LSU didn’t just beat Texas A&M on Saturday night. The Tigers controlled the game so thoroughly that the final 35-6 score almost feels modest.
The numbers tell the whole story, and they’re brutal for the Aggies. LSU finished with 309 more total yards than A&M, a gap that says everything about how one-sided this matchup was from start to finish. On both sides of the ball, Texas A&M looked lost.
The pass rush never showed up. Texas A&M finished with zero sacks, and that absence put even more pressure on a secondary that has already had its problems. Without consistent heat on the quarterback, the back end was exposed again and again.
Marcel Reed’s night was rough in every direction. His QBR came in at 31.3, which ranked 105th out of 129 FBS quarterbacks this week, with only four Power 4 quarterbacks performing worse. He still hasn’t cracked the top half of FBS quarterbacks in any week this season.
The running game offered a little more life, at least if you strip Reed out of the equation. Texas A&M averaged 4.5 yards per carry without him, a sign that the ground game has actually been trending in the right direction after early-season criticism.
But it didn’t matter much with poor pass protection and Reed unable to consistently find open receivers. That combination made the offense stall for the second straight week.
Even the bright spots came with a catch. Tyler White averaged 51.9 yards per punt, and David Olano drilled a 54-yard field goal, which is a hard thing to complain about when the rest of the operation is unraveling. Still, it’s a strange tradeoff for A&M: kicking issues from last season appear to be improving, while nearly everything else around them has regressed.
The offensive grades were just as ugly. The highest PFF rating for any Texas A&M offensive player on Saturday night was 69.9, which is about as blunt an indictment as you’ll find.
And when Reed gave way late to backup Brady Hart, the result only reinforced the problem. Hart’s lone pass was intercepted, a reminder that the Aggies may not have a cleaner answer waiting behind Reed. That’s a tough place to be, and it leaves Texas A&M with eight regular-season games still to play.
In Other News...
Johnny Manziel Just Said What Texas A&M Fans Are Fearing
Johnny Manziels postgame criticism landed with the kind of force only a former Texas A&M star can bring. After the loss to LSU, he took to social media to question what the Aggies are doing right now, and the reaction was not hard to understand. The offense has struggled to find rhythm, the defense has had its own issues, and the overall look has been of a team still searching for something steady to hang onto in SEC play.
For Aggies fans, the uncomfortable part is that the problems do not seem isolated to one side of the ball. Coaching, cohesion and the lack of a clear offensive identity have all become part of the conversation, with the running game looking like one area that could help set a tone if it ever gets going. Until then, the concern Manziel voiced is the same one hovering over the program: the season feels like it needs a reset, and there is no obvious sign yet of where that comes from. [Read more 🡒]
Mario Craver Is Giving Texas A&M Fans A New Reason To Vent
Texas A&Ms rocky start has already left Aggies fans looking for answers after two straight losses erased the momentum of a 2-0 opening, and now receiver Mario Craver has given them another topic to grumble about. The latest frustration came off the field, where Craver drew criticism on social media after liking Instagram photos of Peyton Blomquist, the Florida Gators fan who went viral during Floridas win over Ole Miss.
For a fan base already uneasy about the direction of the season, the timing could hardly be worse. Even a small social media gesture can become a talking point when a team is trying to steady itself, and Cravers online activity landed in the middle of a week when Texas A&M supporters were already searching for reasons to feel better about a 2-2 start. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Fans Wont Love What Elko Is Facing After LSU Loss
A rough night in Baton Rouge left Texas A&M searching for answers after a 35-6 loss to LSU dropped the Aggies to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in SEC play. The offense never found much rhythm, the defense spent too much time on its heels, and the kind of complementary football Mike Elko has been trying to build was nowhere to be found.
Marcel Reeds uneven performance only added to the frustration, but Elko said he is not changing the starting quarterback for now. For a fan base already uneasy about the early conference skid, the bigger concern may be how many areas need fixing at once, from protection and execution on offense to a defense that could not generate pressure or keep LSU from piling up passing yards. [Read more 🡒]