TLDR
Texas beat LSU 22-21 at Tiger Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 14. Arch Manning hit Raleek Brown for a 4-yard touchdown with 3 seconds left.
The Longhorns trailed 21-10 in the third quarter and scored the last 12 points.
Texas is 8-2 (5-2 SEC) with five wins over ranked teams this season, the most in the country.
National projections now have Texas in the 12-team College Football Playoff with a first-round home game.
Two games remain: Arkansas in Austin on Nov. 21 and at Texas A&M on Nov. 27.
The game-winning drive
Texas took over at its own 42-yard line with 2:19 left, trailing 21-16. Manning completed six of eight passes for 51 yards and ran for 10 more on a 12-play, 58-yard drive, according to Texas Athletics.
On the final play, Brown went in motion, reversed direction and caught a short pass ahead of LSU linebacker Davhon Keys. Texas did not attempt an extra point.
How Texas got there
First quarter: Manning ran in from 1 yard to finish an 11-play, 75-yard opening drive. LSU tied it on a 10-yard pass from Sam Leavitt to Jackson Harris.
Second quarter: Leavitt and Harris connected again from 9 yards. Gianni Spetic's 42-yard field goal made it 14-10 at halftime.
Third quarter: Dilin Jones ran 44 yards to put LSU up 21-10. Spetic answered from 41 yards.
Fourth quarter: Spetic hit from 50 yards to make it 21-16. LSU punted on each of its last four possessions.
Manning finished with 174 passing yards and three interceptions. LSU scored 14 points off those turnovers.
Jelani McDonald's three interceptions
Safety Jelani McDonald intercepted three passes, including one in the end zone before halftime, and tied for the team lead with 11 tackles. He is the first Longhorn with three interceptions in a game since 1997.
What it means for the playoff
Texas was No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings entering the game. The next rankings come out Tuesday, Nov. 17.
CBS Sports projects Texas as the No. 5 seed, hosting Boise State in the first round.
Bleacher Report projects Texas as the No. 6 seed, hosting Texas Tech.
The Austin American-Statesman wrote that the win "likely ensures" a playoff berth.
Seeds 5 through 8 host first-round games on campus, so either projection would bring a playoff game to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Nothing is clinched. Texas lost to unranked Oklahoma and Florida in October and still has two rivalry games to play.
LSU fell to 6-4 (3-4 SEC). CBS Sports described the Tigers' playoff path as effectively closed.
Ranked wins in 2026
Texas has five wins over teams in the most recent CFP Top 25, which leads the nation, per Texas Athletics. Rankings below are from the time of each game.
No. 1 Ohio State, 24-23, after trailing by 20 in the second half
No. 14 Tennessee, 20-17, on the road
No. 7 Ole Miss
No. 18 Missouri, 34-20, on the road
No. 21 LSU, 22-21, on the road
Ranked wins under Steve Sarkisian
Sarkisian is in his sixth season at Texas. Sports Illustrated listed the program's Top 25 wins by year:
2023 (4): No. 3 Alabama, No. 24 Kansas, No. 23 Kansas State, No. 18 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 title game
2024 (6): No. 10 Michigan, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 25 Vanderbilt, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 12 Clemson and No. 4 Arizona State in the playoff
2025 (4): No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 9 Vanderbilt, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 18 Michigan in the Citrus Bowl
2026 (5 so far): Ohio State, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU
That is at least four ranked wins in four straight seasons. Texas has also won 15 of its last 16 November games under Sarkisian, dating to 2022.
What's next
Saturday, Nov. 21: Arkansas at DKR, 2:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 27: at Texas A&M, 6:30 p.m.
Follow @TexasFootball on X and @texasfootball on Instagram for highlights.
Sources
Header photo: Tiger Stadium during a 2012 night game. Photo by Getawaypaul27, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
