The Texas Longhorns triumphed in an exciting, last-second 22-21 victory over the LSU Tigers on Saturday, thanks to a heroic effort by QB Arch Manning and some typical breaking down of the LSU defense. But if you did not watch the contest in full, do not let the thrilling end fool you: This was some of the year's dumbest football, authored by two of our dumbest college football programs.
Let's start with the six interceptions total in this game: three for each, which is nice and neat. At first, it was LSU's Sam Leavitt throwing most of the picks, two in the first half, which makes it particularly strange that LSU was leading for the majority of this game. They were helped by the fact that Manning tossed two picks in the second half, to add to one he threw in the second quarter, and as a result the game was the Tigers' for the taking—21-10 late in the third, and still 21-16 when they punted with only 2:19 to go.
But if nothing else, Manning has shown an ability to get better when his back is against the wall. And if you're going to beat Texas, you have to stomp them out completely. Despite Manning's overall pedestrian performance, 174 yards on 19-of-35 passes, his night climaxed with the crucial touchdown. In the game's final two minutes, Manning led a 12-play, 58-yard drive down the field, culminating in a seven-yard run on third down at LSU's 11-yard-line and then a four-yard TD pass to RB Raleek Brown for the go-ahead score. Cue the Texas sideline going absolutely, understandably nuts.
But despite this good win for Texas and another bad loss for LSU and Lane Kiffin, watching this game absolutely convinced me that these are the exact same teams, with basically the same coach too. The Longhorns and the Tigers are two flawed squads that have no ability to do anything consistently well. The defenses are tough but not dominant. The coaching is almost comically underbaked, filled with poor game instincts. The quarterbacks aren't showing much development, and neither is their protection, as both were sacked at least three times. But QB is still the main difference between these teams—whatever you may think of Arch Manning, he is more polished and talented than Sam Leavitt. And in general, LSU is probably one more recruiting class (and an actual five-star QB) away from real competition.
But the thing that put Texas over the edge is the same flaw that has shown itself in every LSU loss this year: Lane Kiffin's aggressive playcalling can be used against him by the better teams in the sport. As long as your defense can bend without breaking, Kiffin will often eschew three points for going for it on fourth down and failing. Plus, Kiffin on the sideline looks like he's in hell every Saturday with how badly he wants everything to go well. Somehow, he makes Steve Sarkisian look like a patient, methodical playcaller by contrast. But hey, if given a choice, I'd rather Arch Manning be happy than Lane Kiffin. So let's just say the right team won and never talk about this game again.
