Just for a quick comparison, the temperature in Northwest Arkansas on Friday night was hovering around the mid-20’s and expected to dip into the teens while Baton Rouge is a downright balmy 50 degrees.
That has been the talk of folks this week as a 2-7 Arkansas team hosts a 7-2 LSU team Saturday night.
Some are pinning the slight sliver of hope on the Tigers struggling with the lower temperatures. That might be something they aren’t comfortable with, but the biggest question is going to be LSU’s attitude.
Make no mistake about it, Ed Orgeron kinda put his team in an awkward situation last week before playing Alabama by saying THAT was THE game for his team. For two weeks that game was built up like a conference championship game which it might have been … except not many outside of Baton Rouge were giving LSU a shot.
That’s not a knock on the Tigers. It’s more an indication of what people think about the Crimson Tide this season, which could end up being in the conversation as the greatest college football team of all time.
Oh, to top things off, Orgeron basically said after the loss his players weren’t good enough to beat Alabama and he needed to get better ones to compete for a championship.
Now they have to come and play the lowly Razorbacks. In Fayetteville, where it’s cold after they practiced in balmy weather most of the week back in Baton Rouge.
The reason some in Fayetteville have that little ray of hope is because it’s happened in this series before.
In 2014, Bret Bielema got his first SEC win when a 7-3 LSU team rolled into Fayetteville on a chilly evening after losing the week before to Alabama, 20-13, and promptly lost, 17-0, to an Arkansas team that was 4-5 and stumbling along.
It gave the Hogs a jumpstart and they ended up 6-6, then beat Texas in the Texas Bowl.
The next year, the same thing happened in Baton Rouge. It had happened in 2002, 2007, 2008 and 2010. You’d think LSU would be well aware of this, wouldn’t you?
All of which is why it’s hard to just come flat out and say LSU will be taking Arkansas lightly.
“Arkansas is a weird opponent for LSU,” former Tigers great Marcus Spears said Friday while in town getting ready for the SEC Nation morning show on the SEC Network on Saturday. “I can tell you from experience.”
While Spears never played in Fayetteville, it’s the experience LSU has had anywhere in the state that makes it unusual.
“It’s just a tough place to play,” Spears said. “It’s always been a case where you say, ‘They’re good, but they shouldn’t be as good as we are.’
“Then you get on the field and realize how physical they play, the things they are doing are hurting you and you get to the fourth quarter, realize you’re only up three and you’re like, ‘man, they got a chance to win this game.'”
But this year?
“We’ll see,” Spears said. “They’ve struggled this year. Chad (Morris) has been dialing some nice plays up. You can see the beginning stages of him trying to implement his plan. Right now the talent is just not where he needs it to be.”
His answer on “Bama Fatigue,” though, was interesting since the Tigers were deflated totally last week in that 29-0 loss.
“There was a lot on the line last week,” he said. “Then you come play Arkansas who you might not respect because of the film, the record and all that, you sleepwalk in here and we’ve seen what happens when you sleepwalk at Arkansas.
“When you come in here sleepwalking, you get beat.”
LSU had lost earlier this year to Florida, but bounced back strong, beating Georgia and Mississippi State.
“The psychology of the team right now will be 100 percent magnified as opposed to how they would respond after the Florida loss,” Spears said. “They were going home, it was Georgia who was ranked top five in the country, everything to play for, you get a seat back (in the playoff discussion).
“Now you play Arkansas with two wins on the season, we just lost a big game that set our course in the national playoff and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.”
Like Spears said, we’ll see.
And it might be more interesting than you think.
