Was Arch Manning’s game-winning pass against LSU really the ‘unreal throw’ Ian Rapoport called it?

Arch Manning had already thrown three interceptions at Tiger Stadium when the Texas Longhorns got the ball back trailing the LSU Tigers 21-16 with a little more than two minutes left on Saturday night. Twelve plays and 58 yards later, Raleek Brown caught a 4-yard swing pass with three seconds on the clock, Texas won 22-21, and LSU’s College Football Playoff hopes went with it.

Steve Sarkisian had his offense kneel on the try, since a blocked kick or a turnover returned the other way could have handed LSU the lead with no time left, and the Longhorns covered the ensuing kickoff to finish it.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport posted the finish and called it an “unreal throw” with the game on the line. The winning play itself was a short flip after Texas motioned Brown into the flat as fast as it could to get him into space, a call Sarkisian drew up after a first-down quick hitter went nowhere and Manning threw it away, so the touchdown owed as much to the design as to the arm.

How much of the final drive belonged to Arch Manning?

Texas started at its own 42 after a short LSU punt and converted a third-and-3 near midfield. A sack then left the Longhorns facing second-and-16, and Manning answered with a 13-yard completion to Ryan Wingo, ran for a first down, and found Wingo again for 19 yards to the LSU 16 with 19 seconds left. After another short completion to Wingo, Manning kept it himself and ran to the 4, forcing Texas to burn its final timeout with nine seconds to go.

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Before that drive, Manning had thrown one touchdown pass and three interceptions, his third game this season with more than one pick. The last of them, a deep shot for Emmett Mosley that DJ Pickett picked off in the fourth quarter, gave LSU the ball deep in its own territory. The Tigers lost 12 yards on that possession and punted it back. LSU’s Sam Leavitt also threw three interceptions.

“I thought our guys had great poise and composure in that final drive to execute, showed a lot of guts by Arch for sure,” Sarkisian said after the game.

Rapoport’s clip showed a 4-yard throw to a back who was already alone in the flat, one of the easiest passes Manning attempted all night.

Texas already carried two losses into Baton Rouge, including one to the Florida Gators in October, and a third would have put its playoff place at real risk. Manning, who also ran for a first-half touchdown, kept that from happening on a night when almost nothing else went his way through the air.

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Texas is 8-2 and sitting in strong playoff position. LSU dropped to 6-4 and closed its home schedule with a second straight loss in Baton Rouge, this one decided on the final snap of the game.

How fans responded to Ian Rapoport’s ‘unreal throw’ post

The replies under Rapoport’s post took the caption apart.

One fan wrote that if a 4-yard swing pass counts as an unreal throw, the bar has dropped about as low as it can go.

“We cannot be seriously turning this into an Arch moment. A better caption would be ‘Steve Sarkisian with an unreal call with the game on the line,'” another user wrote.

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A third joked that Manning’s agent must be paying Rapoport.

“Clutch moments reveal elite talent. What a throw!” one account replied, siding with Rapoport.

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The post Was Arch Manning’s game-winning pass against LSU really the ‘unreal throw’ Ian Rapoport called it? appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.

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