Arch Manning on Texas eliminating LSU from CFP race: 'We talked about the chance to end someone else's dream'

The Longhorns' star quarterback led a comeback for the ages in the final quarter in Baton Rouge

Nov 15, 2026 at 9:32 am ET • 2 min read

With a moment for the ages inside Tiger Stadium, Texas quarterback Arch Manning delivered late-game heroics that will never be forgotten in Longhorns football lore.

Manning's 4-yard touchdown pass to Raleek Brown on a dart to the boundary with three seconds left lifted sixth-ranked Texas to a 22-21 win over No. 21 LSU, nullifying Lane Kiffin and the Tigers' shot at reaching the College Football Playoff this season.

After trailing 21-10 midway through the third quarter, the Longhorns scored 12 unanswered points the rest of the way to push closer to a first-round home game or potential top-four seed in the CFP.

"We talked about having the chance to end someone else's dream, and I like to focus on us, but it kind of feels good at times," Manning said after his fifth win this season over an opponent currently ranked in the CFP's top 25.

Manning executed to near-perfection in the final moments, overcoming a three-interception outing with a couple of critical third-down conversions after Texas started its game-winning possession on its own 42-yard line trailing by five points with 2:19 left.

"It means the world," Manning said. "I was pointing out to some of my teammates where I sat at these games growing up. So, just coming back home, getting it done in the last few seconds, it's a memory I'll have for the rest of my life."

It marked a homecoming of sorts for Manning in Louisiana, who played prep football at Isidore Newman in New Orleans as the nation's No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle. TV cameras showed Manning trot over to his father, Cooper, after the game, where the first row of seats begins just beyond the end zone, and share a quick embrace.

"It hadn't been great all night; I figured it was time to get it done," Manning said. "I grew up around a lot of LSU fans. So, it's going to feel good to come back for Mardi Gras, or come back whenever I come home (to New Orleans), and not have them talk a bunch of crap."

Kiffin laments disappointing first season

At 6-4 overall and likely outside of CFP's third rankings on Tuesday night after another loss, LSU's path to an at-large appearance in the 12-team bracket is squashed.

Despite spending more money than any program nationally on transfer portal acquisitions with the nation's top-rated class, the Tigers have largely failed to deliver during the season's most important spots. LSU doesn't have a ranked win and now needs to win out just to get one of the SEC's upper-tier bowl destinations.

Not that any of the postseason discussion matters without a CFP berth.

"I get it," Kiffin said after the game. "Underperformance doesn't matter if the game's been close or they go down to the last, whatever, six seconds. We were brought here to win, and we need to win more than that. Now, also, everything isn't built for the first year when you come in somewhere, and I would tell you that if we were undefeated right now. You build things, and they take a little bit of time."

Kiffin said he wasn't "overreacting" to LSU's fourth loss and understands his program was on the brink this fall despite execution failures.

"I'm concerned that we lost. I'm not concerned about the future," Kiffin said. "I said it weeks before when we were winning, that we'll have better rosters. And that's no poor reflection upon these players. We just will. We will have been here. We'll have built depth. We won't have senior days with two scholarship players."