LSU vs Arkansas Week 8 Preview

Erik Trosclair • October 17, 2024

Let's get into it!

Date & Time: Saturday, October 19, 2024 6:00 PM

Location: Reynolds Razorback Stadium

TV: ESPN

Spread: LSU -2.5

O/U: 55.5


The Battle for the Boot is set for this Saturday night in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Each of the last 4 meetings have all been settled by 3 points. This will be the 70th meeting between LSU and Arkansas. LSU leads the series 42-23-2. LSU had 2 victories vacated. The 1st meeting between these schools took place in 1901; LSU was victorious 15-0. LSU has won the previous 2 contests in this series, and Arkansas has not beat LSU in Fayetteville since 2014.


Arkansas (RV) is 4-2 on the season. While the Razorbacks are coming off of a bye week, this will be their 4th straight SEC game. Offensive coordinator, Bobby Petrino, yes that Bobby Petrino, has brought new life to this Arkansas offense. This offense is 4th in the SEC in total yards per game (484.3), 5th in the SEC in passing yards per game (285.3), and 4th in the SEC in rushing yards per game (199). The Arkansas offense is led by quarterback Taylen Green. The Boise State transfer is 4th in the SEC in passing yards with (1502) and the 2nd most rushing yards by a quarterback in the SEC (326). Green is a little dinged up, but he should be up for this one. Running back Ja'Quinden Jackson, a Utah transfer, has the 4th most rushing yards in the SEC (566) and the 3rd most rushing TDs in the SEC (10). Andrew Armstrong is the leader in the receiving room; he currently has the 3rd most receiving yards in the SEC (552). The Arkansas defense is 9th in the SEC in total yards given up (321.5), 11th in the SEC in passing yards per game (215), and 5th in the SEC in rushing yards per game (106.5). This defense is led by linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr. Xavian has 40 tackles on the season, which is the 12th most in the SEC. Defensive linemen Landon Jackson and Eric Gregory are the leaders up front. Jackson, who is a former LSU Tiger, has 2.5 sacks on the season and 22 tackles. Gregory, who is a 6th year senior, has 2.5 sacks on the season and 17 tackles. Defensive back TJ Metcalf has 3 interceptions, and he is 2nd on the team in total tackles with 35.


LSU (#8/#8) is coming off of a massive upset win over rival Ole Miss. This will be the Tigers 2nd consecutive SEC game and their 3rd SEC contest of the season. Joe Sloan has done a great job with this Tiger offense so far this season, and defensive coordinator Blake Baker is everything Tiger fans could have asked for, and then some! This Tiger offense is 5th in the SEC in total yards per game (460.3), 2nd in the SEC in passing yards per game (337), and 15th in the SEC in rushing yards per game (123.3). This offense goes as quarterback Garrett Nussmeier goes. Currently, Nuss has the 13th highest QBR in the nation, 6th most passing yards in the nation (1989), and the 5th most passing TDs in the nation with 18. Pass catchers Kyren Lacy, Aaron Anderson, and Mason Taylor are the leaders in the receiver and tight end rooms. Kyren has the 5th most receiving yards in the SEC (463), and he is tied for the most receiving TDs in the SEC (6). Anderson is tied for the 6th most receiving yards in the SEC (452). Lacy and Anderson are tied for the 8th most receptions in the SEC (30). Mason Taylor has the 4th most receptions in the SEC (33). This Tiger defense stepped up big time in last week's victory over Ole Miss. Bradyn Swinson and Sai'vion Jones are the leaders coming off the edge for the Tiger defense. Jones has the 6th most sacks in the SEC (4.5), and Swinson has the 5th most sacks in the nation (7.0). Whit Weeks and Greg Penn III are the leaders at the linebacker position. Weeks has the 10th most tackles in the nation (59). Penn III has the 6th most tackles in the SEC (47). Zy Alexander and Ashton Stamps have really held it down in the defensive backfield for the Tigers. Stamps is tied for the 13th most passes defended in the nation (6), and Alexander has 2 interceptions on the season. Kicker Damian Ramos continues to show up when the Tigers need him.


KEYS TO THE GAME

- Hangover - After an overtime win last week, will the Tigers keep up the intensity in this one?

- Air it out - This Razorback defense is near the bottom of the conference in passing defense. Let's see if the Tigers can continue the air attack.

- Pressure - This Arkansas offensive line has given up the 6th most sacks in the SEC, and LSU's defense has the 2nd most sacks in the SEC. Will the Tigers get after Taylen Green?

- Run Run Run - Can Josh Williams and Caden Durham continue to show up when the Tigers need them? While the stat sheet isn't jam packed with great rushing stats, Williams and Durham have shown up big time for the Tigers.


Fun Fact: Arkansas wide receiver Monte Harrison, #82, played for the Miami Marlins and the Los Angeles Angels. Harrison was committed to play baseball and football at Nebraska but decided to go the professional route after being drafted in the 2nd round of the 2014 MLB draft by the Brewers. Like Wu Tang said cream get the money.


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By David Rainey July 19, 2025
It’s that time of year again. The excitement of All-Star weekend and the Homerun Derby are behind us, and it’s on to the second half of the MLB season. This is the time where the great teams separate themselves from the good teams. It’s the time for teams to show whether they should be considered contenders or pretenders. And with this time of the year, of course, comes the MLB trade deadline. Arguably the most intriguing trade deadline of all the major sports. Fringe teams will have to decide whether to be buyers or sellers, and the great teams will mortgage their futures for one player they believe will take them to the promise land. Now, as out of left-field as the ending to this year’s All-Star weekend was (raise your hand if you also weren’t aware that swing offs were a thing), the MLB trade deadline features something much more curious. The Player to Be Named Later. You see, as most of us know, it’s extremely common in Major League Baseball for a team like the Padres, for example, to sell off a handful of their top prospects at the trade deadline for a lefty reliever they hope will help them navigate the difficult waters that is the postseason. But what some people aren’t aware of (outside of us baseball nerds of course) is the use of something, or someone more specifically, called the “Player to Be Named Later (PTBNL)” in these trade scenarios. For those of you who don’t know, here’s a quick explanation of what exactly the phrase “Player to Be Named Later” means. In baseball, when a team isn’t sure exactly which prospect they want in return or when they are trying to finesse the roster management rules, they will accept a “Player to Be Named Later” in return in a trade. This gives that team the opportunity to further evaluate players and choose who they want in return at a later date. This doesn’t mean that the team will just be able to choose a superstar down the road, there are limitations placed on who can be chosen, and most of the time the player ends up being just another player lost in baseball lore. However, sometimes these PTBNL turn out to be more than just a journeyman or even lead to oddities that only baseball can provide. So, what are the most famous cases of Players to Be Named Later? Well, I’m glad you asked. Let’s start with the not so unexpected scenario that actually led to the PTBNL rules to be changed. Trea Turner Before 2015, there was a rule in place in the MLB in which prevented players from being traded for a year after being drafted. Trea Turner was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the first round of the 2014 Draft which meant, you guessed it, he wasn’t eligible to be traded until the following year. However, in December of 2014 the Padres, Nationals, and Rays agreed to mega-deal that involved 11 players AND a Player to Be Named Later. So, what does this have to do with Turner? Well, everyone was aware of who that PTBNL would be. Trea Turner. But as I mentioned before, he wasn’t allowed to be traded yet. So Turner had to spend the beginning of the next season playing for the Padres who had already traded him. This led to a rule change in MLB before the next draft to avoid this situation ever playing out again. But where is Trea Turner now? He’s certainly no journeyman. He had an incredible start to his career with the Nationals, before being traded (again) to the Dodgers with Max Scherzer in 2021. He eventually signed a $300 million deal with the Phillies where he still plays and remains one of the best players in Major League Baseball. But is he the best PTBNL of all time? Not quite. David Ortiz Big Papi. Ever heard of him? Sure you have. But did you know he wasn’t always the mashing lefty for the Red Sox that we know and love? That’s right. Early on in David Ortiz’s career he actually struggled to find a place in the league; and at one point, was even a Player to Be Named Later in a trade. He actually started his career with the Seattle Mariners, but he doesn’t mean much to the Mariners franchise outside of being a PTBNL in a trade in 1996 with the Minnesota Twins for Dave Hollins. As a matter of fact, not only was Ortiz not the player we know on the field, he wasn’t even David Ortiz on paper. At the time, he was actually known as David Arias. You might be thinking, “Wow. The Mariners really traded BIG PAPI.” Trust me when I tell that the Twins feel even worse. Ortiz would play a handful of seasons for the Twins from 1997-2002; however, even after a solid season in 2002 with the Twins, they would go on to RELEASE Ortiz. That’s right. Even one of the greatest players to ever step foot on a baseball diamond was not only traded as PTBNL but was also outright released. Of course in 2003, David Ortiz would go on to join the Boston Red Sox. Ten All-Star games, 3 World Series Championships, a World Series MVP, and a Hall of Fame selection later, David Ortiz would go down in baseball history as one of the most feared batters of all time, and the legend we know him as today Big Papi. What is the oddest Player to Be Named Later situation? There is a rare, but always delightfully bizarre situation in which a player is traded for himself as a Player to Be Named Later. This hilariously absurd scenario is so rare that it has only happened four times in the history of Major League Baseball. Harry Chiti – traded from the then Cleveland Indians to the Mets in 1962 for a PTBNL. However, he was so bad that the Mets decided trade him back to Cleveland as the PTBNL Brad Gulden – traded (with $100,000) from the Yankees to the Mariners for Larry Milbourne and a PTBNL in 1980. Once again, he performed so poorly that the Mariners traded him back to New York as the PTBNL in the original trade. Are you sensing a theme? Dickie Noles – In 1987 the Cubs traded him to the Tigers for a Player to Be Named Later. Sadly, he didn’t do enough during the Tigers playoff run that year for them to want to keep him around. So, they shipped back to the Windy City to complete the trade as the PTBNL. John McDonald – The most recent example. He was acquired by Detroit, who clearly didn’t learn anything in 1987, from the Blue Jays in 2005 for, that’s right, a PTBNL. Later that year, he was sent back to Canada for cash considerations. There you go. Next time you’re hanging out with your buddies on the back porch naming random athletes from your pass, feel free to drop in a “Dickie Noles” reference and explain the wonderful scenario of him being traded for himself. Baseball is such a beautiful sport in so many ways. For many of us, it’s the first sport we play as children, or the sport we remember watching with our grandparents on the living room floor. It has such an iconic and rich history. It’s known as “America’s past time” for a reason. But throughout that history, there are so many things that have happened that can only be described as strange and uniquely baseball. And that’s why we love it. So, when you’re scrolling social media or watching ESPN this trade deadline season and see that stud middle reliever traded for nothing but a Player to Be Named Later, maybe you won’t just brush it off this time around. Maybe you’ll wait to see who that player becomes, and maybe they’ll end up being another great piece of baseball trivia.
July 14, 2025
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