Rapid Reaction: No. 5 Texas A&M and its smothering defense takes down LSU 20-7
The last time LSU visited Texas A&M history was made.
It was two years ago and the Aggies prevailed 74-72 in 7 overtimes.
The game Saturday night at Kyle Field was nothing like that – except Texas A&M prevailed again, this time by a more normal 20-7 margin.
The No. 5 Aggies didn’t provide the College Football Playoff selection committee with the style points they were hoping to, but they improved to 6-1 by smothering the 3-4 Tigers offense.
Isaiah Spiller provided just enough rushing offense, including a 52-yard touchdown, to overcome an off night by Kellon Mond, and the A&M defense chipped in a touchdown of its own.
The Tigers went back an forth between freshman quarterbacks TJ Finley and Max Johnson in the absence of injured Myles Brennan, but neither could generate any consistent offense as the Aggies dominated the line of scrimmage and denied any semblance of a running game.
Texas A&M couldn’t play at Tennessee two weeks ago or against Ole Miss last week because of COVID issues. The layoff and a steady rain that began about an hour before kickoff might have contributed to Aggies’ sub-par offensive performance, but so did improved play by LSU’s much-maligned defense.
The Aggies led 13-0 at halftime and both offenses continued to struggle in the second half.
But Buddy Johnson produced the only points of the quarter when he intercepted Finley and returned the football 15 yards to increase the lead to 20-0.
Johnson led LSU on a scoring drive with under a minute left in the game to avoid the shutout.
After that play, Johnson replaced Finley, who had been benched after committing three turnovers during a 48-11 loss to Auburn last month, for the second time in the game.
It didn’t matter much.
The Tigers had opportunities in the first half, but A&M kept them from scoring.
LSU reached the A&M 35 on its first possession, but Tyrion Davis-Price was stopped for no gain on fourth and 1.
The Aggies scored first on Seth Small’s 41-yard field goal and Spiller added his touchdown that increased the lead to 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Finley lasted 3 possessions before the Tigers turned to Johnson, who had mopped up a 52-24 victory against South Carolina in addition to the appearance against Auburn.
Johnson managed just 1 first down in 2 possessions before A&M threatened to score again. But on fourth and 1 at the LSU 6, Damone Clark knock the ball loose from Mond on a sneak and Spiller recovered for a 9-yard loss.
Finley returned on the ensuing possession and immediately hit Terrace Marshall Jr. for a 54-yard completion.
On the next play, Finley and Kayshon Boutte connected on what was ruled a 31-yard touchdown pass, but the play was ruled incomplete on replay because Boutte didn’t have control of the ball until after he stepped out of bounds.
On the following play, Finley was intercepted by Jaylon Jones.
The Tigers drove to a first down at the Aggies 16 later in the quarter, but stalled there and Cade York missed a 34-yard field goal.
Mond drove A&M into scoring range in the final seconds and Small made a 40-yard field goal as time expired for a 13-0 halftime lead.
My gawd this game was so awful to watch… This team deserves every criticism for just not showing up to play… I’m gonna say it. I wouldn’t even be mad or surprised if Florida ranks ahead of us. Mond showed zero leadership tonight.
Mond is inconsistent. But that defense is for real. Congrats to the Aggies.
Mond is the Doctor Jeykel and Mr. Hyde of college football. The way out offense played tonight, I’m glad we got the Mr. Hyde. Congrats Aggies, but it was an awful game to watch.
Defense was REAL good against Bama.
It really looked like one of those games where the aTm offense was just playing down to the competition. The aTm defense was fantastic though and these games happen from time to time. Most importantly the Aggies moved to 6-1 on the year.
Yes, it reminded me of the first Vandy game. You’re right in that these games happen from time to time. It also reminded me of ND winning 12-7 against Louisville. Hopefully, a different team comes out to play in the Plains next week.
Whew, that makes me happy that I’m not the only one. I thought I was watching the vandy game again. Exept for the defense which was nice to see.
Hey boo, I missed your posts on the Mizzou win over Vandy congratulating the offense and Coach Drink you’ve been bashing the last few weeks. Did you know that the 41 points scored by the Missouri offense was the largest margin of victory they’ve ever had against an SEC team.
I saw you congratulated Sarah Fuller but not the team you’re supposed to be a fan of. Then I see you’re hiding on other team’s stories. smh.
bro get a life
Boo spent a lot of time the last few weeks dumping all over the coach and the Mizzou offense. He’s another know-it-all who doesn’t know. It’s not about getting a life.
Btw, when Mond moves on and atm gets a good qb you all will be a playoff team.
LSU certainly had their chances. Losing the turnover battle 3-0 is a killer. The defense is improving though. Congrats to the Aggies for the win.
Yeah, I thought the defense took a step forward tonight. Good to see it, finally.
Yes the LSU defense looked exactly like the LSU defense people are familiar with. They certainly showed up today and gave the Aggies a lot of trouble. Kudos to both teams’ defenses.
Waycross, no offense guy, but I was speaking to fellow Aggies, unlessx you’re one …it doesn’t matter. LSUMC matters because he’s a brother Marine despite the poor misguided soul being led to LSU. I still have his 6 no matter. Some ties run deeper than college. With Marines, we’ve no choice.
Nice. When I was considering schools for the NROTC scholarship, Texas A&M, Auburn, and Tulane were my top three choices. I ended up choosing LSU mainly because I had more friends there. Had to do cross campus at Southern.
yikes. LSU this year just really makes me so frustrated. On the good side, the defense was pretty good. If the one big play allowed to Spiller doesn’t go, its 13-7 and you could talk about the disallowed TD being the difference maker. It’s all hypothetical, but easily the best from the D since the Vandy game. On the negative, just about everything else. TJ and Max (garbage time doesn’t count right now) were really poor, but the o-line was absolutely horrible. aTm kept running delayed blitzes over and over again with all the success in the world. We were overpowered, physically and mentally, and kept getting pushed around. It worries me we only have 1 lineman in the recruiting class, and I hope O takes notice. The refs were subpar, and that touchdown should have stood, but to be honest 20 penalties wouldn’t have been enough. Numerous holding calls and PI’s were missed on both teams… Ugh.
For all the Bama people out there, I’ll take all bets that Bama beats LSU by 45+…
That was the best defense LSU has faced. I’m not saying Finley should be excused for his mistakes, and I think Johnson has looked more consistent this year. But Finley has a lot of upside, he just needs to learn.
Aggie’s took a page from Auburn’s book, different blitzes totally confused Tigers again. Look what BAMA did to Steele’s Tigers. We’re in for it next week. Congrats to Flott, he and Stingley had great game.
And I agree, Bama is going to walk all over this team.
Congratulations to LSU for a heck of a fight. I would have prefered Haynes King coming in after the half, but hats off to our defense for saving us. And LSU Marine, salute brother.
Semper Fi!!
The QB who owns every single career passing record at Texas A&M being yanked isn’t. I know that you Aggies dislike Mond, but I guess fans have forgotten all those decades of 4-7 and 7-5 seasons in the SWC and Big 12, much of that time barely being capable of a forward pass. Jackie Sherrill nostalgia I guess? Or maybe Dennis Francione! The winningest coach in A&M history: 124 wins, most of them coming in an SWC that wasn’t as good as the WAC/MWC and certainly didn’t merit all those Cotton Bowl invites. Ryan Tannehill: the only A&M QB ever to become a longtime NFL starter, make a Pro Bowl or win a playoff game. And you guys are itching to get rid of Mond as if you win like Alabama or produce star QBs like Florida. (Or even like LSU, Tennessee, Auburn or Georgia.) Amazing.
The defense was the one bright spot for the Aggies. I like the balance that a good team can have one unit down and still come up with a win. The offense should play better the rest of the way now that they’ve had a game to knock the rust off. None of the fans should be worrying about the playoffs. Just win the next game.
Yeeeesh, … that was some ugly football on both sides of the offense. Congrats to A&M for the win, … and to LSU (Bo Pelini) for dramatic improvement on defense.
And to you LSUMC. The rust was heavy tonight, but as long as there are no more postponements, we will be 9-1, and we’ll have Haynes King as quarterback next season. No love lost at Mond’s graduation
AG’s can cuss me on that all they want.
I won’t cuss you. But I will wish for you guys to go back to Francione, Sherrill and Sherman ball when you’d be lucky to get 6 wins in a whole season and your offenses wouldn’t produce 16 TD passes in 2 years. It would be no less than what this fanbase deserves and you guys are making it crystal clear why absolutely no one in the Big 12 misses you.
Waycross I can promise you no Aggie still wants to be in the big xii or even thinks about it. To your comment about mond. Yea for the most part can’t wait for him to go. He doesn’t have that factor that seems to make the offense or team any better. All the close up of him last night and he looked lost as hell on that field. He has played the most snaps of any QB at Kyle field. Yes his receivers did not help him so much, but he has to be more accurate as a 4 year starter.
I’m still hoping Pelini can regain the Bengal defense of old. They’re showing better results from young players.
Aggies, be ready next week. You’re going to the “house of horrors” and the voodoo magic at JHS. Tough to win there. Remember two years ago?
Lolol that made me laugh.
It had better be Max Johnsons team from here on out… if I see one more TJ Turnover snap…q
No more TJ max. I hear the portal calling
A&M will back into the playoffs when ND beats Clemson again
At this rate Alabama, Clemson, ND and Texas A&M are going to be the field. The Big 12 champ will have 3 losses and the Big 10 and Pac-12 teams may not play more than 6 games.
Well, I’m not looking forward to that… I don’t want the team to get embarrassed by Bama again…
There is no, backing into the playoffs.
Mond plays like you’d expect a 4 year starter at a power 5 school to play. He’s not terrible, but he’s not a game changer. He’s above average in the SEC, and with our defense and running game, that’s been enough (except against Bama).
I don’t really buy into Jimbo being a QB guru. If anything, he’s an RB whisperer. Not really a complaint, but I think it’s important to set expectations to a more realistic level. Just capitalize on our strengths and minimize the weaknesses until we can find that absolute star QB.
Not to say we’re on the same level, but that’s kind of been King Nick’s strategy.
Fisher did have all these years to develop Mond and there’s really been not much as we’d all agree. I think though that 50 is what the coaches coach the player and the other 50 is on the player himself. A good coach can pour the glass full but the size of the glass is on the player. I may be wrong but that’s how I see it. Mond is at his limit and no other coaches can take him to the next level.
32% completion rate and 105 yards with little pressure in the pocket should not happen for a guy with his experience. He has been a mediocre qb that at times seems to be close to getting over the hump but just hasn’t been able to do it.
Well that was a football game I guess
Could they find any female soccer players to replace Mond at quarterback? I find it hard to believe they could have played any worse.
The touchdown that was called back was just wrong. It was called a touchdown on the field. There is supposed to be irrefutable evidence to reverse a call. Unless they have some super secret camera that we don’t get to see, they blew it.
Officials were horrible. One holding call on aggies. Really?!?! There were 2 obvious holds on Spillers TD.
Anyway, AM is overrated. Our offense played like crap. They should have killed us. If they think they can win a Natty with that team like the announcers tried to convince us, they are crazy. A QB that completes a third of his passes. Yeah, right.
This year doesn’t count as a year of eligibility so what if Mond decides to come back for what seems like his tenth year.
He did accept the invitation for the Senior Bowl. I kind of assumed that meant he’s not coming back next year. Am I wrong?… (fingers crossed)