Joe Burrow, LSU make history, top Texas in Big 12-style shootout, 45-38

AUSTIN — The new-look LSU certainly looked its part in Big 12 territory Saturday night.

The No. 6 Tigers (2-0) found itself in a back-and-forth shootout with No. 9 Texas (1-1) by the third quarter of the teams' marquee matchup.

And as the points and tension continued to skyrocket in a packed Darrell K. Royal Stadium, it was Joe Burrow and the suddenly high-powered passing attack scorching their way to history and the 45-38 victory.

"It was awesome, man — he was so fired up," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. "The kid's a ball-player. He lives for that moment. And it's a tough place, man. It was loud out there, but he got it done."

LSU's senior quarterback dropped back on a third-and-17 with 2:38 remaining and a precarious 37-31 edge, calmly navigated the Longhorns pressure and found junior receiver Justin Jefferson for the first and, eventually, a winding 61-yard score.

"They were playing cover-zero, and I knew I was gonna have to take a shot," he said. "Clyde (Edwards-Helaire) did a great job of picking up the blitzing linebacker right through the middle. He cut him. And I knew Justin, I was waiting for his stick on his last foot before I made the ball leave my hands.

"And he just made a play for me. I got it out in front of him, and the rest is history."

Burrow then found sophomore receiver Ja'Marr Chase for the two-point conversion to extend the lead to 45-31.

Texas would score again, on a 15-yard strike from junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger to senior receiver Devin Duvernay to cap a two-minute, 75-yard drive.

But with only 22 seconds remaining, the Longhorns could not corral their onside-kick attempt before falling out of bounds.

And the Tigers were able to kneel out the victory.

"I thought Joe Burrow was the difference in the ball game," Texas coach Tom Herman said. "Just really accurate, really aggressive. I thought he fit some balls into some really tight windows, was really accurate down the field and, yeah, he's going to have a heck of a year if he stays healthy."

Burrow finished 31-for-39 (79.5 percent) for 471 yards and four touchdowns — marking the second-highest passing total in program history behind only Rohan Davey's 528 against Alabama in 2001.

Jefferson led the team with nine catches for 163 yards, finally joining Chase and sophomore Terrace Marshall Jr. over the century mark to mark the first time ever that three LSU teammates did so in the same game.

Chase caught eight balls for 147 yards, and Marshall hauled in six passes for 123 yards.

Edwards-Helaire, the junior running back, led the rushing attack with 15 attempts for 87 yards.

"This is the vision that I always had when we took over, and we finally got there," Orgeron said. "It took a couple miscues to get there, but we're finally there. We have the coaches to do it. We have the receivers to do it. We have the quarterback to do it. And, hey, we're gonna get better. We're gonna keep getting better in this system."

Texas had opportunities to take control early.

The Longhorns held LSU to a 36-yard Cade York field goal on its first possession, then marched quickly down to within the 2-yard line.

But the Tigers' defense held up there, forcing a fourth down on which sophomore Keaontay Ingram dropped a wide-open touchdown to keep the team off the board.

Texas quickly found itself in prime position again as sophomore linebacker Joseph Ossai snatched an interception off a tipped pass and returned to the 4-yard line.

But, again, LSU managed to escape with a second turnover on downs in less than three minutes.

"It shows that we can fight through adversity and what type of defense we have," senior linebacker Michael Divinity Jr. said. "And, you know, we're gonna come out every week and execute like that if we're ever put in that position. Sadly, we had an offensive turnover, and we were able to come back and get another fourth-down stop right back to back. Just the fight that we have on defense, I love it."

The Longhorns finally did reach the end zone on their next possession, as Ehlinger found sophomore receiver Brennan Eagles down the right sideline for 55 yards and a 7-3 lead.

The Tigers held their hosts scoreless the rest of the half, though, while Burrow and their offense finally came alive with three straight scoring drives to end the half.

LSU marched 75 yards midway through the second quarter to regain the lead with a 6-yard touchdown to Jefferson.

York added a 40-yard field goal with 1:41 left in the second.

"And y'all don't know this, but he was hurt all week," Orgeron said. "He didn't kick all week. Tremendous job by him."

And after a quick Texas punt, Burrow and company rolled 58 yards in just three plays and 26 seconds, capped by a 21-yard dart to Jefferson for the 20-7 advantage.

"Those guys are so talented, and we have guys behind them, too, that can play just as well," the quarterback said. "That's all credit to the O-line. When I have time back there, our receivers and myself are talented enough to make things happen."

But the Longhorns struck back in the third and set the tone for much of the rest of the game.

Ehlinger led a 19-play, 86-yard drive early in the half to finally convert a red-zone opportunity with a 2-yard keeper into the end zone to draw back to within 20-14.

York provided LSU a bit more breathing room with a 40-yard field goal to nudge the lead back to 23-14.

But, by then, the game was quickly escalating into a shootout.

"Phenomenal player," Orgeron said of Ehlinger. "He was better than we thought he was. I thought he was a good player going in, but this guy is a phenomenal football player. He wanted to take the game on his back and practically did. But, you know what, those receivers he has are pretty talented, too. Their running game was good, too. Their offensive line blocked better than we had seen before. They were ready to play."

The teams traded 75-yard touchdown drives on each of their next two possessions.

Ehlinger threaded a 20-yard pass to Jake Smith into a tight window in the end zone to trim the gap to 23-21.

But Burrow and Marshall answered with their fourth scoring connection of the young season, this time from 26 yards, to pull back ahead by nine points at 30-21.

The Tigers forced Ehlinger and company into another fourth-down attempt, but the Texas quarterback found Duvernay, who broke a pair of tackles and dashed his way to the touchdown.

Edwards-Helaire provided the LSU answer to make the score 37-28.

And the Tigers, sparked by a Michael Divinity Jr. sack, finally held Texas to a 47-yard Cameron Dicker field goal on the next possession to regain possession with a 37-31 lead.

LSU survived a fumble scare on its first-down play as Marshall was ruled down before losing the ball to the Longhorns.

And a few plays later, Burrow and Jefferson helped provide some breathing room.

"They were playing so well on the other side of the ball we knew we were gonna have to score to win," Burrow said. "I kept telling the guys, 'We've gotta score. We've gotta get 40, and we'll win. Forty, and we'll win.' So we went into that last drive aggressive, and it paid off for us."

Ehlinger finished 31-for-47 (66.0 percent) for 401 yards and four scores threw the air and another 60 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries.

Duvernay and Eagles led his receiving corps with 12 catches for 154 yards and two scores and five for 116 and another touchdown, respectively.