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BATON ROUGE, La. – If it was easy, it wouldn't be the 2026 Texas Longhorns.
And yet they live.
As Raheem Biles and Kobe Black sprinted through a sea of burnt orange celebrants in the end zone, America received a stern message: The Longhorns are far from perfect, but they're one of the toughest outs in the sport.
Arch Manning and this offense was more famine than feast for most of Saturday night, but QB1 walked out of Death Valley with the big piece of chicken after connecting with Raleek Brown on the most gigantic touchdown of his football life.
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No. 6 Texas' 22-21 win was the biggest of the Manning-Steve Sarkisian partnership and all but secured a playoff spot after a one-year absence. No team in the country besides Texas can say it's 5-0 against ranked teams. This wasn't a "résumé builder." At 8-2 overall and 5-2 in SEC play, Texas is well past résumé-scouring. The Longhorns are back in the CFP thanks to guts, guile and toughness.
"We needed to be special in special situations," Sarkisisan said. "I'm proud that they won the game as a team."
Manning and his LSU counterpart Sam Leavitt each served up three interceptions, but Manning – back in his home state for the first time since playing as Quinn Ewers' backup in the Sugar Bowl – was a testament to figuring out how to get it done. Uncle Peyton, who delivered a few signature moments of his own in his Hall of Fame career, was spotted going nuts with his nephew's center Connor Robertson.
Arch said in a few years, people will remember that the Horns won the game.
"Maybe they will forget about the three picks," he said.
Manning is far from perfect, but the bounce-back in his chest was evident. Resilience is the ultimate trait for a competitor. The numbers (19 of 35 for 174 yards and one massive touchdown) weren't otherworldly, but winning is the name of the game.
Another big road win for Texas
The Horns have won some big road games during Sark's tenure – Alabama in 2023 and Michigan in 2024 come to mind – but this one may rank at the top.
"This win was important for this team because we stubbed our toe in back-to-back losses (earlier this season) and games we truly believe we should have won," Sarkisian said.
Kudos to this defense and three-pick man Jelani McDonald for keeping the Longhorns within striking distance while the offense was struggling after that 75-yard scoring drive to the start the game. They shut the Tigers down in the fourth quarter and gave Manning a chance to make magic.
"When it's called upon us to get a stop, we've got to go out there and do what we've got to do," UT linebacker Justin Cryer said.
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Credit Gianni Spetic for booting three long-distance field goals before 102,321 Cajuns who were hell-bent on sending the Horns back to Texas with a loss. Somehow, Texas became only the third team in 30 games to beat LSU on a Saturday Night in Death Valley.
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The Horns will be heavily favored at home against Arkansas and at Texas A&M the day after Thanksgiving, but history tells us nothing in the SEC is a given; except that these Longhorns are never out of a game until it's over.
This article originally published at How the hell did the Texas Longhorns and Arch Manning win that? The hard way | Golden.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/hell-did-texas-longhorns-arch-064447682.html
