BATON ROUGE – No. 8 LSU, winner of five straight games, travels to Fayetteville for the annual Golden Boot battle against Arkansas on Saturday night.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN and the LSU Sports Radio Network. Mark Jones (pxp), Roddy Jones (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sideline) will take part in the conversation.

The Tigers are coming off a thrilling home win against No. 9 Ole Miss, where quarterback Garrett Nussmeier hit Kyren Lacy in the south end zone for a 25-yard touchdown in overtime. LSU didn't lead the contest until the final seconds as fans stormed the field to celebrate a top-10 win and the 100th anniversary of Tiger Stadium.

While it was a historic and exciting night, the focus now turns to another SEC road test and an opponent that has given LSU some tough last-second finishes of late. According to head coach Brian Kelly, it is imperative that the Tigers recalibrate their mindset before traveling to Arkansas this week.

“We have to keep things in perspective and the perspective is we have to play a very strong Arkansas team and in the past this game has been decided by three points or less,” Kelly said.

Lacy, who caught the game-winning pass, finished the game with a team-high 111 yards on five catches, an average of 22.2 yards per touch, including 19 yards after the catch. Aaron Anderson had another great game with three catches for 81 yards and a score.

A key moment in last Saturday's win over the Rebels was Nussmeier's touchdown pass on 4th-and-6 to Anderson that ultimately sent the game into overtime. That completion – both timely and convincing – marked the second fourth down conversion to keep the Tigers' hopes alive.

“He guessed where he was going to be and threw the ball expecting it to be there,” Kelly said of the touchdown. “That means trusting your teachings and trusting that you know this guy is going to be there. He threw the ball so many times that he just let it go.”

Defensively, LSU posted one of its best performances in recent years behind first-year coordinator Blake Baker. Sophomore linebacker Whit Weeks led the unit with 18 tackles, one sack and a forced fumble, while Bradyn Swinson continued to shine with eight tackles, two sacks, two pass break-ups and a QB hurry.

Cornerback Zy Alexander received the game ball after an impressive performance of five tackles, one interception and one pass breakup.

“We didn’t look at them consistently at any point,” Kelly said of the defensive system. “We felt the most important thing was to mix up the coverage.”

The Razorbacks are led by junior quarterback Taylen Green, who has 1,502 yards passing and five touchdowns as well as 326 yards rushing and four scores on the ground this season. Senior running back Ja'Quinden Jackson leads the team with 566 yards and 10 touchdowns on 99 carries. Andrew Armstrong leads the Hogs with 552 yards on 38 catches, while Isaiah Sategna isn't far behind with 312 yards and a touchdown

“Tall, physical, can run,” Kelly said of Green. “Plays with arms and legs. They lead the SEC in third-down conversions. This is a serious offense. Great offensive line. I think they did a great job defensively. Big and physical at the front. Really well designed and fundamentally solid. It will be a big challenge for us and we have to play well away from home.”

LSU has won seven of the last eight games in the series, with its only loss during that span coming in overtime (16-13) at Tiger Stadium in 2021. The Tigers lead the all-time series 44-23-2, dating back to the first meeting in 1901.