Jarvis Landry, No. 7 LSU hold off upstart Arkansas

• Play of the day was Landry's one-handed touchdown grab
• Tigers reach double-digit wins for the sixth time in eight seasons under Les Miles
• LSU needs Auburn to defeat Alabama on Saturday to reach SEC title game

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It was clearly not the game of the year, or even the weekend.

But Jarvis Landry may have made the catch of the year, and Odell Beckham Jr. turned in another late highlight to lead sluggish No. 7 LSU over upstart Arkansas, 20-13, in the regular season finale Friday before 71,117 at Razorback Stadium.

Late in the first half, LSU (10-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) led the four-win, two-touchdown underdog Razorbacks by just 3-0 on a career-long 49-yard field goal by Drew Alleman in the first quarter. Other than that, both teams resembled Thanksgiving guests who would not leave the table.

Then Landry twisted and jumped simultaneously to make a one-handed catch and stay in bounds deep in the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown and 10-0 lead with 1:12 to play before halftime to finish a 76-yard drive with a flourish.

"It's got to be No. 1 on ESPN's top 10 for sure," said LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger, who threw the ball accurately to Landry's outside shoulder. "If it's not, I'm going to write a letter to the people in Bristol."

Landry, who led LSU with eight catches for 75 yards, did not surprise his teammates, though.

"You guys don't get to watch practice. He makes a ridiculous catch like that every day at practice," said Mettenberger, who completed 16 of 29 passes for 217 yards.

"For us, it's like just another catch," center P.J. Lonergan said. "He does make some sick catches at practice."

Landry practices one-handed catches, but only one hand was available on this one. He was not showing off.

"That was just a great athlete making a great play. I don't think we could ask our guy to cover it much better than that," Arkansas coach John L. Smith said.

"It was high and behind me," Landry said. "I couldn't extend with two hands. I just went up and got it. Zach really threw it perfectly. We practice that play. I felt that the way he threw it helped keep me in bounds. If he had led me more, I would've been out."

Arkansas, which finished one of its most disappointing seasons in history at 4-8 and 2-6 in the SEC following a No. 7 preseason ranking, did not fold in the second half, though. The Hogs drove to a 25-yard field goal by John Henson on their first possession of the second half to cut LSU's lead to 10-3 with 10:32 to play in the third quarter.

LSU's Michael Ford criss-crossed the field to return the ensuing kickoff 86 yards to the Arkansas 14, and tailback Jeremy Hill scored from a yard out three plays later for a 17-3 lead with 9:03 to go in the third period.

Again, though, Arkansas would not succumb as it drove 74 yards in seven plays to get within 17-10 on a 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyler Wilson to Mekale McKay at the 5:52 mark. The Hogs, who outgained LSU 462 yard to 306 as Wilson hit 31 of 52 for 359 yards, cut it to 17-13 with 12:17 left on a 17-yard field goal by Henson. Arkansas had reached a second-and-goal at the 1-yard line, but Smith opted for the field goal after an incomplete pass and a rush for no gain.

"I think you have to score twice to win it," Smith said. "You have to take the sure points, and then come back and score again anyway."

After neither team could sustain a drive, LSU took over on its 12 with 5:27 to play and needed to take some time off the clock. After two first downs got the Tigers to their 36-yard line, LSU faced a third and 10 with 2:34 to go.

Instead of running and punting, Mettenberger threw a short sideline out to Beckham, who appeared about to be tackled by cornerback Will Hines. Beckham stretched away from him and lunged for the first down, but he kept his feet and got away. Then he sprinted for a 47-yard gain to the Arkansas 17. Three plays and three Arkansas timeouts later, Alleman booted a 27-yard field goal for a 20-13 lead with 1:26 to play.

"Odell made a huge play down there at the end that really sealed the game," Landry said.

"I was trying to break free because there was not a lot of people in front of me if I could get past him," said Beckham, who broke an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter last week to tie Ole Miss 35-35 before the Tigers went on to win 41-35.

"I ended up breaking away and staying in bounds," he said. "We had been struggling on offense all day, and that kind of felt like it put a dent in their armor really."

Arkansas actually was not dead yet. Wilson completed four short-to-medium-range passes to get the Hogs to the LSU 46 in the final minute. Then he found wide receiver Julian Horton for a 28-yard gain to the LSU 18 in the final seconds. But his last two passes fell incomplete as time expired.

"Had we tackled a little better, we could've separated ourselves a little bit more from our opponent," LSU coach Les Miles said. "We get to the back end of a game, we know how to play it."

The Tigers netted just 89 yards rushing on 38 carries as Hill finished with 77 yards on 18 rushes.

"We took away the run and forced them to have to throw," Smith said. "We battled the entire game. We had an opportunity to win this football game. We had an opportunity. We just had to make a big play. They made the big plays. They have some tremendous athletes. That seemed to be it."

Arkansas almost made a major play when defensive end Trey Flowers sacked Mettenberger, forced a fumble and recovered it inside the LSU 25 at the 11-minute mark of the fourth quarter with the Tigers clinging to a 17-13 lead. But the play was nullified as LSU wide receiver Kadron Boone was guilty of a false start before the snap, meaning there was no play.

LSU had two more big plays than Arkansas, thanks to Landry and Beckham.

"We didn't have a lot of yards," Miles said, "but we scored just enough."

Glenn Guilbeau writes for Gannett Louisiana.