LSU vs. Arkansas: Postgame Grades from the Tigers' Win vs. Razorbacks

What a difference a year makes.

The LSU Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks met as the No. 1- and No. 3-ranked teams in the nation last year, and both hoped this year would be the same.

This year's game was expected to be a blowout, but Arkansas thwarted that as they hung around with the No. 7 team in the nation.

The storyline of the game was LSU's defense early and LSU's inability to put the game away late. It was a largely unimpressive showing by the Tigers, even though they won 20-13.

While the season does end in disappointment for the Razorbacks, a few players can still take solace in the fact they will have solid NFL careers.

Here's a look at the final game grades for the Tigers.

Quarterback

Overall Game Grade: C

Zach Mettenberger was largely unimpressive throughout. For the game, he completed 16 of 29 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown.

He did make a few spectacular passes, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry where Landry made a sensational catch.

Outside of that, most of his first-down throws were courtesy of his receivers, as he was off target for most of the night.

Things started very shaky for Mettenberger as he was only able to complete one pass in the first quarter and could never get comfortable. Most of the fault goes to the coaching staff on that one for not giving him easy throws to get him into a rhythm.

Where Mettenberger was good was at the end of the game when he milked four minutes off the clock as LSU kicked a field goal to take a seven-point lead. The plays he made on that drive brought his grade up.

While the last three weeks saw significant improvement in Mettenberger, Friday's game was a regression of sorts. Luckily, LSU will have a little more practice time before its bowl game, before having all offseason to continue his development.

Running Backs

Overall Game Grade: C-

The LSU running backs were largely a non-factor in this game. The only real highlight came on Jeremy Hill's one-yard touchdown run.

For the game, the LSU running backs gained a total of 117 yards, with the largest gain coming from Hill, which was for 19 yards. Hill finished with 77 yards, while Spencer Ware had 22 yards.

In total, the Tigers averaged 3.07 yards per rush (38 rushes) for the game. Their total is hardly close to their 188.2 average per game entering Friday.

Ware did add 26 yards receiving, but he was no real threat to take the ball anywhere once he caught it.

Wide Receivers

Overall Game Grade: A-

Even though Mettenberger gets a bad grade, it's hard to do the same for the LSU receivers.

There were many good plays made by all, especially Jarvis Landry's 22-yard reception in the back of the end zone.

Then there was Odell Beckham's 47-yard reception where it looked like he would be stopped for an 11 or 12-yard gain. Beckham broke the tackle and got a lot more yards to set up LSU's final field goal.

Beckham finished the game with 112 yards on four catches, while Landry had eight catches for 75 yards.

Throw in the first-down catches the pair had that save sub-par throws from Mettenberger and it's easy to see they had a great day.

Tight End

Overall Game Grade: C-

When a team doesn't get their tight ends involved in the passing game, it's hard to grade them.

Even though Chase Clement and Travis Dickson didn't have a catch, they were still in to block for Mettenberger.

The fact that Arkansas got three sacks on Mettenberger goes against the tight ends since they were part of the blocking.

Nothing real exciting, though on the tight-end front for the Tigers.

Offensive Line

Overall Game Grade: C

The offensive line did allow three sacks on Mettenberger, but they kept him safe (for the most part) on his 29 pass attempts.

The most glaring stat was the offensive line saw Arkansas get good penetration on 21 plays where there was a two-yard gain or less.

To do that against a depleted Arkansas team shows there are issues along the offensive line.

This is another group where fans expected better than they got.

Defensive Line

Overall Game Grade: B-

The LSU defensive line did pretty well for the most part.

While the Tigers only had one sack, they still limited the Razorbacks to 109 yards total on the ground. And, when the other team's quarterback is the leading rusher with 41 yards, that's even better.

Where the defensive line got hurt was their inability to get more pressure on Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson, who threw the ball 52 times.

The line has to come up with more than one sack with a pass-happy offense. If they don't, a better team will light up the scoreboard.

Linebackers

Overall Game Grade: A-

The big play of the game came early in the first quarter when Arkansas was driving inside the red zone.

With Dennis Johnson looking like he was going in for a touchdown, Lamin Barrow forced a fumble to stop the drive and give LSU the ball.

Had Arkansas gone in to score, the game likely would have turned out different.

Barrow finished with a team-leading 12 tackles, while Kevin Minter had 10.

The linebackers were one of the strongest units throughout the evening, especially after Arkansas' third drive. From the second quarter on, the linebackers played at an elite level, which is something LSU fans have come to expect.

Secondary

Overall Game Grade: B-

The interception by Tharold Simon on Arkansas' second drive was huge, putting the ball at midfield for the Tigers.

However, things were a bit of a roller coaster for the Tigers' secondary as 25 of 46 passes were completed after the second drive.

On the last drive of the game, the secondary kept Arkansas in front of them, but allowed them to drive down to try and tie the game.

There was too much cushion on that last drive. While it's understandable, there's no way that Julian Horton should have been that wide open in the middle of the field at the end of the game to set up the chance to tie the game.

There should have been someone in the secondary around him.

Still, the Tigers held on the last play to give them the win.

Special Teams

Overall Game Grade: A-

There's nothing that anyone can complain about when it comes to the LSU special teams.

The Tigers blocked a field goal, didn't allow any big punt or kickoff returns, had a big kickoff return of their own and boomed the ball on punts.

Brad Wing averaged 48.2 yards on six punts. Should college football just go ahead and give him the Ray Guy award?

Drew Alleman nailed both of his field goals, hitting a season-long 49-yarder in the process.

Then there was Michael Ford's 86-yard kickoff return that set up LSU for a touchdown three plays later.

Overall, the special teams did their job in this game and were the key to a Tiger victory.

Coaching

Overall Game Grade: C+

It's hard to go higher than this grade mainly because LSU let Arkansas hang around the entire game. There didn't seem to be any sort of motivation to put more points on the board.

Maybe it's because the LSU offense is not as good as everyone saw the last three weeks.

Early on, the defensive coaches were on point and remained so through most of the game. They had their guys going for the strip on every play and the boom was lowered many times in the process.

On offense, the coaches didn't have Mettenberger make easy throws early on to try and get him into a rhythm, which is why he struggled for most of the game.

Where the issue lies is in the fact that they allowed Arkansas to hang around and have a chance to tie or win it in the end. Fans expect more from their coaches, especially against a down Arkansas team.