LSU @ Arkansas preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 29, 2013 ) Arkansas 27, Louisiana State 31

Oh, what might have been for No. 20 LSU this season, as it sits at 7-3 and 17th in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings. The Tigers' three losses have been to teams in the top nine of the rankings, including last week's heartbreaking overtime setback to Alabama. Les Miles' squad needs to bounce back against a dangerous Arkansas team that hasn't won a conference game this season but was within a touchdown of top-ranked Mississippi State in its most recent contest two weeks ago.

The late-November weather could help the ground-oriented Razorbacks as they bid for their first league win, with temperatures expected to be in the low 30s with the possibility of snow. Running backs Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins - the only pair of teammates in the nation with 800-plus yards on the ground - certainly will get plenty of work against the Tigers. But it won't be easy to get into the end zone against LSU, which allows just 16.3 points a game to rank fifth in the country.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: Arkansas -2.

ABOUT LSU (7-3, 3-3 SEC): Facing a team in Arkansas that averages 5.7 yards per rush means LSU needs everyone ready to go on Saturday. That includes linebacker Kendell Beckwith, one of the top players on a defense that has allowed less than 110 rushing yards per game over the last month who feels he'll be ready despite a sore hamstring that limited him against Alabama. “I could go sideline to sideline. All-out sprint? Nah,” Beckwith told the Acadiana Advocate. “It was hurting. I knew I had to toughen up and man through it.”

ABOUT ARKANSAS (4-5, 0-5): Despite its winless mark in conference play, Arkansas still has dreams of a bowl game, and with two wins in its final three games, it can achieve that goal. It won't be easy - Mississippi and Missouri follow the visit from LSU - but the Razorbacks want to avoid going three straight seasons without a bowl bid for the first time since 1992-94. “We talk about it a lot,” quarterback Brandon Allen told NWA Media. “This is a three-game season now. It's all about finishing these last three games and taking it each game at a time and winning each game at a time.”

EXTRA POINTS

1. LSU is 25-1 following a loss under Miles, with the only back-to-back defeats coming in 2008 - when the Tigers fell to Mississippi and Arkansas in consecutive weeks.

2. Arkansas has outgained six of its nine opponents this season and ranks fourth nationally with an average time of possession of 34:15 per game.

3. True freshmen have scored 18 of LSU's 37 offensive touchdowns this year, with QB Brandon Harris accounting for nine (three rushing, six passing).

PREDICTION: LSU 31, Arkansas 24