BATON ROUGE, La. -- Down five points with six seconds left, Texas quarterback Arch Manning motioned running back Raleek Brown out wide. By the time LSU linebacker Davhon Keys realized what was happening and sprinted out to cover Brown, it was too late. Manning quickly swung the pass to Brown, who caught it in stride and ran 4 yards into the end zone, untouched, to deliver the Longhorns a come-from-behind win 22-21 at Tiger Stadium.
Manning said he'll tell stories about Saturday's comeback years. It kept Texas' playoff hopes alive.
But it was a nightmare LSU would like to forget as soon as possible, as the Tigers suffered another late-game letdown a week after they squandered a lead over Alabama. Their latest loss drops them to 6-4, all but guaranteeing that the Tigers will be left out of the playoff.
LSU coach Lane Kiffin said there were plenty of opportunities to win the game. A missed field goal attempt and three interceptions, including two picks in the red zone, were ultimately his team's undoing.
The Tigers spent big this offseason, first firing coach Brian Kelly and taking on a $54 million buyout. Then, they hired Kiffin away from Ole Miss, signing him to a seven-year, $91 million deal. And then they gave Kiffin a large, high-priced transfer class that included star signees such as quarterback Sam Leavitt, left tackle Jordan Seaton and edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen.
"Fair question," Kiffin said when asked to evaluate the season based on the level of investment and the expectations to win right away.
"I get it," he added. "Underperformance, doesn't matter if the games 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 pointed to Texas.
"Those guys, watch warmups," he said. "Those guys have done a great job building that team -- size, with backups, special teams players. It didn't look like that [in Steve Sarkisian's] first year."
Kiffin said he believed LSU's lack of depth showed up particularly on special teams, where the Tigers struggled with field position and missed the only field goal attempt of the night.
"Really disappointing to be up two scores in the game and not be able to close it out," he said. "Plenty of opportunities."
LSU was ahead 21-10 with 5:52 left in the third quarter. It punted on its final four possessions -- its longest streak of the season -- including going three-and-out three times.
Texas turned those possessions into two field goals and the winning touchdown pass.
According to ESPN Research, LSU suffered its first home loss when leading by double digits in the second half since 2005 versus Tennessee. Entering the weekend, LSU had won 111 consecutive home games when ahead by double digits in the second half.
"When asked to describe Leavitt's three interceptions, Kiffin said, "poor decisions."
Kiffin said it wasn't a "psychological" issue that led to miscues such as Keys not getting out to cover Brown, but rather "just really poor execution."
"There are a lot of areas of the game and say we outplayed them to win the game," Kiffin said. "But again, that's not how it works. It doesn't work that way. And so just disappointed for our players, our fans, that game comes down to one play and all the hard plays through the game, man, we just don't run out and cover the guy and make the play really easy, and they walk in the end zone."
Asked what he'd tell the fanbase, he said, "I'd be pissed, too. We lost. It doesn't really matter that it was, whatever, seven seconds from winning."
But Kiffin said he wouldn't "overreact" to the loss. If a few plays went differently, he said the tone of his postgame news conference would not be so negative.
"I get why the questions come," he said, "but I also know that one-play difference and then none of these questions happen. So, that's part of understanding coaching and how it works."
Kiffin left no ambiguity when asked whether he believes the "foundational" pieces were in place to win in the future.
"I'm not concerned about that at all," he said. "I'm concerned that we lost. I'm not concerned about the future. 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."
LSU will close out the regular season at No. 8 Tennessee next Saturday and at Arkansas on Nov. 28.
"Same as before," Kiffin said of the focus moving forward without hope of reaching the playoff. "We didn't prepare any different. We got to go back to work and find ways to perform better and execute better and help the players play the best they can."