LSU Likely Revealing About Hogs, but Exactly What?

Several possibilities for both teams heading into Death Valley on Saturday night

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman is hoping recent history is any indication of what could happen down in Baton Rouge against No. 12 LSU on Saturday night. Just hearing that phrase should make everybody a little cautious, because all of that means nothing this year.

Plus, the Razorbacks are coming off a surprising loss to a BYU team that came in prepared to do what it had to for a win, which they got, 38-31. The Hogs simply have so many offensive problems, they couldn't move the ball when they had to at the end of the game with too many mistakes and penalties. Whether they were bad calls or not has zero relevance because it's a loss.

"We can't mope around because LSU is as good of a football team as we'll play all year," Pittman said. "They are very, very, very talented. But that's why you have game plans and things of that nature. We've got a good football team. We lost a game and we've got to go get our pride back and get our respect back." He'll think that until they run out of games or the problems just become too apparent.

It was one thing when the Hogs caught the Tigers at the end of the year, right after they had put a season's worth of emotion and effort into beating Alabama. The result had a tendency to cause over-confidence or half effort from LSU, who usually had the better record and several times their postseason plans in place. 

When the Hogs won 10 games in 2010, they still finished behind the Tigers in the rankings after the bowls. The next year the Hogs and LSU were in the Top 3 in the polls coming into the game in Baton Rouge to wrap up the season. Bobby Petrino had his best season going, needing one more win to possibly reach the BCS Championship game. The Hogs went to the Cotton Bowl after getting stomped, 41-17.

Since 2010, the Hogs have won the game three times. going 3-8. I'll save you some math, it's 27.7%. Pittman is hoping the last three seasons of playing games decided by a field goal is any measuring stick for predicting this year, but it's not. It's hope.

"It is LSU and it’s SEC play," Pittman said. "I’m sure they’ll be ready. We’ll have a good game plan. But it is a special place to go, especially at night. And it’s a hard place to win, at night especially."

There's the other rub. The Hogs have played the Tigers very few times at night down there. It has always been a different place with a fully-blown production just before the game, complete with one of those light shows and all that stuff. Opponents have found it completely un-nerving at times. It's especially different at night when nothing has been decided for the season and a win or loss is really serious.

"There are some things you have to control, and one of them is the noise," Pittman said Monday. "We have to get ready for the noise. We have to play clean. We have to cut our penalties and our (missed assignments) back. The noise is the biggest thing going out there. And then you have to celebrate the community, the people. You have to embrace them, which we did last time we were out there."

This atmosphere will be a little different and that's probably a guarantee. The game begins 6 p.m. Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. The game can be streamed live on ESPN and fuboTV.

HOGS FEED:

DON'T EXPECT SAM PITTMAN TO BE RESPONDING TO YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGES BECAUSE HE PROBABLY DOESN'T SEE IT

HOW RAZORBACKS' ROCKET SANDERS LOOKED IN MONDAY'S PRACTICE WITH INJURY MAKING HIM DOUBTFUL SATURDAY

NEW ERA OF FOOTBALL WILL TAKE PITTMAN, FANS TIME TO ADJUST TO REALITY OF SITUATION

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