By DON KAUSLER JR.

Halfway through the 2024 college football season, we’re halfway ready to make a halfhearted pronouncement.

Arkansas is back.

You heard it here. We’ll say it again.

Arkansas is back.

The Razorbacks are back off a well-timed bye week, which came after the biggest victory in years, a 19-14 statement over then-4th-ranked Tennessee.

They are back from a 4-8 season in 2023.

They are back from 7 one-possession losses in the past 2 seasons. 

At 4-2 overall, they are back in contention for a bowl bid.

At 2-1 in the SEC, they are back in the race. Tied for fifth place, they are closer to the top than the bottom.

They are 2 plays from being undefeated and ranked in the Top 10 of The Associated Press poll. As is, they received votes this week for the top 25. They would be ranked No. 34 if the poll rated the top 35 teams.

LSU, you have been warned.

Arkansas plays host to the No. 8 Tigers (5-1, 2-0 SEC) at 6 p.m. CDT Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. The Battle for the Boot can be seen on ESPN. LSU is a 2½-point favorite.

LSU leads the series 42-23-2 and has won 7 of the past 8 meetings. Arkansas’ only victory in that span was in 2021 when it won 16-13 in overtime at LSU.

Each of the past 4 games has been settled by 3 points.

Arkansas is looking for consecutive victories over top-10 teams for the first time. 

FIRST DOWN

Review: Before we preview, we need a quick review of Coach Sam Pittman’s biggest victory in 5 seasons at Arkansas. The Razorbacks trailed Tennessee 14-3 in the third quarter before rallying for their first home victory over a top-5 team since defeating No. 3 Tennessee in 1999. 

Arkansas completed its comeback with its star quarterback and running back on the sidelines. Redshirt freshman Malachi Singleton came in when Taylen Green went out with a left leg injury early in the fourth quarter. Singleton capped a 4-play, 59-yard drive with an 11-yard run for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:17 left in the game. Backup running back Braylen Russell ran for 24 yards and 11 yards on consecutive plays to set up the touchdown – in relief of star running back Ja’Quinden Jackson.

Tennessee appeared to let Singleton score so it could get the ball back for a last-minute drive, which ended when quarterback Nico Iamaleava was pushed out of bounds at the Arkansas 16 as time expired.

Arkansas fans – part of the sixth-largest crowd in stadium history (75,573) – stormed the field, but the collapsible goal posts survived. 

“Our kids, our coaches did a wonderful job of preparing our guys and making them believe that we can go win tonight,” Pittman said after the game. “These guys are happy; they’re not surprised. If we have the same amount of turnovers, we can play with anybody.

“You get into coaching for moments like what just happened, and it’s to see the kids and the smiles on their face and the hard work that they do, because there’s a lot of teams that can’t get to that feeling. We did tonight.”

Green completed 19 of 27 passes for 266 yards with no interceptions. Jackson was hurt late in the game after running 20 times for 57 yards and a touchdown and catching 2 passes for 33 yards. He has scored at least 1 TD in each game so far this season.

Andrew Armstrong caught 9 passes for 132 yards.

Most impressively, Arkansas did not turn the ball over.

But it was the Arkansas defense, utilizing a 3-2-6 scheme for the first time this season, which slowed a Tennessee offense that came into the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring offense (54.0 ppg) and No. 3 in total offense (565.8 yards per game). The Razorbacks held the Vols to 332 total yards. Using six defensive backs limited Tennessee’s downfield passing attack. Tennessee passed for 158 yards. 

The Razorbacks came into evening averaging 2 sacks per game but ended the night with 4 sacks.

SECOND DOWN

Green light: Green is expected to start against LSU. That is, he is not listed on the Razorbacks official injury report. The bye week seemed to work wonders. But will he be hindered?

“He's still not full speed yet,” Pittman said. “We certainly think there's a possibility that he can get there. We'll have to wait and see there. Obviously, we have 2 more practices and a walk (through), but I have been encouraged about his progression this week.”

Green has completed 107 of 189 passes for 1,502 yards, 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He has run 81 times for 326 yards and 4 TDs. He’s dangerous when he scrambles, but if he isn’t his elusive self, the Razorbacks could suffer.

In other key injury news, Arkansas left guard Patrick Kutas (back) could play for the first time this season. Defensive back Jaylon Braxton will miss his fifth consecutive game with a knee injury.

For LSU, star linebacker Harold Perkins suffered a season-ending knee injury on Sept. 21 in a victory over UCLA.  Wide receivers C.J. Daniels and Chris Hilton Jr. are listed as probable and questionable, respectively.

THIRD DOWN

Kelly speaks: If Arkansas is at risk of a letdown, so is LSU. The Tigers are coming off a 29-26 overtime victory over then-No. 9 Ole Miss in Baton Rouge. They never led until the game's last play, when Garrett Nussmeier threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy on LSU’s first play of overtime. LSU fans also stormed the field.

Nussmeier sent the game to overtime with a 23-yard TD pass to Aaron Anderson with 27 seconds left in regulation.

The Tigers gave up 706 yards last year in a 55-49 loss at Ole Miss. This time they “held” the Rebels to 464 yards.

Third-year Coach Brian Kelly said he has a “great deal of respect for Sam Pittman, what he's done, the way his team is playing. Great victory last week against Tennessee. They had the week off obviously, the week before. But, again, an annual battle for the boot."

Former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino is making a big difference in his first year as the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator, Kelly said.

“It is diverse in its running game,” Kelly said. “I don't know if I've seen as many schemes offensively in terms of – like, you can't rep all the run schemes that they have. I mean, it is diverse.”

Kelly raved about Green and defensive end Landon Jackson.

“Big, physical, can run,” Kelly said of Green. “Makes plays with his arm and legs. I think that the balance on offense, 480 yards in total offense, rushing, passing, they lead the SEC in third-down conversions. … This is a formidable offense. Love the tight end, Luke Hasz. Big offensive line, they work well together, and that's Coach Pittman's specialty, the offensive line."

Jackson, who started his career at LSU, has a “great motor,” Kelly said.

“The guy just plays hard. He's a 3-year starter there. He is kind of the energy on that defense.”

FOURTH DOWN

Where was Sam? Pittman had a confession to make at his Monday news conference. He didn’t stay home Saturday and watch the LSU-Ole Miss game.

"I was at a concert,” Pittman said. “I'm going to catch hell for that, too, but by the way, so you guys know, the tape, I can watch every rep like 50 times if I wanted to. My wife wanted to go to a concert, so I went. So y'all have fun with that."

Pittman fulfilled a promise to his wife, Jamie, and went to a Tracy Lawrence concert in Hot Springs. He had 1 condition when he made the promise.

"I told Jamie if we could get to 4 or more wins, I'd go," Pittman said. "But I said, 'If we don't, I ain't going.' "

Pittman said he watched the last quarter of LSU’s thrilling victory live and watched the entire game Sunday.

By the way, how was the country music concert at Oaklawn?

“He was good,” Pittman said.