With one play and a single flick of the wrist, Texas potentially secured a spot in the College Football Playoff while killing LSU's postseason dreams.
Trailing No. 22 LSU on the road by five, 21-16, and facing a second-and-goal from the Tigers' 4-yard line with six seconds remaining, Arch Manning found an outbreaking Raleek Brown for a 4-yard touchdown pass with two seconds left to give the No. 8 Longhorns a dramatic 22-21 victory on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
ARCH MANNING WITH ICE IN HIS VEINS 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/xNAHAs4brZ
— College Football Report (@CFBReport) November 15, 2026
It marked the final play of a 12-play, 58-yard drive that helped coach Steve Sarkisian's team earn a win in a game in which they trailed by 11 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
For Manning, who was born and raised in nearby New Orleans, it offered a measure of redemption in what had been a difficult homecoming for much of the night. Even with the late touchdown pass, Manning threw three interceptions, completed only 54.3% of his passes and averaged just five yards per attempt.
On the game-winning drive, though, Manning locked in, completing six of seven passes for 61 yards. Then there was what he did with his legs, like a three-yard rush on a third-and-2 with 39 seconds remaining and a seven-yard run on third-and-5 that got the Longhorns down to the LSU 4 with nine seconds left to play.
While the winning throw to Brown only traveled forward one yard, it was exceptionally well-executed. Manning threw from the right hash to Brown on the numbers on the opposite side of the field. Not only did the pass have to travel a good distance, but he was able to hit Brown in stride and get the ball out ahead of him to allow him to bolt into the end zone. Had the ball been thrown slightly behind him, it would have slowed Brown's momentum, likely him to be tackled short of the goal line and, with Texas out of timeouts, almost certainly end the game.
Absolutely perfect throw from Arch pic.twitter.com/HCtIpOe24K
— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) November 15, 2026
With the win, Texas avoided a third loss that could have potentially knocked it from playoff contention. The Longhorns still have regular-season games remaining against Arkansas and Texas A&M, but they'll be sizable favorites in both, as the Razorbacks and Aggies are a combined 3-11 in the SEC this season.
LSU, meanwhile, fell to 6-4 in its first season under Lane Kiffin. The Tigers, who entered the season at No. 13 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, are 3-4 this season against teams that were ranked at the time of the matchup. Three of those four losses were decided by a combined 10 points.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arch Manning had 3 INTs vs LSU. His last-second TD lifted Longhorns to a road win
