For the second straight year, a nightmarish second half spoiled an encouraging LSU start — or at least some encouraging moments — against Texas A&M.
Marcel Reed, the Aggies’ dynamic sophomore quarterback, was again a central villain, though far from alone.
This time around, No. 3 Texas A&M (8-0, 5-0) scored three third-quarter touchdowns and set up another on the second play of the fourth to swing a four-point deficit into a 24-point lead and eventual 49-25 dagger to the No. 20 Tigers (5-3, 2-3), who were ranked top-five nationally just four weeks earlier.
“Certainly extremely disappointed in what happened out there,” said coach Brian Kelly, who turned 64 on Saturday. “Nobody’s more disappointed than our players in the locker room. Obviously they’re searching for answers, and I’ve got to be able to provide them for them. But, like I said, nobody’s more disappointed than our football team. And the performance is the second half was certainly the most disappointing part of this game.”
College Football Playoff goals for a program that invested heavily in the transfer portal have all but completely evaporated with three losses in less than a month to fall outside of the top 10 in the SEC standings.
The Aggies entered the matchup 0-for-6 in Baton Rouge since joining the conference in 2012, but after some first-half back-and-forth ran over their hosts in dominant fashion after the break to win their third in the past four meetings of the series overall.
Occasional chants of “Fi-re Ke-lly” broke out in the north end of Tiger Stadium, where the student section is located, during the contest. By the time the final seconds mercifully ticked off, the remaining Texas A&M contingent’s chants of “8-and-0″ were clear from the south end of the largely empty venue.
Asked how to recover from the disappointment performance and keep the team together, senior linebacker West Weeks said:”I’m an LSU Fightin’ Tiger ’til the day I die. So every chance I get to go represent those three letters, I’m gonna go out and do it, and I know everybody else is gonna do the same. Obviously our goals for the season are not in reach anymore, but every chance we get, I’m gonna still go out and fight, and I know everybody else will too.”
But Saturday was an undeniably challenging pill to swallow.
Texas A&M sacked LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier a season-high five times, setting that tone early and getting back often before eventually sending him to the sideline in the final minutes and sacking backup Michael Van Buren Jr. another two times.
Seven sacks marked the most the program had allowed since Nov. 12, 2022, at Arkansas.
A visibly frustrated Nussmeier finished 22-for-35 (62.9%) for 168 yards and a touchdown before Van Buren went 3-for-4 for 40 yards and a late score.
“I would’ve been disappointed, too, if you took me out of the game at that situation,” Kelly said. “But it was a bigger-picture. We were struggling with protection. I thought it would’ve been unfair to have him in the game under those circumstances where the game was clearly out of reach. To have him get injured in that game would’ve been malpractice from my standpoint.”
Reed meanwhile finished 12-for-21 (57.1%) for 202 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and rushed 13 times for 108 yards and two scores.
And the Aggies out-gained the Tigers, 426-278, and finished 7-for-10 (70%) on third downs to the home team’s 2-for-12 (16.7%).
The night started in frustrating fashion for the home crowd as familiar issues popped up on both sides of the ball while Texas A&M built a 14-7 lead.
Senior edge rusher Cashius Howell blew by each LSU tackle, true freshman Carius Curne and redshirt freshman Weston Davis, for sacks that disrupted the Tigers’ first and third possessions.
Reed meanwhile gashed his to an early 41-yard score and 60 first-half rushing yards in all, reminiscent of his highlight-reel performance off the bench in College Station, Texas, in 2024.
And after the run-heavy first drive, Reed flashed his ability to make plays with his arm all the way back to the end zone, including a pair of third-and-long conversions to N.C. State transfer K.C. Concepcion — the latter of which came as Reed eluded pressure, stepped up and rifled the 15-yard touchdown.
“We just didn’t play our best game,” Weeks said. “We had all the right calls in. We had all the stuff we needed to do. We just didn’t execute.”
LSU found some juice in between, though, spreading the ball around and ultimately pulling briefly even at 7-7 with a leaping catch by sophomore tight end Trey’ Dez Green and well-place throw by Nussmeier.
And the Tigers managed to start buckling down defensively and getting after Reed for three stops and some much-needed sparks.
A fumbled snap put Texas A&M behind the chains early in its third possession, and LSU piled on further with a near-interception by a diving P.J. Woodland and a hard-hitting hurry by Nebraska transfer Jimari Butler.
Freshman safety Jhase Thomas broke through and blocked the eventual punt out the back of the end zone to trim the deficit to 14-9 early in the second quarter.
Senior safety A.J. Haulcy, a Houston transfer, and junior linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. intercepted Reed on the next possessions in the end zone and near midfield, respectively, on passes tipped by senior defensive end Patrick Payton and senior corner Mansoor Delane, transfers from Florida State and Virginia Tech.
And the Tigers scored on each subsequent opportunity: freshman running back Harlem Berry capping a 75-yard march with a go-ahead 7-yard run for his second career touchdown and first in Tiger Stadium, and Damian Ramos pushing the edge to 18-14 with a 30-yard field goal before halftime.
But the second half belonged to Texas A&M from start to finish.
“I think they just had some plays that kind of shifted the momentum obviously,” Weeks said. “And then we just didn’t get stops when we needed to.”
A 43-yard kick return by Terry Bussey provided a short field of which Reed and company made quick work for a 56-yard drive and 5-yard scramble score.
Just 91 seconds later, Concepcion found the same end zone with a 79-yard punt return.
“I have to evaluate everything — from top down, everything we do and how we do it,” Kelly said. “And primarily on the football end of things. This is much more about the football end of things, and that involves making those decisions that will allow this football team to play at a higher level. So I have to do some work on that and come up with the solutions.”
Asked further whether that included the coaching staff, Kelly added: “Of course. I mean, you’re going to evaluate everything. I think you have to look at everything — everything that we do offensively, everything that’s being done defensively. Special teams was atrocious. All of those things fall on me. So when it comes to the football, that’s what I have to fix. And we have to do that immediately.”
Freshman running Jamarion Morrow scored twice: a 24-yard catch-and-run from Reed late in the third quarter and an 11-yard run midway through the fourth.
And tight end Nate Boerkicher scored a goal-line run in the opening moments of the fourth.
Texas A&M led, 49-18, before LSU could finally muster a 12-yard touchdown from Van Buren to sophomore Kyle Parker in the final minute.
“Our fan base should be upset,” Kelly said. “They have every right to be. That second half was unacceptable at any level. And I’ve got to figure out the ways that we can get our football team to play better football consistently — not just in spurts, but for four quarters.”
