LSU had to hang on at the end, but the Tigers escaped Kyle Field with a 23-17 win over the Aggies.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the win.

  • Chief owns the Aggies. LSU is the only SEC team left standing that hasn’t lost to Texas A&M since the Aggies came to the conference in 2012, and the biggest reason is the way the John Chavis’ defense beats the hell out of Texas A&M’s offense. LSU has limited the Aggies’ normally potent offense to an average of 17.3 points per game the last three regular season meetings. In the Manziel era, LSU would knock Johnny Football around, and they did the same to Kyle Allen and his receivers on Thursday.
  • LSU’s offense knows times have changed. Just about everyone gets restless watching the Tigers run power dive after toss dive into the middle of the line. LSU broke out some new wrinkles, giving Anthony Jennings some designed runs and even trying out some jet sweep plays for Travin Dural. The read-option looks they threw out looked like what most of the college football world has been doing the last five years.
  • Leonard Fournette is going to own the SEC. The freshman roasted the Aggies all night, and the way he powered through Howard Matthews on his way to the end zone has to have defenses shaking around the conference. He’s still learning which holes to hit and what moves to make; just imagine how terrifying Fournette will be once he really learns to run instead of just relying on strength and speed.
  • LSU’s young defense is going to be scary next year. The Tigers are should return most of the defense next season, and some of the young players are going to be scary good as they gain experience. Kendell Beckwith has only been starting for half the season at middle linebacker and freshman safety Jamal Adams has the makings of a star in the defensive backfield, just to name a few.
  • Les Miles did a damn fine job with this year’s team. After LSU started its SEC slate 0-2, the sounds of panic started to ring out in Baton Rouge. Miles coached a young team all the way to 4-4 in the toughest division in the country, despite having an offense that couldn’t throw. While some of that stems from Miles’ stubbornness, it’s that same stubbornness that helped them hammer out a 4-4 SEC record.