BATON ROUGE — Hitch your wagon to a true freshman quarterback and you’ve got to live with the results.

Just ask LSU.

Garrett Nussmeier did some good and bad things Saturday night in the first extended playing time of his career.

But when the game extended to overtime, his worst pass of the game was easily intercepted by Arkansas’ Montaric Brown and the Razorbacks had only to play it safe for Cam Little’s 37-yard field goal to escape Tiger Stadium with a 16-13 win, their first victory over LSU in six years.

“I feel bad for these kids, I really do,” LSU head coach Ed Orgeron said. “Two weeks in a row. Wish we would’ve put them in a better position to win.”

LSU (4-6, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) will have to win its final two games next week against Louisiana-Monroe and the finale here against Texas A&M to become bowl eligible.

It was LSU’s first overtime game since the infamous seven-OT affair at Texas A&M in 2018 led the NCAA to make changes in the format.

This one was basically over when Nussmeier lofted a pass in the general direction of Devonte Smith but right at Brown for the easy pick.

The Razorbacks (7-3, 3-3) needed only the field goal for the win.

“That was on me,” Nussmeier said. “I have to make the play and be smarter in overtime. I can’t turn the ball over. We kick a field goal, we keep playing. That is on me and I’ll take it any day of the week.”

Otherwise the two might still be playing as offense seemed to be an afterthought.

“It was ugly, beautiful and all in between …” said Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman. “When that ball went through the uprights i t was one of the prettiest things I have ever seen.”

LSU, which squandered several scoring opportunities in the first half, managed 308 yards. The Razorbacks had 283.

Orgeron said Nussmeier ran the play that was called on the decisive pick.

“We’ve got to call better plays,” Orgeron admitted. “We’ve gotta do better things. It’s obvious.”

Sophomore Max Johnson started at quarterback, although Orgeron had said all week that the two would share time in the game.

Instead, after LSU opened with a pair of three-and-outs under Johnson, the game was turned over to the true freshman for the duration and overtime.

“We were going to roll with Garrett,” Orgeron said. “We felt like we wanted to give Garrett a shot and made some big plays. But I didn’t want to go back when things went south.”

So LSU lived with the ups and downs of its true freshman.

There was the good, with perhaps a dash of luck, when he spun out of a sure sack and threw up a prayer that tight end Jack Beche caught on his tip toes for the Tigers’ lone touchdown, from 29 yards out.

Moments before the deciding interception he threaded the needle on a 24-yard completion to convert third-and-20.

But the following interception was his second of the game — the first, also forced into coverage, set up the Arkansas field goal that gave the Hogs a 13-10 lead in the third quarter.

He finished the night 18 of 31 for 179 yards passing and the two costly interceptions.

LSU’s defense had one real problem: corralling Arkansas’ shifty quarterback K.J. Jefferson, who hurt the Tigers more with his legs than his arm to generate what little offense the Razorbacks mustered.

Even with 22 yards in the Tigers’ three sacks, he led the Hogs with 41 yards rushing.

Jefferson, in fact, gave LSU flashbacks of the Auburn loss and its escape-artist quarterback Patrick Nix from a loss earlier in the season.

LSU’s defense totally stuffed Arkansas in the first half after the Hogs’ opening field goal drive.

But Jefferson’s scrambling kept several key plays alive as the Razorbacks took a 13-10 lead in the third quarter, including the Hogs lone touchdown when he made several miraculous escapes before finding Dominique Johnson 20 yards behind the LSU defense for an easy 43-yard scoring catch.

“We missed some plays tonight, but overall I think the defense has been playing lights out,” Orgeron said.