BATON ROUGE, La. — The Texas Longhorns found one final burst of energy on a night when almost nothing had gone Arch Manning’s way.
Saturday’s game at Tiger Stadium will stick with fans in Austin and Baton Rouge for a long time. What began as a celebration for LSU supporters ended in a crushing loss, leaving them to wonder how the Tigers let this one slip away.
The stakes were high for both teams. Texas needed a win to strengthen its postseason chances, while another loss would have effectively ended LSU’s already slim hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff.
Some LSU fans may have been wary of getting too excited. The final moments did little to ease those doubts about Lane Kiffin, whose teams have struggled to deliver in big games. Now, in his first season leading the Tigers, he has another painful result to explain.
Sam Leavitt had thrown three interceptions by the end of the third quarter, making LSU’s offense difficult to trust. Texas wasn’t much more reliable: Manning also threw three picks.
Still, LSU had invested more than $40 million in its roster, and the pressure on Kiffin and his staff was substantial. Neither team could afford a loss, though LSU had more to lose with three defeats already on its record.
As the evening wore on, the game grew increasingly chaotic. There were interceptions, special-teams mistakes and some questionable decisions on both sidelines.
Then, with a little more than two minutes left, Manning got the ball. The offenses had struggled for most of the night, but Texas has been hard to count out this season.
The Longhorns put together a 12-play, 58-yard drive, their last chance to pull off a dramatic win in Baton Rouge.
Manning found Raleek Brown on a swing pass that caught LSU’s defense off guard. Brown powered into the end zone, giving Texas a 22–21 victory and sending the Longhorns fans gathered in the south end of the stadium into a roar.
Texas’ defense had given the team one more opportunity, and Manning made the most of it. That doesn’t erase how rough the offense looked for much of the night, or the three interceptions he threw. But one remarkable drive changed the story.
After the game, Manning joined coach Steve Sarkisian for an ESPN interview. His mistakes will be part of the conversation, but the winning touchdown is likely to become a lasting moment in Texas football history.
As Sarkisian and Manning walked toward the Texas end zone to greet fans who had made the trip, Manning looked almost stunned by what had just happened. It wasn’t that he thought the comeback was impossible. So much had gone wrong before that final drive.
“Holy sh-t,” Manning said as he bent over during the celebration. “That was incredible.”
For LSU, the loss ends any realistic discussion of a playoff berth. A roster built at enormous expense will watch from home as other teams compete for a national title, a bitter outcome for fans who had believed in their coach’s assurances.
Four losses leave little room for excuses. Manning delivered the decisive blow in his home state just as it seemed Texas was finished.
After a game that was an offensive struggle for nearly four quarters, the finish was something else. Texas’ season continues, and its push toward the playoff may have been building for weeks.
But in Tiger Stadium, Manning and Sarkisian put together a drive that Texas fans are likely to remember for years. LSU brought out a side of Manning that hadn’t been on display before.
Texas could still be playing in late December. Kiffin, meanwhile, will have difficult questions to answer when the season is over.
