The Razorbacks gutted out a hard-fought victory against LSU, 16-13 in overtime at Tiger Stadium on Saturday. Not satisfied with simply being bowl-eligible, the Hogs are hungry for more as they continue to trend in the right direction under head coach Sam Pittman.

It’s obvious that Pittman and the team are on the same page. Growth in the program and in the process are evident with every performance. Saturday was no exception. Arkansas turned in the kind of game necessary to win on the road, in a place it isn’t accustomed to winning.

The Razorbacks are steadily becoming a team that expects to compete against any team that lines up in front of it. That will get the ultimate test next week when the Hogs visit Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama.

But for now, we’ll concentrate on the victory Saturday. Here’s a look at the different aspects of the Razorbacks’ game and what they graded out at.

Running game

When your leading rusher gains 41 yards, it’s difficult to give a positive grade. When your leading rusher is your quarterback, it’s probably not a very good effort, generally speaking. But the Tigers have been stingy against the run. They allowed just 6 yards rushing to Alabama.

I guess it’s all relative, but the Razorbacks were not crisp in the run game. Their top 2 runners, quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back Dominique Johnson, each averaged 2.7 yards per carry. That’s not very impressive, and there aren’t many times you can come away with a victory given those stats.

Grade: D

Passing game

Jefferson did what he needed to do to move the team enough to garner a victory — nothing much more than that. He was somewhat efficient, made a big play and didn’t turn over the ball. That’s what was needed for victory, barely.

But give him credit — he didn’t turn it over. He took care of the ball. For the most part, he put the ball in position for his team to make a play, and in a game where the margin for error was minimal, he did his job.

Grade: C

Run defense

The Hogs at times had a tough time stopping LSU’s Ty Davis-Price (28 rushes for 106 yards). But overall, they were pretty darn good against the run. They definitely made the Tigers earn every yard. LSU’s biggest running play was 13 yards, and the Hogs held their hosts to 2.6 yards per carry.

Those are stats that will more often than not net you a victory. It did on Saturday. Bumper Pool, Grant Morgan and Hayden Henry led the charge in this good old-fashioned SEC head knocker.

Grade: A-

Pass defense

The Hogs gave up some yardage, not a ton, but the 2 interceptions were key in keeping the Tigers away from paydirt. That’s not too bad, especially when you consider the Razorbacks played against a quarterback they didn’t have a lot of film on.

Garrett Nussmeier got most of the snaps for LSU, a first. The freshman had not played much prior to that. So knowing his tendencies and abilities were an earn-as-you-learn proposition. And in that respect, the Razorbacks were excellent in their adaptation.

Grade: B+

Coaching

It was a fairly typical game plan for a run-oriented offense. Throw in a trick play and a defensive plan that put the clamps on the LSU offense, and there’s your formula for victory. The coaching staff knows its personnel, and more times than not it puts the players in position to be successful.

That’s really all you can ask for from a coaching staff. From there, it’s execution, and the Hogs executed enough to come away with a “W” on Saturday.

Grade: A