Teams' Belt Records

Previous Belt Meetings:       None

The top-ranked, 10-1 Louisiana State Tigers with coach Les Miles welcomed the 7-4 Arkansas Razorbacks of coach Houston Nutt to Baton Rouge.  Arkansas had missed their chance to claim The Belt earlier this season when they lost at home to Auburn & most expected the top-ranked Tigers to successfully defend the title at home before moving to the SEC Championship game.  The teams traded scores throughout the game & eventually went to triple-overtime before Arkansas' CB Matterral Richardson intercepted a 2-point conversion pass attempt to save a 50-48 Razorbacks win to claim their first Belt reign in the second highest scoring game to date in Belt history.  It looked like a bleak day for Arkansas when All-American RB Darren McFadden fumbled the opening kick-off & the Tigers took a 3-0 lead on the 32-yard field goal from All-SEC PK Colt David.  David's 49-yard field goal pushed the lead to 6-0 before the start of the 2^nd quarter.  Throughout the season, Nutt had used McFadden in a formation that allowed the running back to take direct snaps while running from a single-wing type formation that Nutt called "The Wildhog".  The Razorbacks went to that formation midway through the 2^nd quarter & McFadden capped the 97-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown run that gave Arkansas a 7-6 halftime edge.  After forcing Louisiana State to punt on their first drive of the half, the Razorbacks got another explosive run from McFadden.  The 73-yard touchdown run gave Arkansas a 14-6 advantage & silenced the home crowd.  The Tigers responded as they had all season with a solid drive led by QB Matt Flynn.  Flynn completed 3 of 4 pass attempts on the 51-yard scoring drive with RB Jacob Hester finishing the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run.  Flynn's run for the 2-point conversion tied the game at 14-14.  It took the Razorbacks just 4 plays to get the lead again as RB Peyton Hillis took a handoff from McFadden & ran straight through the Louisiana State line for a 65-yard touchdown run.  The Tigers responded again with Flynn leading a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by his 7-yard touchdown pass to WR Demetrius Byrd tying the game at 21-21.  Midway through the 4^th quarter, it looked like Louisiana State had taken the lead when Flynn connected with Hester on a 54-yard touchdown pass but the play was negated by an ineligible receiver downfield penalty.  McFadden dominated the Razorbacks next scoring drive as Arkansas drove 72 yards in 6 plays with McFadden throwing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Hillis for the score.  With 4:59 to play, the Tigers started their final drive of regulation time from their own 21-yard line.  The key play on the drive was a 35-yard pass from Flynn to TE Richard Dickson to the Arkansas 8-yard line.  It took all four downs & two timeouts before Flynn was able to tie the game with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Byrd sending the game to overtime.  The teams matched scores in the first overtime with Louisiana State getting a 12-yard touchdown run from Flynn while Arkansas got a 10-yard touchdown pass from QB Casey Dick to Hillis.  During the first extra stanza, the Tigers nearly had the game won as the Razorbacks faced a 4^th & 10 play from the Louisiana State 25-yard line but Dick was able to connect with Hillis for a 13-yard gain to keep their drive alive.  The second overtime saw McFadden score on a 9-yard touchdown run for Arkansas while Hester kept the game tied for the Tigers with a 2-yard touchdown run.  The deciding frame by rule forced both teams to try 2-point conversion attempts if they scored a touchdown.  The Razorbacks took 6 plays to get into the end zone with Hillis scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run for his 4^th score of the game.  Arkansas' RB Felix Jones added the 2-point conversion as a ran around left end of the score.  It took just 3 plays for Flynn to get the Tigers into the end zone as his 9-yard touchdown pass to WR Brandon LaFell had Louisiana State in position to extend the game again.  On the conversion attempt, Flynn tried to connect with Byrd over the middle but Richardson intercepted the pass & the Razorbacks had secured the upset.  McFadden finished with 206 yards rushing with 3 touchdowns while throwing a touchdown pass & Hillis rushed for 2 scores as well as had 2 touchdown receptions.  Flynn threw for 209 yards with 3 touchdowns in the loss while Hester added 126 yards rushing with 2 touchdowns.  Arkansas' Nutt resigned after the game & took the head coaching position at Mississippi.  This was the first time in Belt history a coach has left a champion before the season ended.  The Tigers finished the season 12-2 & National Champions while Arkansas finished the season 8-5.  Louisiana State would played for The Belt again in 2009.