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Mallett, Arkansas trip up No. 6 LSU

Nov 28, 2010 - 2:13 AM Fayetteville, AR (Sports Network) - Ryan Mallett threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns and Knile Davis ran for 152 yards and a score on 30 carries to lead No. 12 Arkansas to a 31-23 victory over No. 6 LSU at War Memorial Stadium.

Mallett connected on 13-of-23 throws and was intercepted twice. He became the school's all-time leader in touchdown passes with 60 and led the Razorbacks (10-2, 6-2 SEC) to their sixth straight win.

Cobi Hamilton made three receptions for 164 yards and two touchdowns for Arkansas, which has won three of the last four meetings.

Jordan Jefferson completed 16-of-27 passes for 184 yards without a touchdown or interception for the Tigers (10-2, 6-2), who saw a three-game win streak brought to an end.

"I'm not happy," said LSU head coach Les Miles. "It's certainly not how it's supposed to end for us."

Stevan Ridley rushed for 75 yards and a pair of scores on 17 carries while Jefferson added 34 yards on the ground on 14 tries for LSU, which was denied what could have been only the second 11-win regular season in school history.

Leading 21-20, Arkansas pushed the lead to eight on a 39-yard scoring strike from Mallett to Joe Adams just 50 seconds into the final quarter.

LSU went three-and-out on its ensuing possession and Arkansas took over at its own 10-yard line. Nine consecutive running plays moved the ball to the Tiger seven before an incompletion. Davis reached the two on the next play, setting up Zach Hocker's 19-yard field goal that extended the lead to 31-20 with just over six minutes to play.

"We really thought our offensive line was taking over the game," Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino said. "We wanted to try to go get points and use as much clock as we could. I really didn't plan on making every play a run, it just ended up that way when we were moving the line of scrimmage, breaking tackles. It was really nice for us to be able to power the ball like that."

Josh Jasper's field goal from 36 yards out capped an 11-play drive that brought the visitors back to within eight with 1:58 remaining in the game.

Hamilton then recovered the Tigers' first onside kick attempt of the season, but the Razorbacks could not muster a first down and were forced to punt.

After a personal foul penalty pushed the Tigers back to their own six, cornerback Andru Stewart sacked Jefferson, forcing a fumble that Arkansas recovered to sew up the victory.

In the first quarter, Hocker and Jasper each missed a field goal before Arkansas got on the board with a 74-yard, five-play drive. Davis' 14-yard touchdown run capped the march with 2:30 to go.

LSU countered with a six-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game with 11:52 left in the half. Jefferson ran for 13 yards and completed a pair of passes for 56 yards during the march, which Ridley ended by powering into the end zone from five yards out.

The Razorbacks regained the lead with 6:52 to play, when Mallett found Hamilton at his own 35. The wideout raced untouched down the left sideline the rest of the way to finish off an 85-yard catch-and-run.

Patrick Peterson's 55-yard kickoff return set the Tigers up at the Arkansas 42, and they took advantage of the good field position to even the score.

Ridley's three-yard plunge to the left corner of the end zone capped an eight- play drive that made it 14-14 with 2:20 left before the intermission.

Each side seemed to grab and lose momentum on consecutive plays in the final minute of the half before a seemingly seismic shift occurred on the final play before the break.

Arkansas recovered a botched shotgun snap at the Tiger 21 with 50 seconds left, but Mallett was intercepted in the end zone by Morris Claiborne on the very next snap.

The Hogs forced a punt and got the ball back at their 20 with six seconds left. Mallett went deep down the middle to Hamilton, who caught the ball at midfield and was sprung free when Claiborne and fellow defensive back Karnell Hatcher collided. Hamilton raced down the left sideline and then cut back at the five to reach the end zone and provide a stunning finish to the first 30 minutes.

Peterson opened the second half with a 54-yard kickoff return to set LSU up at the Arkansas 46. The drive stalled, leading to Jasper's 46-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 21-17 with 10:39 to go in the third quarter.

On the ensuing Arkansas possession, Dylan Breeding fumbled the snap on a punt attempt and was smothered at his own nine-yard line. LSU had to settle for a 20-yard Jasper boot that made it a one-point contest with just under eight minutes to play in the period.

Game Notes

Mallett has thrown for 7,216 career yards and is second on the Arkansas career passing list, 207 yards away from passing Clint Stoerner for the all-time lead...He has 467 completions, seven shy of passing Casey Dick for third place on the all-time Arkansas list...Mallett has a TD pass in 24 of 25 games as a Razorback and has thrown for at least three scores in 13 games...He has thrown for more than 300 yards 14 times and has a completion of 50 yards or more in 15 games at Arkansas...LSU won 11 games during the 2003 regular season and also won 11 times, including bowl games, in 1958 and 2005-07...The Tigers are 4-2 against ranked teams this year and 22-12 under Miles...LSU is 25-10 in games decided by eight points or fewer under Miles...The Tigers lead the all- time series, 34-20-2...Arkansas is 146-52-2 at War Memorial Stadium...This as the 15th game in which the winner received the "Golden Boot."