With Arkansas trailing by two points and threatening to score with about minute left at the LSU 34-yard line, the Tigers had every reason to panic or lose hope.

Instead, they did what they've done throughout a challenging season that has included three overtime games and three game changes because of hurricanes.

"I was saying, 'We've been here before. Don't put your head down, just fight through it,'" safety LaRon Landry said. "Why should you get nervous? Just make it happen. When you find yourself getting nervous, that's when bad things happen."

First, defensive end Melvin Oliver sacked Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick, giving the Tigers their fourth sack of the game and putting the Razorbacks in fourth-and-18 at the LSU 41. Then Landry intercepted Dick's pass at the LSU 7 with 57 seconds left, allowing the Tigers to hang on for a 19-17 victory.

With the victory, No. 3 LSU (10-1, 7-1) clinched the SEC West championship and a trip to the SEC championship game for the third time in the last five years.

The victory also emphasized LSU's best chance to beat No. 13 Georgia in Atlanta on Saturday. The Tigers turned the ball over three times, struggled to sustain their running game, dropped passes and allowed an 81-yard kickoff return against Arkansas, but the defense came up with the plays that needed to be made with the game on the line.

"We didn't play perfectly," first-year LSU coach Les Miles said. "We didn't play perfectly on offense. We didn't play perfectly on special teams. We played well on defense."

Miles expects more of the same from LSU when the Tigers take on Georgia.

"I expect it to be tremendously competitive," Miles said. "I've seen some of the Georgia film -- not that I've studied them in any way -- but as we looked at their offense and defense vs. our opponents. I thought Arkansas played this team, the Georgia team, extremely well.

"We're expecting a great game, but we're expecting a great effort. We expect that we'll play better."

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