I’m running on fumes right now, because after watching the Texas stun LSU in the final seconds in Death Valley, I stayed up until 3 a.m. Eastern watching Utah and Arizona in a classic PAC-12 After Dark matchup. New conference, same type of game. Safe to say that I am hungover on college football, but these are the best kinds of hangovers.
I am still processing what exactly transpired down in the bayou of Louisiana on Saturday night, but all that
matters is that Texas emerged from the swamp with a win that represented yet another victory over a Top-25 opponent. Their chances of making the college football playoff are trending strongly with only two games to play. They still need to take care of business, but they are in as favorable of a spot as you can be at this point.
Lets hash out the good, the bad, and the dreadful of Saturday’s winner over the Bayou Bengals.
The Texas offense was awful, but ultimately found a way in the end
LSU was cooked by alignment on the game-winning touchdown pass to Raleek Brown. Not sure if the linebacker just froze or was tunneling something else, but the moment Brown sprinted out wide and nobody trailed him they were absolutely cooked. It just came down to Arch Manning putting the ball on him.
A clutch play on a clutch drive by an offense that played losing football as a whole for majority of the night. I commend them for executing and getting it done on the final drive of the game (LSU’s special teams gave them an assist with poor punting), but they had terrible efficiency throughout most of the ball game.
The Texas offense had three to four drives where they looked functional, but they once again had long stretches of poor play that was exacerbated by three poor turnovers from Manning. Two of those turnovers came right after your defense forced turnovers of Sam Leavitt.
We knew that LSU’s defense was good and that the Texas offense would have a tough time in this one, but man they truly got away with probably their worst offensive performance of year and it happened on the road in Death Valley of all places. Tyey were only able to muster 273 yards of total offense with Manning going 19-of-35 passing for 174 yards (one TD, three INTs) while also being the team’s leading rusher with 35 yards on 12 carries. Whooooooof.
Manning was sacked four times and LSU notched eight tackles for a loss on top of that. I truly don’t know how the Texas offense managed to clutch up at the end, but here we are.
Lane Kiffin’s expression at the end of regulation said it all:
Sidenote before moving on: I want to see more Jermaine Bishop Jr.
If Cam Coleman is going to continue to be a shell of himself out there, then keep expanding this kid’s role in the offense.
Jelani McDonald earned himself multiple game balls
Have a damn night, 4!
Not just one…
Not just two…
THREE. The hat trick.
McDonald was already playing at a really high level this year, but getting three interceptions in this game with so many eyes on it was absolutely next level. McDonald coming back has made himself a lot of money and he will be worth every penny if someone grabs him on the first day of the draft.
McDonald does so much for this defense, and much like Rasheem Biles, he been a difference maker.
The Texas defense struggled on money downs against LSU’s offense
This was the first drive of the game for LSU, but it quickly turned into a trend on money downs for a long stretch of this game. Jackson Harris became a go-to target for Leavitt, and to his credit, Harris gave the Texas secondary a fair amount problems on gotta-have-it situations. Harris finished with eight catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns, but it felt like every catch he made was a chain mover or a touchdown.
Heading into the fourth quarter of the game, LSU’s offense was 6-of-9 on third downs and 2-of-2 on fourth downs. They were absolutely cooking the Texas defense in those situations, but then the fourth quarter happened and it was like the light bulb went off for Will Muschamp and his defense.
Despite LSU’s offensive success for three quarters, they were shut out in the final frame and the Texas defense forced multiple punts that ultimately setup the offense to be able to complete the heroic last-second comeback.
The Texas defense wasn’t their usual dominant selves, but forcing multiple turnovers and bowing their necks in the fourth proved crucial in the grand scheme of the game.
Also, it felt good to see a rep like this from Colin Simmons against another future first rounder in Jordan Seaton:
With each week you can tell he is starting to feel more like himself. Hopefully he doesn’t need a heavy workload next week against Arkansas.
The Texas special teams were not the weak link!
Everyone knows by now that the Texas special teams unit has more or less stunk it up this year, but on Saturday night in Baton Rouge they held the advantage over their opponent.
LSU may have very well cost themselves the game when they drove down the field late in the first half only to have their field goal kicker push his kick wide right from a very makeable distance.
Think they would have loved to have those three points this morning in Baton Rouge?
Meanwhile on the Texas side of things, Gianni Spetic was clutch as usual, going 3-of-3 on field goals, including one from 50 yards out.
Punting was an even bigger issue for LSU. Grant Chadwick had four punts on the night and at least two of them to my memory were shanks, including the last one that set up Texas with a short field that ultimately cost them the ball game.
Meanwhile, Mac Chiumento (yes, that Mac Chiumento) downed two punts inside the LSU 20-yard line and had a long of 47 yards. He wasn’t a liability or the worst punter on the field on Saturday. Baby steps, I suppose.
Another gritty, fourth quarter comeback for this team
On one hand, this team has gritted their way to two late fourth quarter comebacks against two Top-25 opponents. On the other hand, the offense was absolutely frustrating and inconsistent at best in both of those matchups. Against Ohio State, I gave Manning a C-level grade despite the late game theatrics and against LSU he probably was a D-level grade at best and that is probably being generous to be honest.
In both games though, this team found a way to win. They played just enough complementary football to put themselves in a position to drive down the field late, and on both occasions they finished the job in heroic fashion. That absolutely counts for something that won’t show up in the box score.
I honestly don’t know what the ceiling is for this team as we inch closer to the end of the regular season, but unless things go absolutely sideways in the final two weeks they are in prime position to make the playoff again under Steve Sarkisian.
Also, this is a hell of a stat when it comes to Death Valley:
Find a way to win is the mantra. And that’s exactly what this team did in Baton Rouge on Saturday.
Texas has been owed that one over LSU since 2019. I would hate to have to wake up in Louisiana as an LSU fan on Sunday morning. With their playoff hopes up in smoke, that team is officially on quit watch over the next two weeks.
Texas is 8-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play. They have two rivals in Arkansas and Texas A&M over the next couple of weeks, so you still have to stay engaged mentally and still have a shot to get to 10 wins. Stay the course and stay healthy.
The 24-hour rule is officially in effect. See you guys next week to talk about them pesky Razorbacks.
