Texas is heading into a heavyweight road test with a little momentum and a slight edge in the market.
Despite the No. 7 Longhorns coming off a convincing two-touchdown win at Missouri and No.
14 LSU getting handled at home by Alabama, FanDuel opened the Tigers as a 3.5-point favorite for the six-day selection. The matchup is set for 6:30 p.m.
Central on ABC.
LSU had spent much of the season looking like an offensive machine and had stayed in both of its losses before Alabama arrived in Tiger Stadium. The Tigers led 13-10 late in the third quarter and seemed to have the game under control, but Kalen DeBoer’s team answered with a quick five-play drive to grab the lead. From there, Alabama ripped off three straight touchdowns and turned a tight contest into a rout.
That result leaves Lane Kiffin’s first season looking a lot like Brian Kelly’s run in Baton Rouge, which ended in his third year after a 5-3 start. Kiffin is now 6-2, with a loss to his former team, Ole Miss, and an overtime win over Kentucky, matching Kelly’s loss total through the first eight games after LSU let the Alabama game slip away.
Texas, meanwhile, finally put together the kind of complete performance it has been chasing. In the 34-20 win over No.
18 Missouri, the offense and defense actually worked in tandem, with the offense cashing in after defensive stops and the special teams mostly avoiding the kind of mistakes that have haunted the Longhorns all season. It was the first time this year Texas looked like it had a full game plan from start to finish, and it left little room for drama.
Now comes another difficult setting, with Texas traveling to Death Valley in prime time. The Missouri win helps the Longhorns’ resume, but the clearest path forward is simple: win out, and their playoff case takes care of itself.
In Other News...
Warren Roberson Picked The Perfect Time For His First Texas Start
Warren Roberson had been waiting for his first Texas start, and he made it count in a game the Longhorns needed to control from start to finish. In a 34-20 win over Missouri, the senior cornerback stepped into the lineup and delivered one of the biggest plays of the afternoon late in the game, helping Texas protect a lead that had still felt vulnerable.
Robersons forced fumble flipped the momentum at the right moment, and sophomore Graceson Littleton turned it into even more damage by returning the recovery 44 yards to set up the clinching touchdown. For a defense that needed a timely answer, the sequence was exactly the kind of complementary football Texas wanted, with a first-time starter helping close the door when it mattered most. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Gritted Out A Ranked Win But Two Problems Stood Out
Texas came away with a 34-20 win over Missouri and, on the surface, it was the kind of result that can steady a season. The Longhorns moved to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in SEC play, with Raleek Brown giving the run game a lift by finishing with 85 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Arch Manning kept the offense moving through the air with nearly 75 percent completions for 297 yards and three scores.
Still, the win did not clean up every concern. Texas had to work through too much pressure up front, and the offensive lines protection was a problem even in a game the Longhorns controlled for stretches. There was also plenty of frustration with the officiating, leaving the kind of lingering irritation that can follow a hard-fought conference win even when the scoreboard says the job got done. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Just Added Fuel To A Ranking Debate Fans Know Well
Week 10 turned the AP Top 25 into another reminder of how unsettled the national picture has been all season, with eight ranked teams falling and the poll getting a new No. 1 for the fifth time this year. Georgia climbed back to the top spot, while Ohio State and Ole Miss slid after losses, and Texas was among the teams to benefit from the reshuffling after a key victory of its own.
For Longhorns fans, the latest update only adds more fuel to a familiar debate about where Texas belongs when the dust settles around the sports weekly chaos. The rankings keep moving, and with Tennessee, Oregon and Alabama also moving up, the conversation around the top of the poll is getting tighter by the week, leaving Texas right in the middle of the national picture with plenty still to be decided. [Read more 🡒]