Arch Manning Hits Raleek Brown With 2 Seconds Left as No. 8 Texas Edges No. 24 LSU 22-21

Two seconds. That was all the time left on the Tiger Stadium clock when Arch Manning found Raleek Brown for a 4-yard touchdown, and it was enough. Texas went 58 yards in 12 plays over the final 2:16, survived a sack, a fumble ruling that was overturned on replay and a failed two-point try, and beat LSU 22-21 on Saturday night in Baton Rouge.

The No. 8 Longhorns trailed 21-10 midway through the third quarter and never led until the final play from scrimmage. They got there with three Gianni Spetic field goals, three interceptions from safety Jelani McDonald and one last drive from a quarterback who had already thrown three picks of his own. Texas improved to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the SEC. No. 24 LSU fell to 6-4 and 3-4 in league play and has now lost two straight.

It was the first meeting between the programs in Tiger Stadium since 1953 and the first anywhere since LSU's 45-38 win in Austin in 2019, according to LSU Athletics. It was also LSU's home finale and Senior Tribute night. Texas arrived after a bumpy travel day, one of several programs caught in the FAA's nationwide ground stop on Friday.

A shootout that never came

Texas scored first. Manning capped an 11-play, 75-yard opening drive with a 1-yard keeper at 10:31 of the first quarter, and Spetic made it 7-0. LSU answered with a 13-play, 75-yard march of its own, and Sam Leavitt hit Jackson Harris from 10 yards out to tie it at 5:16.

The second quarter turned on a turnover. Ty Benefield intercepted Manning and returned it 31 yards to the Texas 7, and two plays later Leavitt found Harris again from 9 yards for a 14-7 LSU lead at 9:17. Texas responded with a 12-play, 50-yard drive that ate 5:55, but it stalled and Spetic settled for a 42-yard field goal at 3:22.

McDonald kept the deficit at four. He intercepted Leavitt twice in the first half, including one in the end zone after LSU had moved to the Texas 12. LSU had one more look before the break, but Sam Starzyk's 38-yard field goal try missed with 3 seconds left. The Tigers went into halftime up 14-10 despite outgaining Texas 206 to 144 and converting only two of four red zone trips.

LSU lands the punch

The third quarter belonged to Dilin Jones for one play. Jones broke free and went 44 yards for a touchdown at 5:52, finishing a seven-play, 72-yard drive that lasted 2:58. Starzyk's kick made it 21-10, the biggest lead either team held all night.

Texas did not panic, but it did not find the end zone either. The Longhorns moved 48 yards in eight plays and Spetic hit from 41 at 1:35 to cut it to 21-13. Early in the fourth, a six-play, 21-yard drive set up Spetic's 50-yard kick at 11:37, the longest field goal of the night, and it was a five-point game.

From there, the Texas defense took over. LSU did not score on any of its possessions after the Jones run. McDonald picked off Leavitt a third time, and Rasheem Biles, Justin Cryer and Bo Mascoe each recorded a sack. LSU had its own big moment when DJ Pickett, who had earlier been flagged for pass interference, intercepted Manning. But the Tigers could not turn it into points, and that left the door open.

The final drive

Texas took over at its own 42 with 2:16 left. Jordan Ross sacked Manning for a 6-yard loss at 1:05, and for a moment the drive looked finished. Manning kept going to Ryan Wingo instead. Wingo caught passes of 13 and 19 yards, the second one reaching the LSU 16, then added two more short catches.

The play that nearly ended it came on a 5-yard Wingo catch to the LSU 11. Officials initially ruled a fumble, forced by Pickett and recovered by linebacker Davhon Keys. Replay showed Wingo was down by contact, and Texas kept the ball. Manning then ran 7 yards to the LSU 4 with 9 seconds left. A first-down throw for Jermaine Bishop Jr. fell incomplete. On second-and-goal, Manning hit Brown for the touchdown with 2 seconds on the clock.

The two-point try failed, which left LSU one possession of almost no time to answer. It did not come. That missed conversion is why the final reads 22-21 and not 24-21, and it is also why the Starzyk miss before halftime will sting in Baton Rouge for a while.

Standouts

McDonald was the best player on the field. He finished with 11 tackles to go with his three interceptions, and the end zone pick in the first half took at least three points off the board. Biles added 11 tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. Colin Simmons made eight stops and Cryer had seven with a sack and two tackles for loss.

Manning's line was messy: 19 of 35 for 174 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, plus 35 rushing yards and a score on 12 carries. He still made the throws when they mattered. Wingo led Texas with six catches for 68 yards, most of them on the final drive. Brown ran 15 times for 35 yards and caught four passes for 8 yards, the last of them the winner. Bishop had three catches for 41 yards, including a 32-yarder, and Emmett Mosley V caught four for 37.

For LSU, Jones ran 19 times for 125 yards and the touchdown. Leavitt completed 27 of 37 passes for 244 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Harris caught eight passes for 64 yards and both scores, Eugene Wilson III had seven grabs for a game-high 96 yards and Trey'Dez Green added five for 49. Keys led the Tigers with 10 tackles. Benefield had two interceptions, and Princewill Umanmielen and Ross each sacked Manning once.

By the numbers

The ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) shows how even this was. LSU outgained Texas 366 to 273, with 122 rushing yards and 244 passing yards. Texas ran 32 times for 99 yards and threw for 174. Each team turned it over three times, all on interceptions.

Texas won the first-down battle 20-19 and went 7 of 17 on third down and 1 for 1 on fourth down. LSU converted 7 of 14 third downs and both of its fourth-down tries. Possession was nearly a coin flip, 30:22 for LSU and 29:38 for Texas.

The biggest gap was in penalties. LSU was flagged 11 times for 93 yards, while Texas was flagged five times for 50. In a one-point game, that is a lot of free yardage.

The full sequence of the last drive is in the ESPN play-by-play (opens in a new tab).

What it means

For Texas, this is a résumé win on the road a week after the Longhorns scored 21 unanswered points to beat Missouri 34-20. Texas came in at No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings and No. 8 in the AP poll, and two straight SEC road wins keep the Longhorns in the Playoff conversation with two regular season games left. Texas hosts Arkansas on Nov. 21 at 2:30 p.m. Central and closes the regular season at Texas A&M on Nov. 27.

LSU is in a tougher spot. The Tigers were No. 21 in the CFP rankings, and back-to-back losses, following a 31-13 home loss to Alabama last week, leave them at 6-4 with a hard November still ahead. LSU's own preview noted the Tigers were facing three straight Top 10 opponents in November for the first time in program history. Lane Kiffin's team plays at Tennessee on Nov. 21 at 2:30 p.m. Central, then at Arkansas on Nov. 28.

Closing take

LSU did most of what it needed to do. It ran the ball, protected a lead for most of the second half and forced three turnovers against one of the best quarterbacks in the country. It also missed a 38-yard field goal before halftime, piled up 93 penalty yards and threw three interceptions to the same safety.

Texas did not play its cleanest game either. But McDonald kept the Longhorns close, Spetic kept them in range, and Manning, after a rough night, delivered the drive that counted. Close games in November tend to come down to a handful of plays, and Texas made the last one.

Sources: ESPN box score, play-by-play, team stats and game highlights; LSU Athletics (lsusports.net) preview and schedule; Texas Athletics (texaslonghorns.com) schedule.

Photo: Texas Athletics (file photo from Oct. 24, 2026, vs. Ole Miss).