BATON ROUGE – One of the many reasons people go to college is that they will leave with long lasting memories.  For the 24 LSU seniors that were honored before kickoff, their last game at Tiger stadium that mold as they pulled out a 33-30 overtime thriller to reclaim The Golden Boot.

“I’m proud of this team.” Head coach Les Miles explained. “They fought like hell in an area where there is a swirling backdrop and agendas. It didn’t bother them. They got the distraction behind them and came out and played like a team.”

After faltering late against Ole Miss, it looked as though the 15^th ranked Tigers would lose yet another fourth quarter heartbreaker when Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett connected with Joe Adams in the end zone to take a 30-27 lead with 1:18 to go in the game.

However, learning from their mistakes just seven days ago, Jordan Jefferson and the LSU offense buckled down and quickly drove down the field to setup a 41-yard game tying field goal by Josh Jasper to send the game into overtime.

Jasper led the Tigers in scoring with 12 points, including the eventual game winner in the first overtime.

“You have to give it to Josh Jasper for a guy who gets us into overtime and gets us the win in overtime.” Miles continued. ”You count on a guy like that to play big at times, and he does.”

With both Charles Scott and Keiland Williams missing their final game in Death Valley, senior speedster Trindon Holliday was called on to pick up the pieces. Though he did lead the team with 57 yards on the ground, he will best remember this game for the 87-yard kick return to give the Tigers an early two score lead.

“Tonight was senior night, so I told myself I wanted to come out and do something to remember my last game in Tiger stadium.” Holliday said reflecting on his last four years as a Tiger. “That punt return is something I’ll definitely remember.”

Senior Brandon Lafell and Richard Dickson had memorable senior nights.

Lafell led the team with 70 yards on four catches and a touchdown, putting him just two touchdowns behind Dwayne Bowe for the LSU career touchdown receptions record.

Dickson had 6 catches for 44 yards, passing up Mitch Andrews for the most receptions by a Tiger tight end.

“I wasn’t really focusing on the record.” Dickson said modestly, “The win in my last game here was a lot more important.”

After holding the Razorbacks to an early field goal, Holliday kick started the offense with a kick return out to the LSU 40 yard line. He then broke off a 19 and 12 yard runs to setup a 16-yard Jefferson pass to Lafell and an early lead.

The next time the track star got his hands on the ball would be in the early second quarter when he fielded a Dylan Breeding punt at his own 13 and took it 87 yards for his first special teams touchdown of the season.

After an Alex Tejada field with 40 seconds to go in the first half, the Razorbacks stole any momentum the Tigers had when linebacker Jerry Franklin picked off a Jordan Jefferson pass and ran it back deep in LSU territory. It then took tailback Ronnie Wingo Jr. only 3 rushing attempts to give Arkansas their first touchdown of the game.

The Tigers answered back on their very next possession as a five-minute 67-yard drive culminated with Jefferson finding DeAngelo Peterson in the back of the end zone, putting them back up by double digits.

However, Mallett – who finished with 227 yards passing – deciphered the LSU defense and quickly drove the Razorbacks back into the LSU red zone.  Sophomore tailback Broderick Green then took a Mallett hand off into the end zone untouched to pull the Razorbacks within four points heading into the fourth quarter.

After a see saw battle in the fourth, the dust settled and the two teams found themselves tied at the end of the fourth.  For the second straight time in Tiger stadium, these two teams needed an overtime to decide the victor.

LSU got the ball first and after three plays, Jasper put the Tigers back up with his fourth field goal of the day.

The Tiger defense then held Arkansas to a three and out, leading to Tejada pushing a 36-yard field goal slightly to the right as the 87,000 in Tiger Stadium rejoiced.

“I knew if I missed my kick in overtime we weren’t necessarily going to lose, but I had a feeling that it might come down to them kicking a field goal too.” Jasper predicted correctly. “I knew it was pretty important to get at least three on the board.”

With an Ole Miss loss earlier in the day, LSU finds themselves finishing second in the SEC west as the regular season ends. They now have to wait until December 6 to see where they will spend their Christmas vacation.

“Any opponent, any great warm environment, this football team will look forward to playing the best opponent we can get.” Said Miles.

The head coach did mention that his family is longer overdue for a trip to Disney World.