It was jarring to realize that, nursing a shrunken lead on Saturday at No. 9 Texas, LSU really was going to live or die with the forward pass.
This was LSU, after all. The defense and field-position prototype. The team that was still grinding out yards between the tackles well into the spread offense revolution.
But there was quarterback Joe Burrow, attempting 11 fourth-quarter passes (to only three LSU rushes) while the Tigers clung to a 37-31 lead with less than four minutes remaining and looking to pass once more to clinch the game.
It almost backfired.