game for Hornsby at that point.

The change proved beneficial to Arkansas.

Fortin drove the Razorbacks 94 yards in 10 plays and he connected with Matt Landers on a 40-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 13-10 with 13:17 to play in the game.

From that point forward, it was a matter of survival for the Tigers, who simply could not get anything going with any consistency on offense.

Daniels, who has been so good starting with the win at Florida, reverted to being inconsistent and ineffective.

Daniels was just 8 of 15 for 86 yards passing.

He rushed 19 times for just 10 yards.

Arkansas had an outstanding game plan on defense, spying Daniels throughout, not allowing him to get the edge and making him a pocket passer.

The reads were not good.

There was the case of holding the ball too long.

There were a pair of turnovers.

Of course, it was certainly not all on Daniels.

The offensive line failed all afternoon.

Receivers struggled to get open.

Still, LSU got a big SEC road win coming off a massive win over the nation’s top program for the last decade or so.

Williams was the one bright spot on offense, rushing 19 times for 122 yards and a touchdown.

“The Boot” trophy returns to Baton Rouge. A trophy looked at as being ugly went home via an ugly win that looks as pretty as it could possibly be.

As a result, LSU is on the verge of winning the SEC West with its eight victory of the season.

Next up is a break from SEC play to host UAB on Senior Night next Saturday night before closing at College Station against Texas A&M.

Before the season started, I picked LSU to win eight games.

Many thought I was crazy.

Now, the Tigers are poised to eclipse that mark and to make noise on the national scene.

The airline and hotel bookings for Atlanta next month just began in earnest in south Louisiana.