LSU has been in an optimistic momentum with a 5-1 start to the season. Beating out a frustrating early setback against USC in the season opener, the Tigers significantly progressed in the later matchups. A win against Ole Miss following an impressive Garrett Nussmeier touchdown pass in overtime raised the bar of expectation specifically on the standout QB of the team for all the right reasons. But would that be sufficient to pull the rug of an unstoppable Arkansas? Well, we are trying to find the answer in a wrong bowl. It actually lies more on an improved defense scenario of the Tigers’ under new defense coordinator.

When On 3’s J.D. PicKell articulated, ‘There’s a big reason why you brought in Blake Baker to be your new DC,” he ain’t exaggerating. In a matchup against one of the best play callers in CFB, Lane Kiffin, Baker showcased a high-scale tenacity, deception, and varied momentum in his defense. They managed to restrict the fiery Ole Miss offense with 188 yards. Heck, don’t tell us that it’s only the first year of Baker’s supremacy! Well, it is.

But the best of Blake Baker and Garrett Nussmeier under Brian Kelly is yet to come. They are just in their energy saving mode. ”LSU is right now is not a finished product and to be real that’s good. If you’re an LSU fan, you don’t want to play your best football in the second week of October, you want to play your best football in November. Now the key within that is you still want to play good enough football each and every week to establish good habits established trajectory,” PicKell said on On3, as he looked beyond the surface of the Tigers’ psychology ahead of a deciding week 8. Crux of the discussion? ”They play Arkansas on the road this upcoming weekend. We have picked LSU to win that football game,” added PicKell.

PicKell further appreciated the grit LSU possess which has been quite visible in their gameplay these past few weeks, something that was seen in the USC game mid-September. After falling behing 17-0 at the 12:19 mark in the second quarter, the then No. 16 Tigers fought till the very final whistle to bag their victory at the Williams-Brice Stadium, 36-33. And this victory marked the second-largest (tied) comeback win for LSU’s history away from home, with the first being 21 points against Ole Miss in 1977.

With 2:03 left to play, Nussmeier found Lacy on 1st-and-1o from the USC 33 for a crucial 29-yard pickup, moving the ball toward the USC 4. Williams, the sixth year senior, then put the Tigers back on top with 1:12 on the clock with a 2-yard touchdown rush, giving LSU their much awaited 36-33 lead. As the chances of overtime loomed large on the LSU, Alex Herrera’s 49-yard attempt with five seconds to play was left wide and ultimately, LSU won. Indeed, in the words of PicKell, “The team has real grit, man. They do.”

And with that, you might look to read more about the beating heart of the potential Tigers’ win. Yes, the heart in question is none other than the young prodigy, the backfield stunner, Garrett Nussmeier. No worries, we get you right here.

Garrett Nussmeier is likely to bring another banger during the highly anticipated Arkansas clash

The Tigers need their game changing factor spot on for securing a week 8 success at Razorback stadium this week.

Garrett Nussmier is rising higher and above after his shaky yet heroic performance against Ole Miss. The quarterback stunned the home crowd, posting 353 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions on 22-of-51 passing. On the first play in overtime, he connected with WR Kyren Lacy on a 25-yard trademark TD strike and clinched the win, taking his overall rank to the third nationally and 6th in FBS. He made an open air flaunt of why he deserves all the flowers (Manning Award honor, SEC Offensive Player of the Week) in his bag.

Arkansas, the sloppy 10th in the SEC in pass defense, will not find it easy to tackle Nussmeier with him taking just 5 tackles for loss per game and getting sacked just twice throughout the year so far.

But the Razorbacks can still look to stack to their ego, scoring a few takeaways at the loopholes of the quarterback’s usual ‘1 interception in 4 of the 6 starts’ record.