10 Things to Know - LSU

The Arkansas Razorbacks return to action at No. 1 LSU on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 6 p.m. at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and can be streamed on the ESPN app. Here are 10 things to know before the two teams square off on Saturday.

1. Saturday will be the 65th meeting between the two programs, as LSU leads the all-time series, 40-22-2. The Tigers also lead in games played in Baton Rouge at 11-3-1. Arkansas’ last win over LSU came in Baton Rouge, as the Razorbacks picked up a three-score victory over the Tigers on Nov. 14, 2015, by a score of 31-14.
2. It will also mark the first game under interim head coach Barry Lunney Jr. Serving in his seventh season, Lunney Jr. has coached the Arkansas tight ends unit since 2013 and was in his first year as special teams coordinator. As a player for the Razorbacks, Lunney lettered from 1992-95, starting a school record 40 games at quarterback, and was a team captain on the 1995 team that played in the SEC Championship Game for the first time in school history. In his first game as the starting quarterback in ‘92, playing for the interim head coach Joe Kines, he led Arkansas to an upset win at No. 4 Tennessee. He left Arkansas with the career records for passing yards, passing TDs, pass completions, pass attempts and total offensive plays.
3. Trophy game. It will be the 24^th in the Battle for the Boot series, as the two teams face off for the Golden Boot Trophy, shaped in the outline of the states of Arkansas and Louisiana. LSU leads the series with the trophy on the line, 15-8.
4. Saturday is the second time this season Arkansas has faced the top-ranked team on the road. The Razorbacks have won four games against a No. 1 opponent, the last against LSU in a three-overtime thriller (50-48) in Baton Rouge in 2007.
5. Rakeem Boyd is a dude. Boyd has accumulated 100+ yards in each of the last three games and looks to make it four-straight on Saturday. He’s rushed for over 100 in each of the last two games, with 185 against WKU and 114 vs. Misssissippi State, while accummulating 105 all-purpose yards at Alabama on Oct. 26 via 55 receiving & 50 rushing.
6. Rakeem Boyd is Mr. 1,000. Boyd became the first Razorback since Rawleigh Williams (1,360) in 2016 to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, sitting at 1,005 after 10 games. He broke the threshold on an eight-yard run in the fourth quarter against Western Kentucky as part of an eight-carry, 185-yard performance. Boyd is one of three players in the SEC and one of 20 in the country to have run for 1,000+ yards this season. He is 185 yards away from the 10th-most rushing yards in a single season at Arkansas, while his five 100+ rushing games in 2019 marks the 21st time a Razorback has run for 100 or more yards in five games in a season.
7. Rakeem Boyd is fast. Boyd has rattled off nine plays of 20+ yards this season, the second-most on the team, including eight on the ground. Five of his eight rushes have resulted in touchdowns, all going for 50 or more yards. Boyd is one of two players in the FBS with five rushing touchdowns of 50+ yards this season. He is also the first Razorback since at least 1997 to have two rushing TDs of 75+ yards in the same game. The 86-yard TD run is the longest by a Razorback since T.J. Hammonds’ 88-yard rushing score against Coastal Carolina in 2017.
   59-yard rushing TD vs. Colorado State
   74-yard rushing TD at Kentucky
   52-yard rushing TD vs. Mississippi State
   76-yard rushing TD vs. Western Kentucky
   86-yard rushing TD vs. Western Kentucky
8. In the last contest against Western Kentucky, junior safety Kam Curl and sophomore linebacker Bumper Pool led the squad with 11 and nine tackles, respectively, while also combining for two of Arkansas’ three tackles for loss in the game. Pool and Curl rank sixth & seventh in total tackles this year with 76 & 75, respectively. Combined with De’Jon Harris (82), the trio has combined for 233, the most of any three-man unit in the SEC this season.
9. Freshman wide receiver Treylon Burks has proven he’ll make plays when the ball is in his hands. He leads the team in receiving yards with 389, ranking third in receptions with 25, while also taking eight snaps and rushing for 28 yards. He’s been the lone Razorback in the punt return game, fielding 12 for an average of 10.8 yards per return. Burks tried his hand in the kick return game against Mississippi State, returning five for 134 yards, taking one for a long of 42 yards vs. the Bulldogs. His 134 kickoff return yards were the most since De’Vion Warren’s 141 in 2017 (Ole Miss). Burks ranks second on the team in all-purpose yards this year with 710.
10. Senior defensive tackle McTelvin “Sosa” Agim has picked up tackles for loss in five of the last six games, bringing him to 31.5 as a Razorback. Before the game against Alabama, Agim had recorded sacks in three consecutive games, totaling 14.5 over his career. He inches closer every week to writing his name in the Arkansas record books, needing two sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss for 10th on the career lists by Razorbacks. His 8.5 tackles for loss this year is tied for 10th in the SEC, 3.5 behind the conference leader.