7-1!
FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT, LSU.
That’s what they get for talking all that shit before the game - both to the guys and speaking on Kyle Field’s name - and yet they couldn’t even back it up.
Makes me smile. We ended up wearing black for their funeral after all. Good riddance.
In probably (definitely) the wildest, most fun environment I’ve ever been a part of at Kyle Field, the Fightin’ Texas Aggies were able to stage a furious second-half comeback on the LSU Tigers, rallying from a 17-7 deficit to completely overwhelm the visitors in the last quarter-and-a-half or so and earn a potentially program-defining 38-23 win under the lights on Saturday night. With this victory, the Aggies now sit alone atop the SEC with a perfect 5-0 record in conference play (first time since A&M joined the conference) and now control their own destiny for potential postseason aspirations with four games left in the regular season.
And when I say potentially program-defining win, I mean it. The recruiting fallout has already been immense - the Maroon and White landed the commitments of 2026 top-50 prospects and teammates Jordan Carter (EDGE, and not Playboi Carti) and Aaron Gregory (WR) from Douglas County, Georgia, while four-star linebacker/edge-rusher hybrid Samu Moala from California also pledged to Texas A&M. All of these commitments were on Sunday.
They’re also trending well for 2026 five-stars Lamar Brown (best interior OL and #6 player in the nation, and from Baton Rouge as a nice bonus) and Brandon Arrington (#1 ATH and #18 in the country), along with 2025 four-star wide receiver CJ Wiley and four-star edge-rusher Javion Hilson, both recent Florida State decommits.
Combine that with the Aggies now establishing themselves as arguably a legit contender in the conference and maybe nationwide, and it makes for a great, great game.
Mike Elko, you’ve done miracles on me.
However, it’s already on to South Carolina week - those BASTARDS, the most HATED rivals of Texas A&M, present maybe the toughest test for the Aggies up to this point in the season. A night game, on the road in the toughest environment the Maroon and White will have played in by far, following such an emotional high where the Ags now rank in the top ten, against a tough, athletic defense will no doubt be a challenge.
But as we always do in these postgames, we’ll break down some of my takeaways from this game.
Let’s get to it!
Marcel Reed
Can’t start this recap without talking about anyone else.
What a damn performance, Marcel Reed.
The Aggies felt like they were out of it a little under midway through the third quarter. Down 17-7, it felt like a lot more than that for good portions of the game. The offense couldn’t really do much of anything, and after two fruitless drives to begin the second half for the Maroon and White, Mike Elko made an incredibly gutsy move, benching Conner Weigman for the redshirt freshman to try and give them a spark.
Not only did Reed give the Aggies and Kyle Field a spark, but it was more of an outburst of energy that was infused into this team and fanbase. An 8-yard touchdown scamper on an option play (call that a Reed Option, mayhaps?) provided that instant impact after a critical BJ Mayes (more on him in this next section) interception that basically changed the whole course of this game. From his opening score, Texas A&M never looked back, as the Ags outscored LSU 31-6 after Reed’s insertion into the game.
LSU’s defense just were not prepared for Reed and his skillset at all, and it showed. He absolutely gashed them for five scoring possessions on five drives, recording chunk play after chunk play and showcasing his athleticism, insane calmness under pressure, and even a little bit of his arm talent on a national stage as he completely blindsided the Bayou Bengals. Three rushing touchdowns for #10 was the crown jewel of a dazzling relief performance that will be talked about for a long time and that has arguably etched his name into Texas A&M football lore.
All of a sudden, he now makes this quarterback situation a lot more interesting. While A&M fans knew about what he could do in relief for Weigman after he was knocked out for a few games due to injury, his explosion in this critical game while #15 was healthy changes a hell of a lot for this squad. Heading into this week’s contest against South Carolina, there are serious questions now about the state of the position for the future.
Obviously, it feels natural to want to ride the hot hand, and while I love Wiggy, I would probably tend to agree with that sentiment as well considering how Reed has performed not just on Saturday, but throughout his starts earlier in the season. Sure, he displayed some struggles at times throwing the ball, particularly on the outside, but his running ability, cool demeanor in big moments, and ability to play clean football *knocks on wood* are all valuable assets.
Does Mike Elko ride with a two-QB system? Does Reed get the nod for the foreseeable future? It’s a really interesting dilemma to consider.
But for now, let’s just give Marcel Reed his flowers for his game-changing performance on Saturday night, on the big stage, when Texas A&M needed him the most. He more than delivered upon entering the game, and for that he deserves to be praised immensely. Unbelievable showing from the redshirt freshman on a national stage - this was his true breakout game.
Marcel Magic, indeed.
Adjustments
The second-half adjustments that Mike Elko and his coaching staff made will be talked about for years to come.
We knew how good he has been with those halftime changes and fixes to have his team playing better football late in the game. It’s been that way since he first arrived in College Station as the defensive coordinator for the Maroon and White in his first stint here. But these adjustments completely changed the tide of the game, in such a drastic way that I was sort of in disbelief. I’d seen it many times before, but this was the first time, I feel, that the nation and widespread public got to experience such a drastic turnaround because of them.
Obviously, the switch to Marcel Reed was talked about above and is undoubtedly the most important change that the Aggies made this game. LSU just didn’t have an answer for him. But what about on the defensive side of the ball, as well?
The Aggies didn’t really have an answer for LSU’s passing attack. The weakness of allowing big plays reared its ugly head in the first half. Garrett Nussmeier was getting loads of time to go through his progressions and find open receivers over the middle. Texas A&M playing off the Tigers’ wideouts allowed for them to attack in between the hashes and gash the secondary. Virtually everything in their vaunted passing offense was clicking, and it didn’t bode well for A&M’s chances at all if they continued to get large chunks of yards through the air.
One play changed everything for the Aggies, though. Midway through the third quarter, the Aggies were able to get pressure on Nussmeier for one of the first times the whole game and forced him to his left where he continued to roll out until awkwardly firing an ill-advised laser into the middle of the field, where nickel corner BJ Mayes boxed out the receiver and grabbed a crucial interception to give a jolt for the A&M defense.
From there, it was just an Maroon and White avalanche on defense. LSU still couldn’t run the ball after being ineffective in the first half. The Aggies started to be more aggressive and take away the middle of the field, highlighted by an emphatic Scooby Williams pass breakup on a big third down that eventually led to a missed LSU field goal. The pass rush, after a half of being MIA, finally started to get home and look like the A&M pass rush we’ve all come to grow and love.
Nic Scourton and DJ Hicks combined for the Ags’ first sack of the game before Rylan Kennedy recorded his first career solo sack as an Aggie to essentially put the game on ice late in the fourth quarter. The good guys got 2 sacks, which may not seem like a lot, but the Tigers’ offensive line had only allowed 2 sacks on the entire year before Saturday. The Maroon and White notched pressure after pressure after pressure, constantly getting in Nussmeier’s face in the second half.
Scourton had 7 pressures on a pair of potential first-round offensive tackles alone. He solidified himself as a high first-round pick as if he wasn’t already. Hicks had his best game as an Aggie, I thought - he was critical in the run game and was a brick wall in the middle of that defense. Shemar Turner was a major problem. Cashius Howell was a flamethrower.
The linebackers were also outstanding - Taurean York was wonderful, man. Such a high-energy, important, aggressive, fun football player to watch. He got after it in both facets, from stopping the run to having maybe his best play as an Aggie, dropping back and sneaking up on a checkdown to stun LSU and record the third interception of the ballgame. Scooby Williams continued his good form, including that big hit over the middle in pass coverage mentioned earlier. Daymion Sanford and Solomon DeShields also had flashes.
Finally, BJ Mayes - have yourself a game, man. After his game-changing pick to give the Aggies life, he snagged another interception on the boundary to set up yet another A&M touchdown. Combine those 2 interceptions with just 2 catches allowed on 6 targets, and that makes for a 12.5 passer rating allowed when the ball was thrown to him. For instance, if a quarterback threw the ball into the ground on every play, they’d have a passer rating of 39.6.
The UAB transfer changed the entire vibe of the game. He was awesome on Saturday. But that wouldn’t have been able to happen without the adjustments that Mike Elko and his staff made out of halftime.
What a tremendous coaching job from the Ags’ head man.
Penalties
If Mike Elko is calling this out in press conferences and specifying that this area of the game has to get cleared up, it’s a problem.
It’s been going on for a little bit now, but Texas A&M has really struggled with limiting penalties. This time, they committed 10 for 97 yards, just a statistic that’s way too high and can damage winning and scoring chances if they pile up.
Some of the calls on Saturday were dumb, I’ll concede - for example, Jahdae Walker got knocked with an illegal blindside block and targeting call that didn’t even look like a foul (the defender was facing him!) The Tigers kept a drive alive (that didn’t even lead to anything) after an iffy pass interference call on Will Lee. But even then, the majority of the penalties called were legit penalties, and that can cost a team if they pile up. Just ask Alabama against Tennessee earlier this year. Or in 2021 when the Ags upset them.
It’s an area that’s gotta be cleaned up soon, especially traveling to a hostile environment on Saturday night when they go to Williams-Brice Stadium in South Carolina. Playing clean, smart football will go a long way in silencing that crowd and increase the Aggies’ odds of winning that one.
Physicality and the Running Game
245-35.
That was the rushing advantage that Texas A&M held over LSU in this game.
Just absolute dominance on the line of scrimmage, especially after Marcel Reed came into the ballgame. That perfectly encapsulates what Mike Elko and this coaching staff have wanted to instill and now have instilled in this program. Toughness, determination, grit, strain, effort, and physicality. On both sides of the ball.
It was a clinic.
Let’s start on offense. Le’Veon Moss had another big game, as usual. He’s the engine of this offense, and he had I believe his fourth multi-touchdown performance of the year with 2 scores and 83 yards on 14 carries against the school from his hometown of Baton Rouge. What a little homecoming, huh? He used his power in a big way, consistently just bowling over guys in the LSU secondary that made me smile. No surprise there. Everyone also knows about how good Marcel Reed was on the ground, too - his contributions there basically allowed this A&M team to come alive and rally for a monster second half.
I want to give Amari Daniels some love, though. He’s been such an unsung hero as a dynamic change-of-pace back in The Stable, as the Ags affectionately call their running back room, all season and he had his best game of 2024 in this one. He put up 91 yards on 12 carries and very nearly a touchdown as well, if he wasn’t stopped at the 1-yard line twice. The Miami native means so much to this program yet may not get the praise he deserves, but he was integral in this game.
Finally, what a showing from the Maroon Goons, especially late in this game. As the game wore on, they just bullied that LSU defensive line into submission, providing gaping holes for Reed, Daniels, and Moss to run through and pick up chunks of yardage time and time again. That o-line imposed their will on the Tigers’ front all night in the ground game, and the unit continues to impress against some high-level talent. From Ar’Maj Reed-Adams and Trey Zuhn not allowing pressures to TJ Shanahan flourishing in the run game and Koli Faaiu quietly playing great as well, the guys up front showed up and showed out. Even the tight ends got in on the action, too! They wore LSU down like crazy.
And what about that defensive effort, my goodness. They committed to taking the run game away and it showed. From the opening kickoff, LSU just couldn’t find any room to run the football, essentially making them one-dimensional for most of the game. The Tigers averaged just a measly 1.6 yards per carry, and that’s a testament to how the Aggies were able to dominate on the inside. Albert Regis, DJ Hicks (who I thought had his best game as an Aggie), Rodas Johnson, and Shemar Turner put on a masterclass on how to stop the run against a really good LSU o-line. The linebackers also fit the run immensely well, with Taurean York and Scooby Williams delivering some big plays to add to it. The Ags allowed 23 rushing yards on the first two rushing drives - they allowed 12 for the rest of the game.
Overall, the fact that the Aggies were able to win in the trenches and just win the physicality battle against a team like LSU is an extremely encouraging sign and a nod to how strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt has changed this team. No longer will the Aggies be the tired group of players late in the game. They got better and more physical as the game wore on, delivering blow after blow until the Maroon and White knocked out the Tigers.
It’s so refreshing to see. And it shows that the culture has changed for the better in Aggieland.
Kyle Field
What’s with this trend of opposing quarterbacks criticizing Kyle Field and thinking it’ll work out for them? Because it doesn’t, and the 12th Man showed that in full force on Saturday night.
That was, I think, the most fun and the loudest I’ve heard Kyle Field since I arrived on campus in the fall of 2021 (wow, time flies). That stadium was absolutely rocking for all four quarters and then some, and it played a major factor in the outcome of this game. I’m not trying to hear anything about how the crowd and momentum aren’t real things that impact a football game, because the 12th Man can do that and has done that, and it showed on Saturday.
The TV broadcast mentioned it multiple times. It was fucking mayhem.
Five pre-snap penalties on LSU. The Tigers having to call timeouts because they can’t hear play calls due to noise. The visitors missing three field goals, one of which wasn’t even an attempt because their long snapper snapped the ball too early because the noise was just too deafening. 108,852 strong - the third-largest attendance in Kyle Field history - made their impact all game, and that crowd put on a masterful performance on how to change the course of a football match.
The spamming of “Mo Bamba” and “Power” throughout the match was hilarious and just got the crowd even more riled up. Taking shots at the Bayou Bengals by putting Garrett Nussmeier’s pregame quote on the jumbotron and playing “Callin’ Baton Rouge” when the Aggies iced it was icing on the cake. It was so unbelievably loud at Kyle Field I couldn’t even hear myself think.
What an atmosphere, and what a job from the 12th Man to impact such a big game. They proved it continues to be a cathedral of college football.
No place like it, man.
The Path Ahead
This is what A&M fans have dreamt of for so long now. 5-0 in SEC play for the first time ever, and 5-0 in conference play for the first time since 1998. Sitting alone atop the conference and controlling their own destiny for an SEC Championship game appearance and a potential College Football Playoff berth.
But now, the hunters become the hunted. All of a sudden, there’s a major target on the Aggies’ back, and everyone knows it now. There are legit expectations. The season has turned from “nice surprise” to “really expecting to win”. The Maroon and White are going to get everyone’s best effort, if they weren’t already, because of their standing right now.
The Aggies just have to keep winning now. Can’t look ahead, can’t be complacent. We’ve seen all of the upsets that have happened in-conference, and now the Ags must take this momentum and ride it into a really tough environment in what many are labeling as a trap game against South Carolina in a few days.
This is going to be the hardest environment that A&M will have played in this year, and it's in a rivalry game against those BASTARDS, nonetheless. So the Ags just have to continue to keep their heads down, work, and play their brand of football every week.
This upcoming match will determine if the Aggies are for real. They’ve been prone to falling in these trap games following a massive win, and this will be maybe the biggest challenge A&M will have to overcome up to this point in the year. But I believe in Mike Elko and these guys. They’ve knocked off one stereotype of this program after another, and if there’s any coach I trust to keep these guys cool, composed, and unfazed by the attention, it’s him.
Just gotta keep on winning.
That’ll wrap up a really fun LSU contest. Some last-minute takeaways before I end this:
There was a lot of trash talk that LSU and A&M exchanged before this game. Everyone knows about the Nussmeier comments about Kyle Field, but Ar’Maj Reed-Adams got into it with LSU defensive end Bradyn Swinson on Twitter as well, and some Aggies and Tigers got into a pregame scuffle on the field. It was nice to see LSU, who always talks a big game, get humbled as the game wore on.
You can’t convince me momentum isn’t a real thing following this game. Two players - Marcel Reed and BJ Mayes - swung the momentum of this match so hard in the span of seconds it was absolutely crazy. With the Aggies able to ride that momentum to crush LSU in the second half, it only solidified my belief that momentum is a very real factor.
Tyler White is still a star. He got yet another SEC Special Teams Player of the Week award after averaging almost 48.5 yards per punt and consistently pinning LSU deep in the first half when A&M’s offense was struggling. What a weapon.
See y’all in a few days to preview South Carolina! Another big one on deck.
-Sourav