No. 9 Texas football falls short against No. 6 LSU, 45-38

By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer

AUSTIN, Texas — Saturday’s battle at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium between No. 9 Texas and sixth-ranked LSU could have been a heavyweight prizefight based on all the haymakers landed by the two teams and the times the Longhorns, especially, got up after being knocked down.

In the end, it was the Tigers who landed the most, and most meaningful punches, as quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 471 yards and four touchdowns, three of them to Justin Jefferson, and LSU outlasted the Longhorns, 45-38, before a raucous crowd of 98,763.

The[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] Tigers (2-0) led early thanks to two massive goal-line stands, then rode the hot hand of Burrow in the second half to win a contest that more than lived up its pregame hype. It was the first game in Austin between non-conference teams ranked in the top 10 since 2006, when No. 1 Ohio State defeated No. 2 Texas.

“They settled in a little bit on some of our pressures,” Texas coach Tom Herman said of the proficiency of the LSU offense. “We tried to counter with some different pressures. They did a good job of picking them up. We’ve got to figure out where our weaknesses are, continue to develop (a solution to) those weaknesses.”

Burrow hit on 31 of his 39 passes while three receivers had more than 100 receiving yards: Jefferson (163), J’Marr Chase (148) and Terrace Marshall Jr. (123).

Sam Ehlinger passed for 401 yards and four touchdowns for Texas (1-1) in the loss with Devin Duvernay hauling in 12 throws for a career-high 154 yards and two of the scores.

“We have to start faster,” Ehlinger said. “We responded well. If there is anything positive to take out of a loss, it’s that we played well on the back side. They are a good team, and we came out in the second half and kept fighting.”

The Tigers struck first, marching 71 yards in 11 plays to a 36-yard field goal by Cade York with 8:04 to play in the first quarter.

The Tigers denied Texas on fourth down from the LSU 2-yard line twice in the final five minutes of the first quarter, with UT running back Keaontay Ingram dropping a wide-open would-be touchdown pass on the first, and Ehlinger being denied on a power run from the 1 on the second.

“We scored 38 points and had 530 yards of offense, so I don’t think there was any emotional letdown from our offense,” Herman said about his team’s psyche.

Texas jumped to a 7-3 lead five minutes into the second quarter when Ehlinger hummed a pass to Brennan Eagles for a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown. LSU CB Kristian Fulton went for an interception on the play but the pass was a bullet and got through his hands before being snagged by Eagles, who sprinted clear down the sidelines for the score.

LSU responded with an eight-play, 75-yard drive to a 6-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to Jefferson with 7:30 to play in the second.

After stopping Texas in the two-minute offense at the end of the first half, LSU needed just three plays and 26 seconds to hit paydirt again. Burrow rifled a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson with 47 seconds to play in the second quarter to grant the Tigers a 20-7 cushion at intermission.

“We felt the we could create some mismatches and we could create some one-on-ones,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said after the slugfest. “When they had zone coverage, there was a bunch of holes there, and when you blitz, there’s going to be some holes. We didn’t protect much, but when we did there was some room for plays.”

Texas used 19 plays to move 86 yards on its first possession of the second half to a 2-yard Ehlinger keeper that cut the LSU lead to 20-14. The Tigers responded with a 40-yard field goal from York on the ensuing possession to make it 23-14.

Ehlinger answered as well, as he fit a pass into the smallest of windows to freshman Jake Smith for a 20-yard touchdown that cut the LSU lead to 23-21 with 2:36 to play in the third quarter.

Terrace Marshall Jr. hauled in a 20-yard scoring pass from Burrow on the first play of the fourth quarter to give the Tigers a little more breathing room.

“It’s disappointing that we gave up so many yards and so many big plays, but we know that everything that happened tonight is fixable,” Texas safety Brandon Jones said. “We have to open our eyes and know we are going to get everyone’s best shot. I can tell everyone has a bad taste in their mouth and we will bounce back because we don’t like that.”

But that didn’t last long, as Ehlinger hit Devin Duvernay on a short pass on fourth down that turned into a 44-yard touchdown that brought the Longhorns back to within 30-28. It was a desperation play for Texas that hit the jackpot due to perfect execution by quarterback and slot receiver.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s 12-yard scoring run stretched LSU’s advantage to 37-28. UT’s Cameron Dicker’s 47-yard field goal with 3:59 to play cut the lead to 37-31.

Burrow and Jefferson then finished off Texas with a 61-yard touchdown pass with 2:27 remaining. Ehlinger hit Duvernay with a 15-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left, but it was too little, too late.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” Herman said about the way his team stayed in the chase. “We knew that the first half was not indicative of how well we could play. Our guys responded to the occasion. Our whole mantra in this game was to play to empty the chamber, play to win, and we weren’t going to back away.

“Obviously, it hurts (to lose) – it hurts a lot. But they all realize that all of our long-term goals are still out there.”

Next up for the Longhorns is a trip to Houston to play winless Rice Saturday at NRG Stadium.
[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [habeabk] [/s2If]