Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

More was at stake in 2002, but when it comes to comparing Miracles on Markham, this one on Friday at Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium outdoes the first in improbability -- by a longshot.

When LSU went up 30-14 scoring on its first possession of the second half -- making the Tigers six out of seven in scoring drives and missing a field goal on its only failure -- the only question was: Would Arkansas keep its losing margin within 16 points? There seemingly was no stopping LSU. Arkansas, behind redshirt freshman Nathan Dick, had started out fast, just like last Saturday at Mississippi State, scoring on its first two possessions, but then could get nothing going while gradually falling further behind.

There wasn't even a hint that Arkansas' defense could slow down, much less stop, LSU's offense behind freshman quarterback Jordan Jefferson. Rohan Davie or JaMarcus Russell he's not, but Jefferson was probably making every Tiger fan ask, "Why hasn't he been playing more this season?" as LSU struggled to a 7-4 record entering Friday. His bootleg quarterback keepers and the occasional nice pass set up by play-action fakes kept the Razorbacks' defense as out of balance as four worn-out tires on a rickety Ford truck.

If head coach Bobby Petrino and Razorbacks defensive coordinator Willy Robinson could find anything positive about the first half, when LSU scored 20 straight points and led 23-14, it's that the Hogs at least held LSU to field goals on four drives, and the Tigers' Colt David had delivered on three of them.

Did we also mention that Arkansas hasn't scored more than 30 points in a game all season? The Hogs were down to putting little-used, undersized linemen like Cord Gray into the line.

Sorry, but compared to 2002, when Arkansas trailed 17-7 when it began its late rally against LSU and then-Tigers coach Nick Saban, and culminated it with Matt Jones' 31-yard pass to Decori Birmingham with 19 seconds left, it was truly going to take a miracle.

"That's on me," Robinson, the beleagued UA defensive coordinator, said of Arkansas' inability to slow down the Tigers for 33 minutes. "It took me two quarters and a touchdown to finally figure them out."

Robinson also gave Petrino all the credit for a key personnel move in slowing down LSU's running game and also getting some pressure on Jefferson. The Hogs summoned the senior Gray to play defensive tackle and moved quick but undersized tackle Malcolm Sheppard to end. A few other youngsters thrust into action in the line blew an occasional assignment or two in containment on the quarterback, but for the last 27 minutes the Razorback defenders played like nothing we've seen all season.

LSU's last six drives resulted in five punts and Colt David's attempt at his own miracle: a 63-yard field goal on the last play of the game that fell short

In between, fortuned shone on another forgotten Razorback: Casey Dick. The senior quarterback from Allen, Texas, replaced by his brother last week at Starkville, was needed again when the freshman hurt his thumb late in the first half. Casey Dick announced his return with a 46-yard scoring bomb to Jarius Wright, the freshman from Warren, and Arkansas was back within nine, 30-21, and plenty of time left in the game.

Surely LSU would continue its offensive onslaught, everyone had to be thinking at that point.

Everyone, that is, except the team in red.