No. 6 Texas 22, No. 21 LSU 21: Arch Manning Pass to Raleek Brown Secures Win

The No. 6 Texas Longhorns secured a 22-21 victory over the No. 21 LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge on a four-yard touchdown pass from Arch Manning to Raleek Brown with four seconds remaining in the game.

The instantly-iconic win secured a fast-track to the College Football Playoff with two games remaining, keeping all the team’s goals alive for the year after going into one of the toughest environments in the country.

Following a performance on the road a week prior where the Longhorns decisively defeated a top-25 opponent, Texas executed a 12-play, 58-yard drive that consumed nearly all remaining time on the game clock to secure the win.

The strange pacing of the final moments drew questions, and Raleek Brown crossing into the end zone for the decisive score brought a sense of relief, erasing memories of the 2019 Austin matchup when a crucial fourth-down touchdown pass slipped through a running back’s hands.

The offense served as the limiting factor throughout the contest. With quarterback Sam Leavitt and the Tigers attempting to hand the game to the Longhorns, Texas immediately returned the favor by following two separate LSU interceptions with picks of their own, both of which resulted in touchdowns for the opposition.

LSU scored 14 points off turnovers while Texas scored zero, though Will Muschamp’s defensive unit held more often than not and forced LSU to punt four times to close the game.

Operating behind the chains almost immediately upon taking possession, Texas endured a night where LSU halted 22 percent of their rushing attempts, sacked Manning four times, and maintained relentless pressure from the opening whistle.

Texas averaged 3.3 yards per carry and could not get the run game going alongside disruptive plays in the passing game. Steve Sarkisian seemed content to let Arch deal with a collapsing pocket on long-developing plays as the offense sputtered and flailed.

Pass protection consistently collapsed as interior linemen were forced backward on nearly every dropback, leaving Texas tackles to offer less resistance to Princewill Umanmielen than a stationary practice dummy. The Horns spent money this offseason to bolster the offensive line, but with two games left in the regular season, the performance highlighted ongoing personnel challenges following the loss of their first-round tackle for the year.