By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU interim coach Frank Wilson was down 14-0 to a bad team in the first quarter.
His new quarterback misfired on his first two passes and flat didn’t look the part.
And Wilson’s defense allowed 101 yards in the first quarter. That’s a rate of 404 for the game.
But in the end, LSU new starting quarterback Michael Van Buren outplayed talented and dangerous dual-threat Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green. Because LSU’s defense finally solved a running quarterback, limiting him to 70 net yards rushing on 17 carries, sacking him four times and intercepting two passes. Green finished just 11-of-19 passing for 165 yards.
LSU wins what is believed to be SEC’s first Interim Bowl to get bowl eligible:https://t.co/FUuRdI7sB3
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 15, 2025
And Wilson is 1-0 as LSU’s coach in Tiger Stadium after a gritty, 23-22 win over Arkansas in front of 75,000 on Saturday afternoon.
Whatever happened to LSU QB Colin Hurley? And who is LSU’s backup with interim QB Michael Van Buren starting for injured Garrett Nussmeier today?https://t.co/m9pzDUyLdd
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 15, 2025
Van Buren, meanwhile, is 1-0 as an LSU interim starting quarterback after replacing injured starter Garrett Nussmeier, who did not dress out for the game because he re-injured his abdomen injury from early in the season.
“I couldn’t be more overjoyed for our team,” Wilson said. “Remarkable day for our university and our football team – one that displayed resiliency and toughness. All the things that make us Tigers. We find ourselves down 14-0, and it tested our resolve.”
The Tigers (6-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) did only beat an Arkansas team that fell to 2-8 and 0-6 in the SEC, but after the month LSU has had on and off the field, the Razorbacks may as well have been the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes.
“To be in position to lead this team to victory after three weeks of agony is special,” Wilson said, and he wasn’t only talking about the Tigers’ three-game losing streak. His boss, head coach Brian Kelly, was fired on Oct. 26. Kelly’s boss, athletic director Scott Woodward, was fired on Oct. 30. In between, offensive coordinator Joe Sloan was fired on Oct. 27.
LSU OFFENSE DISPLAYED A RAZZLE DAZZLE ROUTINE
Surviving defensive coordinator Blake Baker – for now at least – did see his unit limit Arkansas to just 15 points in all after a solid performance the week before in a 20-9 loss at No. 4 Alabama. Arkansas’ first touchdown came on a blocked punt that was recovered in the end zone for a 7-0 lead. That after the Razorbacks put up 30 or more in three of their previous four games. The Hogs also came in at No. 8 in the nation in total offense with 484 yards a game. But after a rough start, LSU held them to just 340 with three takeaways and hurled a shutout in the fourth quarter.
“The defense did their thing. They saved us,” Van Buren said.
Trailing 23-22 with 7:53 left, Arkansas reached the LSU 29-yard line after Green completed passes of 16 and 13 yards before he ran for a 7-yard gain. But defensive tackle Dominick McKinley and suddenly improving linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. (4 tackles, 1 sack, 2.5 stops for loss, 1 interception, 1 quarterback hurry) got Green for a 1-yard loss on the next play.
And cornerback Mansoor Delane, who also intercepted a pass in the end zone from Green with Arkansas on LSU’s 9-yard line with 37 seconds left in the first half, broke up a Green pass on third down. On 4th-and-4 from the LSU 30, Scott Starzyk missed a 48-yard field goal off the right goal post with 5:08 to go.
Then Van Buren then did what Nussmeier usually couldn’t or didn’t want to do. On 2nd-and-16 after yet another offensive line false start, Van Victory scrambled for a 35-yard gain to the Arkansas 41-yard line. Then LSU’s running game did what it usually hadn’t done all year. It rushed six straight times for 31 yards to put a way game behind Caden Durham and Harlem Berry – hard yards up the middle to garner two first downs and run out the clock.
With 1:10 left on the Arkansas 10, Van Buren went into Victory Buren formation three straight times, and it was over. Durham led LSU with 65 yards rushing on 12 carries, including a 27-yard touchdown to get the Tigers within 14-7 in the second quarter. And Berry had 52 on 11 rushes.
“He started off a little slow, but he got going,” Wilson said of Van Buren, who finished 21-of-31 passing for 221 yards. He threw the game-winning, 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bauer Sharp on the run after a scramble for the 23-22 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Van Buren also rushed 10 times for 36 net yards.
“He got more comfortable,” Wilson said. “He began to take control of the game. I thought he played admirably.”
So did the rest of the team.
“I am so proud of this team and how they represented themselves and this university in a never-say-die spirit,” Wilson said. “They kept on fighting and punching. I am proud to be in this position to lead them to victory. We had what it takes to win this game.”
Near the end of Wilson’s postgame press conference, Durham had one more big play. He somehow got through a guarded, closed door to surprise Wilson in the press room.
“Congratulations, coach Wilson, on your first win in Tiger Stadium,” Durham said.
After, he explained how he got through security.
“I told them, please excuse me,” he said “I got something I want to say.”
Wilson, 1-1 as LSU’s interim coach, has two more games to continue making his and his team’s statement. The odds of him getting the job are extremely slim, but Wilson has convinced his players he is ready.
“To me,” LSU defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory said, “you can’t even tell he’s an interim coach. Coach Wilson has the mindset already.”
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