2025 Texas A&M vs LSU | College Football Full Game

Get ready for an electrifying showdown in the 2025 college football season! Witness the full game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the LSU Tigers as these SEC giants collide in a battle of strategy, speed, and sheer willpower. From nail-biting drives to game-changing defensive stands, this matchup delivers non-stop action that every fan won’t want to miss. Whether you’re cheering for maroon or purple and gold, this is college football at its finest—pure intensity from kickoff to the final whistle!#CollegeFootball #TexasAMvsLSU #SECShowdown #Aggies #Tigers #Football2025 #GameDay #CFB

There’s something about this place after dark. Teams don’t just play in Death Valley, they survive it. And since joining the SEC,&m has never escaped with a W. Manzel did not have it. That still stings, but these Aggies are undefeated. Seven and0 for the first time since 94. Unshaken. I swear we taking over. And with unfinished business, baby. 7 and0. In their path, every single soul in Tiger Stadium LSU. So let it be loud. Let them scream. Cuz tonight, the Aggies are not coming in here scared at all. We ain’t running from the valley. We’re coming to own it. We appreciate Johnny football. Johnny Menzel with that trademark bravado coming to own Death Valley as a visitor. Rarely done at night, but they are the favorites according to Las Vegas. Series began in the 1900s. LSU’s had the edge overall. The last eight have all been won by the home team. It’s been tough to go on the road in this series and win. It’s always tough in the SEC, but that that is pretty incredible to think you go all the way back to 1994. And this is a like I said, it’s a desperate football team. And you know what it’s like at night in any stadium in the SEC, let alone Tiger Stadium where you have to have a win if you’re the Tigers. LSU, if they can make something good happened earlier, but increase the belief. It’s weird to have so many locals feel like, ah, we’re going to lose, the season’s over. just not used to hearing that around here this in October. Yeah, especially late this late in the year. But inside that building, they believe and they know what’s at stake here. And for the Aggies, the last of the unbeatens to play today, Georgia Tech, BYU, Indiana won, Ohio State, Navy Idol. And after five unbeatens fell a week ago, Agie’s trying to take care of business here. Brian Kelly has challenged his team. Quit being tentative. Play free, fly around, don’t worry about being over almost like you become so locked in on the analysis tonight. It’s about emotion and playing at home at night. Taking advantage of that different approach, Kirk. Will it produce a different performance? Defense has remained pretty strong. The offense has been sort of a history. Protection for Naspire will be a major issue tonight. Every time you look in there, that little tunnel, see what’s awaiting those players. This is why some guys pick LSU. 101 years old. One of the great spots in all of sports. Harold Perkins alongside Kelly. One of those guys he wants to play with his hair on fire tonight. Here come the Aggies. Mike Elco knows that when the smoke clears, there’s a lot of it right now over this stadium. When it clears, emotion will take a backseat to just execution and doing your job. This is a football team that has a ton of confidence and belief that they think they can come in here and win. It’s not. We hope to catch a break. They think that they have what it takes the wiring to win in here tonight. Well, it is the week that’s approaching Halloween. So, we’ll take you back to 1958. One of the great plays in LSU history. Billy Cannon feels the punt of the bounce against Old Miss. He breaks 29 tackles. The mythology of this play is incredible. It was the only touchdown they scored. It was part of a perfect season, a championship season for LSU back in 1958. They waited 45 years before their next national championship when a guy named Nick Sabin came along. Miles won a title. Coach O won a title. Brian Kelly hasn’t yet. Of course, Alabama last year the only team to beat him in a home night game. Yeah, it’s crazy. 20 and one. And it gives you a great example at this era how tough it is to do it. Down there in the smoke on the field is Holly Roses from Brian Kelly. Well, Coach Kelly, there is something special about Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night like this. Your record here is incredible. How do you make it difficult for Texas A&M to play here tonight? Records don’t mean anything. This is a new day. This is tonight in this stadium. We need the bet the best team for the next three hours. This is a really good football team. Our guys are ready to play. They prepared well. Let’s go play SEC Saturday night. Thanks, coach. Frank Kelly also letting us know some big news. They are going to go with a true freshman running back. Harlem Barry will get his first career start. This is a school boy legend in this state from me, Louisiana. Over 8,000 yards rushing in his high school career. His first start tonight. And coach Kelly said he’s earned it. He’s the most explosive. He’s picked up the pass protection rules. And this young man is ready to rock. 18 years old, comes from a small school down there in New Orleans, as you said, Holly, a legend. More than 8,000 rushing yards, but this is the Aggie defense. This is the SEC. Can’t wait to see how the young guy handles this big stage. I remember him talking about him week one, just like any true freshman. He had the ability to run the football, but he’s really improved in pass pro and that’s why he’s going to get the opportunity to protect Garrett Nusmeer when he passes, run the rock when he gets called upon. LSU is going to get the football first&m won the toss and deferred. Boy, it’s been sloppy and rainy. Now it’s it’s downright pleasant. 74 degrees. A chance of rain, but um not a great chance. Here comes the light show. It is Purple Haze here, right? No doubt, man. Well, the buildup has been great. Ryan Kelly very pleased with how his team has responded to his plea for them to play aggressive, but we’ll see how it translates out here. As you said, the Aggies Many plates are a mature, experienced, composed football team, Jared Zurkel, Kyle Parker, Barry and Brown are deep for LSU. two and the kickoff will sail deep into the end zone. Garren Nusmeer, he’s still been making some sensational throws this year. Did have the five interceptions. What does he have to do tonight against this very aggressive pass rusher that wants to rob him of time and rattle his cage? Well, it’s easy to look at him, but the offensive line’s got to play a lot better. They got to help establish the run game and protect him. But as far as his play, got to be decisive. Get the ball out fast and most importantly stay ahead of the chains&m one of the best in the entire country on third down. Cashes How number nine for the Aggies. One of the top pass rushers in the SEC. He’s a menace. He faked it to the freshman on the first play and then check it down. That’s Boward Sharp, the tight end for a short game. Impact players when LSU’s got the ball. Well, you you talked about Harlem Barry. He gets this opportunity as a true freshman. See what he can do with it. This is a true freshman. Another one. Left tackle. Gary Kern getting a chance to play with Tyrie Adams out. And on defense, York, one of the leaders of this defense. Been around. This his 34 start. And on the edge, freshman to quarterback nine. Cashes. How doing a great job having a big year. These second down plays become important because the Aggies are tremendous on third down. But Barry, the freshman, breaks loose and says, “Yeah, I’m ready for this stage.” Picks up 16. Boy, what a job here. You’ll see a wide receiver coming from the left to be able to pick up this block on the safety. Good job of being able to get down in. In fact, that was the big tight end, Tread Green, that came down to make that block. And then just tough, hard running by the true freshman that we’ve been featuring. And&m gets away with a face mask there late on the tackle. Green catches the ball like a wide receiver, but he blocks. Oh man. Jawan Johnson is the back. They’ll rotate. Four guys in tonight. Nus Meyer flips it into traffic there. Tried to set up the screen, but Damen Sanford, the linebacker, got a hand on it. And when you have a defense that that flies to the football, especially early in the game the way A&M is. I think Joe Sloan there is just trying to get the defense to flow and almost like a no look pass on a slip screen. Fortunate that one was not picked off. Elco very involved. Often will call the defensive signals. Joe Sloan calls the plays for Kelly. Barry back in the game on second and 10. Fourman rush and they got him. Well, four guys beat five and there is Cashes How the Portal from Bowling Green. He is a big problem for everybody who faces this team and this is why both these guys were impact players. The freshman left tackle. That’s a tough ask on a third a second long obvious passing situation. This has been a reoccurring theme for Garrett Nusmeer. Very lucky to hold on to that ball and LSU’s offensive line not protecting him especially on the blind side there with a true freshman. Keep an eye on this matchup. Nusmeer will call a timeout. Curran’s a big dude. 320. He told Nusmeire, “I got you. I’m going to protect you. Not going to touch you.” Well, first deep drop back. They hammered him from behind. Third and 19 when you come back. Well, there’s Cashes Hal who’s talking right now to the true freshman who he went by Curious Kern letting him know before the timeout. Yeah, man. It’s going to be a long night for you, especially if you’re not going to get any help. Davis, the other red shirt freshman tackle comes over. Then he’s looking up receivers. This just gives you an idea of the emotion right now on this field for both these teams. How led the MAC in sacks a couple years ago. Backed up guys like Nick Scorton and Shamar Stewart for the Aaggies last year. Ready for his moment. Here he is again. Look at that stance. Third and 19. That’s Meyer baiting back and scanning and delivers a ball incomplete on the sidelines. Barry and Brown was running, but that pass rush for the Aggies making itself known. Here comes the punt team. You know, this time LSU does try to help with Durham. Little chip, but watch this. He’s still going to go by. Gets held there by the freshman. No call, but you could feel Nusmeer feeling that blind side with a true freshman against one of the best rushers in the country. Cheating to his right even with the chip from Durham. Grant Chadrick to punt it away. Casey Conpsion, one of the electric transfers on this&m team as a receiver and a returner waiting at the 20 and he’ll take it at the 18. Dodges one man, two man. Conceptsion spinning three. He is really dangerous with the football. One of the big impact newcomers on this team. 48 yd punt, but Conpsion brought it back 14 yds. And here comes Marcel Reed as a runner here at the Bayou Bengals a year ago. Much more accomplished as a passer than he was this time for that matchup. Yeah, I his his ability to throw the ball is very underrated. Uh he throws a great deep ball. I think he and Colin Klein the offensive coordinator they’ve done such a good job of working together and putting together a package in the offseason where they can beat you with physicality running the football with him with plus one QB run or if you overcommit with safeties down they’re good enough throwing the ball with the receivers the Conpion and Mario Kramer they can make you pay for that as well. Ruben Owens is the back and he’s got the hand off and plows ahead for a couple of yards. Impact players Kirk and the Agies have the ball. Start with Ruben Owens, especially with Levon Moss out. He carries a bigger load. We just talked about Conpsion. So dangerous. What a great ability to bring in a great playmaker. That’s a look at Moss. And then on the other side, we we got Hy. AJ Hy has been a leads him in tackles. Been a great transfer portal guy on the inside 88. Bernard Gooden probably their best interior Dlineman. He’s a big one tonight. Yeah, he’s been out. Good to have him back healthy. Reed from the pocket delivers across the middle and it’s a crossing right at Conpsion who sprints out of bounds. Got in front of the freshman DJ Picket picked up 13. Marcel Reed dropped. He looked to his left like he might want to take a shot downfield instead. Does a nice job and his offensive line holds up where he can work from his left looking look come back. Now you do a nice job there of separating with Conpsio and able to just run away from the true freshman DJ Picket. He’s going to be tough for them to match up with tonight. LSU once again without their top tackler and emotional leader. Whit Weeks has a bone bruise in his ankle. Not ready to go tonight. They’ll have to fill in for a big void there. Owens stopped for a very short gain. Colin Klein calls the plays for the Aggies. Does a great job doing that. And Blake Baker, they’ve gotten each other four years in a row, twice in the Big 12 in last couple years in the SEC. And we can’t see That’s right. And we can’t see him communicating. He’s going with a little bit of tempo here. There it is. Right now, he’s still has the ability to talk to his quarterback until 15 seconds, even though they’re up at the line of scrimmage, and they have been for about 10 or 15 seconds. Second and nine. Ball act quickly, spit to the edge. It’s Theo Melon Orst, the big Swede and the tight end. First down yardage of the LSU 41. And a nice play design there using motion late. It’s soft coverage. Love the way Marcel Reed just has played all year in command. Such a good field. Very decisive. Anytime you see a quarterback get back and the ball comes out quickly, he feels good about what he’s saying and the answers that his offensive coordinator’s given him. Tight ends a part of this offense. Run blocking of course and also as receivers. Reed buying time. Slings it down field and tried to get it into Orchure. one of those tight ends is an effective weapon, but AJ Holly, one of your impact guys, was tracking it. Yeah, he AJ Holly can do a lot of different things. And one of the great things he does is play center field. Just read the quarterback’s eyes. Good attempt here. Dangerous throw by Marcel Reed because he threw back into the grain of that defense. That’s what gave Housey a chance to be able to catch up to the ball and knock it away. Marcel Reed scrambles to throw. So, defense, you better plaster downfield tonight against Reed. Owens in the pistol on second and 10. LSU’s showing some pressure. Got to hurry here. Play clock at one. Reed rolling out and wanted to launch downfield. Just takes off. Marcel Reed racing to the pylon. Makes a cut and dives for the end zone. Touchdown A&M. The electric quarterback strikes early from 41. Now this is undisiplined eyes from the second level of the LSU defense. Make sure he gets across here at the end. Kind of gets tripped, dives clearly across and a touchdown. And this is the danger, the unpredictability of Marcel Reed. He plays within the confines of the offense but also does a great job at creating. And you know Blake Baker, he’s a great defensive mind, but his teams can struggle against a mobile quarterback. He had a 60-yard touchdown sprint against Arkansas unless we call back, but he is a danger from anywhere on the field to score with his legs. Absolutely, Chris. What I want you to watch is you got both the safeties just keep an eye rather watch them kind of get caught looking in the back field. They’re not there. Nobody’s mirroring him. Nobody has him really ability to kind of keep him leveraged. He gets out. The back end of the defense is in man coverage and he’s got the speed not just to pick up a first down. He takes off. He’s thinking about the end zone and he’s got&m up early here at Tiger Stadium. Sunday NFL countdown production meeting. Randy no Lamar again tomorrow going against the Chicago Bears. If they lose this game tomorrow, their season is over. See you tomorrow morning at 10. Chris and Herby, back to you. Thanks, Hines, fellas. Appreciate that. But what a start for&m. Pass rush gets home. Pushes LSU back and the Aggies go right down the field. 68 yds in six plays. Longest run of Reed’s career. Remember he had three rushing touchdowns against LSU last year. Arian Brown tries to bounce it. Does get the edge and the former Kentucky Wildcat out near the 30. This LSU defense continues to struggle against QBs who can run. That’s three games in a row coming in. Yeah, of course. Marcel Reed had a monster day last year. We we called the game with Milro when he came in here. And then you mentioned this year Chamblas, Diego Pavia. These are two really athletic and talented quarterbacks. Sellers also hurt him. That’s right. Sellers and already early here. Marcel Reed sees man coverage. Nobody spying him and uses his instincts and speed to get to the to the end zone for a big touchdown. the Aggie band and the fans and they’re prehear a pretty good number making noise as Harlem Barry came close to breaking a long one. Picked up five on first down. Yeah, I think you know you think of the spirit of this LSU team coming in a little bit of a wounded team as far as emotional uh support and way they felt. Now you’re down 7 nothing. This is an opportunity to answer and Joe Sloan the play caller electing to go not necessarily break neck speed tempo but trying to get a little bit of a rhythm established here. Two by two and now Kyle Parker comes in motion. So three wide receivers to the right of Musmeer. They run it and Barry winning hard and it’s a first down across the 35. Picked up six more. Yeah, good job up front. I’ll tell you, we got a battle going right now in the trenches. Brilland Moore that time taking on Tori and York. Just a huge collision. A linebacker 21 right there. Knocks him on his backside. So York 21. If you like physicality, you watch LSU when they try to run the ball. Just keep your eye in the middle. 21. Watch how quick he gets downhill. I like everything about 21. How he communicates his confidence, his command of this defense. Dus Meyer long pitch to the perimeter and a catch made by Brown who scoops out of bounds. He He can still throw a lot of beautiful balls when you give him a little time. Thus Meer. Yeah. And also he felt that run pass option. He could have handed that ball off or flipped it to the outside. Did a nice job of reading the safety. Tried to trick him. Tyreek Chappelle did a good job of kind of sitting in there and then dropped in almost into that passing lane. But the RPO pays off for a first down. proposal last year, right? Sometimes making the wrong choice in the RP. He knows it. He knows he’s improved in that area. Yeah. Yeah. He made a great great decision and an accurate throw there for yards after the catch. For sure. As rush comes, ball pitched to the perimeter here. This is Jawan Johnson, the running back. Makes a couple guys miss and is going to be spun down at midfield. Had to work hard. York made the stop. Not a ton of yards, but right now Joe Sloan’s just trying to feel how&m’s going to try to play. and Mike Elco, one of the great defensive minds in all of college football. And they’re going to disguise and get a second year in this system with a veteran secondary. They say the strength is the defensive line this year for Mike Elco, but experience on the back end really allows him to get exotic and play with a quarterback and offensive line’s minds, especially if they get you behind the sticks. Ball out quickly and caught at the end by Perez Green. When you got the uh the play sheet up over the micro, it indicates that he’s talking to the Green Dot. York. So, it’s a strong indication he’s actually calling the defenses recently here. Yeah, there a lot of guys who are head coaches that they don’t want to let go of it. Mike Elco doesn’t want to let go of it. And why should he? He’s he’s one of the best that that that can do it. Love LSU. Some quick throws. Get the ball out. Don’t deal with that pass rush. And if you have a cushion from the corner, just take the easy yards. Four different receivers have caught passes already. Es Meyer zips a quick throw and Aaron Anderson the dangerous small receiver picks up eight Chappelle made the tackle. Yeah, Chappelle has really good instincts right here. But what I love is location slowing down on the outside on the outside shoulder to use his body to shield Chappelle away from the ball. That’s thrown to the inside. He’s got a hand on it outside gives him a chance to kind of sink. meanwhile use his hips and his back to keep the DB away from him. He zip that pass right between two leaping Aggie defenders. Second and two is where they want to be against this defense. Nusmeire will take a downfield shot. Launches down there for Brown and it’s incomplete, but a flag comes out. Dez Ricks was in coverage. Yeah, he lost the football. Just makes contact near the end of the play. So they’ll get the PI. An aggressive approach though, Kirk. They make a nice gain on first down and already an opportunity. Pass interference. Take a shot downfield. Defense number two. 15 yd penalty. Automatic first down. One of those tall and long corners for the Aggies against some very fast LSU guys on the edge. Yeah, especially Brown. He can get downfield. See his head looks for it at the end, but his hands are up. There’s just a no chance you’re not going to call that. And heck of a job. Joe Sloan uses motion. See how he’s able to move. Now he gets a different matchup. Now he’s able to go downfield against Ricks where he either gets the PI or possibly the touchdown. So Kirk now Ricks is out. Julio Humphrey takes his place. Second down. Slant Green big fella bracketed. Tough to bring down. Trade Green to the 5 yd line. First and goal. Got 14 that time. See a little kind of a little play action with with Nusmeer. Watch his little pitch this way. Watch the linebackers react. Now that he creates creates even a bigger lane and chance for yards after the catch by the big tight end, Green. See all that space in there. Boy, he’s a big body at 67, but like you said, has wide receiver skill set and has really been coming on here these last few weeks. And LSU punch it in. Yaggies have been stout down in the red zone. Four receivers bunch to the right. They go back to the left. Green jump ball. That was easy. Trey Dez Green a red zone weapon. What a drive for Nusmeire. Surgical. Well, if you wanted to keep this crowd in the game after the Aggies scored in the fashion in which they did, you needed an answer. And that’s what Garrett Nusmeer did. Watch this. He’s covered. Chris, look at this. He still says, “Uh-uh. He’s never covered.” In fact, that’s what they tell him. 14 is never covered. Have the confidence. Put it up high where he can make a play on it. Heck of a job there to try to get the right hand in there to knock the ball away by Will Lee, but he’s able to secure it. And the Tigers have an answer. Big body, strong hands. Ramos for the pat six for six on that 74 yd answering touchdown drive. Good start here in Baton Rouge. Seven apiece Aggies and Baygles. saw Tes box out his opponent in the end zone. Great hooper playing defense. Playing defense. Finishes and then he’s on the football field doing amazing things. He’s covered but he posts him up. Goes up and over Will Lee. for LSU’s first touchdown. Love how he finished that catch. They did a good job getting hands on that. Had two guys over there. There was no mystery there going that way. Yeah, two guys covered quote unquote never covered is what Joe Sloan tells Garrett Nelson. Earl kick off the goal line taken by Terry Busy and Busy Russell down across the 27 play by Vanilla. The first drive for the Aggies. Couple completions then the big touchdown run. Yeah, really good job of coming into a hostile environment and relied on your quarterback to make some good decisions. Had a nice couple nice completions, looked really comfortable and then did a nice job here taking advantage of some bad eyes. Man coverage linebackers didn’t leverage him. He’s able to sneak out the back door. He’s so dangerous in the open space. LSU fans know from last year where he ran for three touchdowns off the bench. A lot of zone read that was just a straight up scramble for touch. Holly, you also super impressed with Reed when you visited with him yesterday. Well, that’s right. His confidence is off the charts. And I asked him, “Where does it come from?” He said, “I’m I was so good at different sports growing up. I just learned to be competitively confident. I love away games. Come on, I want it.” He really was challenging these fans. Hand off inside to Mariam Marorrow. Part of that deep rotation. We’ll see four or five different Aggies carry the football. And he got 11 yards that time. Shirles his mom. She’s the maybe the sports mom of the year there. Every game. Yeah, this isn’t this one. There’s dad. Yeah, this is there. I’ve had a chance to to know that that family. There’s mom right there. I’ve known this this family for a long time. It’s incredible to watch. Marcel Reed is the same guy here coaching or playing for this team as he was as a youngster. Just very poised, almost just a flatline personality as a competitor. Good protection and incomplete. tried to zip it to Marorrow that time with a flat low throw. A lot of guys say, “Oh, I love away games. I want to come in here and silence the crowd.” You have to back it up though. You have to be unusually composed to do that. And they’ve done, like I said, last year he was a surprise. Kind of a change up in the second half of the year. This year, they had an entire off season to build their offense, not only around him, but Casey Conpsion, Mario Craraver coming through the portal. This is no longer a team that just runs the ball. He’ll take shots downfield. It’s a very balanced attack. Reed on the keeper after the breakout game against LSU. Went on the road, won his first real big road start in the swamp, no less. That’s right. Tough environment. Watch How’s here, Chris. He has a chance if he’d like to. This is basically a pitch. If he comes up, just think if he throws that football right there down that right sideline. a triple option football out on the perimeter. Instead of pitching it, that DB collapses on you, you have that option to flip it downfield. EJ Smith, his sixth year of college football, the first four at Stanford. His second you here with the Aaggies, of course, son of EMBT as the bat. Third and eight. Seven guys up. Are they all coming? Who’s dropping? Six of them come. Ball out. Reed completes it and Casspion slips free. A big gain into LSU territory. What a route by Conpsion. Really did a nice job of selling this. Keep in mind Delane one of the top corners. I think the top corner in the country. Look how he shakes him right there. That’s a great matchup of good against good. Not only the great route, but how about the yards after the catch when he catches the ball in space. I think he’s a running back with that kind of skill set that he has. Shout out to Smith, too. The running back stepped up and blocked the blitz very nicely by Shan Spears that time. We fake it to EJ Reed again. Dances free. It’s so hard to contain. He’s got the speed, but he’s also got a lot of wiggle. Missed tackle by Harold Perkins that time. Yeah, Per Perkins is playing more linebacker tonight. They want to see him, you know, didn’t have a great game last week. But he’s got to be able to make plays in space. Much easier set up here than down on the field trying to rip at the ball. There was Tamarcus Culie, but a heck of a job by Marcel Reed. Not just the movement being elusive, but the awareness to take care of that ball. Perkins was the green dot. They made a change. Didn’t have to worry about the coach’s communication. They want him just to play fast because he wasn’t playing fast in that game against Vanderville. And he is a very fast guy. They’re trying to get him going tonight. Yeah, I think they felt as a defense they were thinking a little bit too much and and almost paralyzed from overthinking. So, it was a big focus this week moving him back to linebacker just trying to turn Perkins loose. Really, the entire defense loose right now, two series in, they clearly have their hands full against Marcel Reed in this Aggies offense. Now, it’s Mari Daniels turn in the back field. The fourth Aggie tail back to see action. Reed pitches far side. Terry Busy is a versatile piece. At one point he was a DB for the Aggies. Played running back last year. Also have to play receiver. First down. First down. Heck of a job here by Nivel clearing out kind of a flood to just kind of clear that that corner that take takes him with them. And first I thought you might see Marcel Reed take a shot downfield. Watch him kind of he wants to then he comes down basically a check down. But with these receivers, just check it down and let them do the work after the catch. Eighth play of the drive. Reed in command here so far in Tiger Stadium. Short throw off target. Mario Craraver, another electric newcomer. Came from Mississippi State. Craraver and Conpsion have been hard for opponents to handle this year. Yeah, they you sometimes you hit in the portal nowadays, sometimes you miss. They they hit two. This is the red zone, tied for 16th in the country, 20 of 27. Having an elusive quarterback definitely helps when it comes to this area. It’s either a quick decision or as we’ve seen, make him tacker tackle Marcel Reed. It’s a second and 10 run and keeps it off the left side. Jacobian Gillery knocked him down. It’s going to be third down and long now for the Aggies offense here in the red zone. That’s a lot to ask of Gillery who’s 320 lbs. Had an Achilles a year ago, but anytime you’re 320 and you’re trying to chase down Marcel Reed, that’s a great play that get him to third down. Final minute of this first quarter. Three snap maneuvering here. Play clock at six. Tigers back off. Reed tries to make a play in the move. Throws it in zone. Touchdown KC Conpsion from 15 yds out. And&m back on top. Well, again, what a job by this offense. Patrick Payeyton looked to have a a chance at getting to him, but Marcel Reed has more strength than he realized. He’s able to pull away from that threat and had a really good feel of when to get out of it. And then the eyes downfield, we mentioned he’s wants to scramble to throw and he hits it. Conpsio, it was interesting. They they said they had to convince him to come watch a practice. Elco said he’d watch Reed run around and thought, I’m not going there if the guy’s a running quarterback. No, no. Come watch this guy throw in practice. He did. He was sold. Absolutely. Let’s take a look at the AT&T clicker. There’s a trips formation to the right. And he’s to the inside right here. The pressure will come from here and you’ll see him step up away from that. But watch Conpsion. He kind of sells it like he’s going to the outside then gets vertical. There’s the pressure. Good job of the red shirt freshman giving him a chance to survive. Now instead of taking off, he sees Conpio, who by the way, the entire time alone in the back, space to work with, on time, and a good job of stepping back to his quarterback to make sure that’s a touchdown. Seventh touchdown reception for number seven, and the Aggies two for two, 75 yards in 10 plays. They’ve all been watching this for a long time. Like I said, his dad’s a coach. Was a coach for a long time. Head coach at in town there in Nashville at MTSU. That was a tough coach, wasn’t he? Coach in high school. He said, “I wanted to ride home from my high school games with mom.” Said, “Mom, could you please drive to the game so I don’t have to ride home with dad cuz dad would always find fault no matter how well he played.” That’s crazy. Holly, well, you see that onfield chemistry with Marcel Reed and Casey Conception. And Marcel said, “I was just over at his house Wednesday. They’re at each other’s house two or three days a week. In fact, Casey got to campus first this summer. It was this winter was texting him like, “Hey, when are we throwing? When are we throwing?” And you can see that brotherhood off the field has started to really develop into chemistry on the field. They knew exactly where each other were in that moment because of that relationship. And you know, Holly, it’s amazing. Every year these these teams that end up kind of the cream starts to rise. There’s always those stories about the quarterback and the receivers when no coaches are around, nobody’s around putting in those hours in that June and July time frame. Now, Nusmeire, who’s put in plenty hours with his guys, trying to answer again. Harlem barely dunking down for a short game. We saw the Tigers respond with an answer when it looked like&m might be able to really silence the crowd. and they were able to drive the link to the field and put a touchdown on the board. Very few offenses have had this kind of success against LSU’s defense. They they’ve struggled to score points, but the defense has been stout. Major challenge tonight. Nusmeer probably can sense that. It’s going to take quite a few points to win this game and he finds Aaron Anderson for 14 yds. Entertaining, frenetic first quarter here on the bayou. 14-7 Texas A&M after one. Be back after this message and a word from your local ABC station. You are watching the SECC on ABC tonight. Seven of the second quarter in Baton Rouge, the SEC on ABC. And Saturday Night Football presented by Capital One. The night cap of another wildly entertaining day in the SEC. Texas was down 17 in the fourth quarter. Silenced the Cowbells, one in overtime. How do they do that? And they saved their season. Yeah, I I gave up on that one. I was on the bus with you. I thought we almost flipped that one off. If it was over, it would have been a third loss for the preseason number one. Barry, solid start to this game for the freshman. His first career start picks up four. Such an emphasis against Mike Elco. It’s always important, but such an emphasis tonight about avoiding third and long against Elco’s defense. Got that means first and 10 success. Getting that second and six, second and seven, and then getting to the third and manageable. Fourman rush. They twisted and they got home. And Cashes How has knocked down Nuspire for a second time tonight. Yeah, it’s slow to get up, but they go empty. Means you only have five offensive linemen. Here’s a red shirt freshman going against one of the best pass rushers. Not a back, not a tight end, nobody to help out. They didn’t even have to blitz. How right now is just a handful off the edge. He’s lined up on both sides. He’s beaten both the young tackles, Kerna and also that time Davis. The plan, Brian Kelly and Joe Sloan both told us was to help out those tackles, not leave him alone against how not been able to do that so far. Two sacks already for number nine. Nusmeire long pitch and it’s broken up. Reaching around was Will Lee the third and it’s fourth down. Yeah, that that’s that’s the experience of Will Lee. It’s his 20th start. Came over from Kansas State where he had nine starts and he knows to down in distance exactly. He almost pre-maturely starts to come back right where that first down marker is and then gets the right hand on it. Really good look at that right hand. No P no PI worked around the body and knocked it away. So that’s two LSU possessions that have been wrecked by Cashes. How on that pass rushion just came up with a touchdown back to return the punt waving for the fair catch at the 16 yd line. And Marcel Reed, they haven’t solved him yet. They didn’t solve him in the second half last year and not so far in the first quarter here tonight. Monday Night Football in Kansas City as Mahomes and the Chiefs host the Washington Commanders who will start Marcus Mariota. Heisman are filling in for the fellow Heisman guy Jaden Daniel still out at 8:00 Eastern as well. Commander is a very talented team that obviously been dealing with some injuries, but don’t look now. But here comes Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and the Chiefs and Andy Reid starting to play some really good football in recent weeks. No doubt. Aggie’s third possession. They’re two for two and Reed looking for more. It’s a low throw. Mario Craraver gets involved with his first catch. Comes back and grabs it for an 11 yd gain. He got a little bit of pressure that time on the blind side, but he did a heck of a job there, not letting that really impact him at all. This guy is so different from where he was a year ago when he would come in to play and the most of his opportunities were a lot of zone read game. His offense is built around his arm, his ability to execute, look in process quickly, and of course, you still sprinkle in him in the run game. Uh-oh. Ball is loose and they have to go back and dive on it. Recovered there by Ruben Owens, the running back. They’ll lose 11. Fu just snapped the ball. I think everybody on the offense, including Marcel Reed, very surprised that that ball was snapped. Yeah, Nabu, he’s looking he’s looking out to bring the motion over. It can get loud in this place. Communication can be a challenge. They were lucky that hit his arm. If that didn’t hit his arm, it rolls free and gives LSU an even better chance to recover it. Second and 21. Reed threw it right to a defender. A diving play on the ball by PJ Woodland. They’re saying incomplete, but a dangerous throw. Rare mistake like that from Reed almost was disastrous. Sure was. Mario Craraver starts to work outside and I think that’s what surprised him. Ball definitely hits the ground. It’s called incomplete on the field, but the the miscommunication. Crver started to work out. You can see there to the outside and by the time what right when he started to move to the outside, that’s when the ball came out of the hands of Reed. Wow. The first two possessions for the Aggies so clinical resulting in touchdowns. This one’s been a little chaotic. And now third and 21. LSU only a three-man rush. They drop eight and they still pressure Reed who’s harassed and has to throw the ball away in the end zone. Jamari Butler got there with a threeman rush. Not a good series for the Aggies up front at all. No. But if you’re an LSU fan, this is what you’ve been waiting for. Turn them loose. Brian Kelly told us that’s the message to this defense. It’s really one of the first times these last couple plays we’ve seen that what a job there of finishing and rushing with three. He had obviously nowhere to go with the football and Butler forces that ball out. He was lucky it wasn’t intentional grounding. He just outside of the end zone so it would not have been a safety. So the misfire on the snap, the breakdown and protection. Tyler White standing at his oneyd line to boot it away. Xavian Thomas very dangerous returner for LSU standing at his 40 and they just get it off before the play clock and it’s blocked by bouncing out of the back of the end zone. LSU comes up with a safety as special teams play. Caleb Jackson flying in to make the block off the edge. They got an overload to the right. Look at the late movement. That late movement by those two defenders at the second level freed up Caleb Jackson to get through. What a welldesigned allout punt block. And the way the lefty White very methodical on that, but a free runner gets home and LSU on the ropes defensively comes up with a stop and now the pump block for the safety. So the lead is now five. This place has come back alive. Momentum on LSU’s side suddenly. No doubt about it. Mike Elco and and the Aggies had taken a crowd out of the game with the way their offense was playing and special teams. LSU’s defense making a plays, rushing three, dropping eight. You can see how frustrated not only you give up a safety, but you lose momentum and now this place is back alive again. Patrick Jordy is the special teams coach. You can read lips perhaps from Elco. He said bleeping untouched and he was right. So Zurkl the free kick it from the 20. Brown standing at the 15. Pretty good boot. And Brown, escapes briefly, but not as good a field position as they’d hoped for maybe at the 33. And let’s let’s not forget they they went backwards. That bad snap. They were first and 10 and the snap surprises Marcel Reed. Now you’re way behind the sticks. Now you change keeping your own territory. Instead of first and 10, you pick up a few yards. Everything’s been going great. Now you’re second forever and you go into a little bit more of a conservative mode. So that bad snap definitely caused that turnover, at least the safety. Nusmeer will try to keep this momentum rolling now. Barry very much the feature back tonight in his first start. Picks up three. Daltton Brooks made the tackle. See Regis 17, a fixture in the middle of this defense up front. He he got a hold of of the freshman Barry and then soon as he came off the tackle, he put his hands up. I didn’t get the face mask. I did not get that face mask. Hayden Durham spells him now. been hampered by an ankle injury. He did get the face mask even though he came up like like a foul. Oh, wasn’t me. It was That’s a dead giveaway when you start doing that. Off the play fake. Pressure comes and it’s a check down. A low throw. He had Green open. Nmire would like to have that throw back. Kind of backpedaling as they closed in on him. Oh, if he just laid it out there, it was a slide route right away. You could see Green kind of works out here. You just don’t see right now just floated. Nobody’s out there with him. A breakdown in coverage from&m. They lost him. You see this all the time in college and pro football. That that slide round on the backside out in the flat. Nobody ran with him and he missed it. Surrounded by green grass. Get it out early. Had the ball gotten to him. So instead of a big game, it’s third and seven. Aggie showing pressure and they bring it. Ball is out quickly and the catch is made, but Kyle Parker is drilled right away. This a three-yd game. Chappelle showed up to make the play and it’s fourth down again. What What is Mike Elco known for? Create Oh, there’s concern obviously been hurt all year. Yeah, that’s that left ab that’s the injury that really plagued him, affected how he threw the football appear to be holding that area. Kirk, you can see real quick on his replay. Bring the pressure late. free man on the left. That’s the hit that really caused the the pain. He also gets stepped on. Kind of a kind of a microcosm of his season and one play. Yeah, you’re right. Cuz he was holding his helmet, but he’s also had his hand down on that abdominal area which was so painful. He was describing yesterday how it affected the way he threw the ball that every time he would kind of torque his body, it would be painful. Also has been dealing with ankle as well. So just tough guy. Not not being attended to. Headset back on. Yaggies take over. Still up five. missed last night, which I know crushes you to miss this. This is great fun. This is not fun for Nusmeire. Watch the blitz here. Three gets hit and then watch what happens. Marcus Rackliff right there accidentally on the helmet. Brian Kelly when we were away, you know, he’s talking about three separate times my quarterback’s getting hit. You got to take care of him. It’s up to you. You got to protect him. They said James Carter told him that it’s your responsibility to call it. Reed from the pocket, crossing route and they continue to use the tight ends effectively. Orstrom got out there. Big gain out near midfield. Second catch tonight for the Swede. We just saw LSU run a tight end opportunity to go out in the flat. This time he just dragging underneath. Miscommunication. Nobody there to be able to pick him up and Reed recognized that pretty quickly and got the ball out. 21 yd chunk to get the drive going. Dear Mororrow on hard to the left, picks up just a couple. West Weeks older brother of Whit is out trying to step up. Number 33, one of the three Weeks brothers is on the team. Yep. He’s got to do a lot there in the middle. Remember, he’s playing with Perkins next to him with Weeks. You’re talking about the the heart and soul of this defense and the entire team. There’s a look at him right there. Hopefully be back for Bama in a couple weeks. I think that’s their hope. They have a buy next week. Marorrow motions back into the back field and the flag. And it’s going to be a movement by&m receiver Craraver. False start. Offense number 71. 5 yd penalty. Second down. Way too many penalties on Elco’s offense early in the season. Penalties like that holding penalties were a problem and uh they cleaned it up lately. It’s actually left the left guard. You had a a receiver and a lineman just barely moving. So, second and 12. Reed zips it to the sidelines and the catch made by Craraver. Knocked out of bounds near midfield. Picked up five. Makes it a more makeable third and seven now. Yeah, by using that motion allowed him to be able to get a little bit more of a soft cushion. They just pick up a few yards, but still looking at a very difficult third and seven. Remember LSU, they rushed three and got home. Saw Butler force the ball out last possession. Crowd trying to make a difference. Pressure comes. Reed steps up and launches. One-handed grab by Ashton Bethl Roman still running. Bethl Roman, the red shirt freshman, gets involved. Makes a huge play. Brought pressure up the middle. But watch them pick this pressure up. Gives Marcel Reed a great pocket to be able to step up in. Heck of a job. Whoa, very close to taking that chance of going up and over the defender, but it pays off. just clears PJ Woodland and a third down and seven conversion and one of the great catches of the weekend by Roman got 47 son of Greg Roman. So first and goal Reed zips it incomplete. It was a fast ball off the hands of Conpion Woodland was in coverage. Got that in there. there. He had a chance looking it off. Comes back to the to the backside which is right on the money over again the safety. It’s a couple throws he’s taken a chance on and able to get through that that second level. He can spin it as they say. Oh yeah, he can. Remember his legs always a threat down here. You better spy him. Hands off and Smith initial contact able to move forward, but it’s going to be third and goal. Got just a yard. Gillery on the stop. Yeah, Patrick Payton made that play. Not going to get credit for it, but completely blew that tight end up. What do you do now if you’re the Tigers? You obviously got to keep an eye on 10. It’s an empty backfield as it stands right now. Of course, you give him the threat. Let spread the field out. give him a chance to throw it or take off and test that LSU defense. Big cushion on the left here. LSU defender standing in the end zone almost enticing him to throw it to that side and say he throws a pick over the middle. Picked off by Holly. Hoy all the way out to the 25. So Reed makes a mistake and LSU with a huge takeaway. Well, normally you would see Patrick Payeyton in there to to blitz or to rush off the edge. This time he he it he shows pressure and then he backs out and Marcel Reed’s taking a few chances. I don’t know if he got a fingertip on him or not, but Howy does a good job of just reading the eyes of Marcel Reed. Brought him over right in that passing lane and he comes up with a pick. AJ Hall, he’s a ball hawk. He’s being looked at in the medical tent, but his second pick for LSU, ninth of his career. Huge moment as LSU comes up with a takeaway when the Aggies were trying to extend the lead to double digits. Gusmeer took a beating last time remember back in the game. Flips it down and Bower Sharp the tight end is going to be tackled behind the line. Lost two. You and I were looking at this at the break. How’s he does a nice job here, but I think Marcel Reed makes a mistake by predetermining to throw this football to the tight end. A little stick nod and I think he thought he would beat the linebacker, but he lost sight of the safety. Howy who’s just reading his eyes and playing center field came right over to step in front of that throw. So the first mistake of the night by Reed. He was a ball hawk at the Houston Cougars. Seven picks there and now two for LSU. Durham runs inside. It appeared that he injured his shoulder. You can kind of lip read one of the athletic trainers somewhere as he was knocked down. Paid a visit to the medical tent. Now he’s back out. Holly, what do you have? Hey, my source is down here telling me stinger. He should be fine to go back in. Okay, that’s good news. Appreciate your sources, Holly, and your reporting. But suddenly, you know, again, the defense makes a play. Krook, they got momentum behind the six now. Third and 13 here. Everything they want to avoid. It’s been a problem all year. The average on the year 7.7, which is a long way on third down. Aggies have forced opponents into a whole lot of third and long. That’s why they have the best third down defense in the country. Just 23%. They break down these third down situations. offense number zero 5 yd penalty third down and there’s a huge tape of third and seven plus against this&m defense that’s right that’s right and that’s why they’re one of the tops in the country they’re third in the nation in third down defense you come into the night averaging LSU’s offense 7.7 on third down which isn’t great fact it’s 114th in the country tonight they’re averaging about third and 14 on the night tough to keep the ball was a big emphasis of Brian Kelly talked to us about converting and possessing the football. How about third and 18 after the penalty? Aggies rush four. Ball out quickly, but a long way for Aaron Anderson to go. And he’s going to be bumped out by Chappelle. So, here comes the punt team. Yeah, he’s going to be fired up. Some booze from the crowd. And there’s a flag down in the secondary. It’s in the area where it could be perhaps defensive holding down there. It’s a long way from where the quarterback was. Xavon Thomas was downfield trying to make a block and he and the&m defender Chappelle were kind of going back and forth grabbing the jerseys. Personal foul. Unnecessary roughness against the defense. 15 to the end of the run. First down. Wow, that’s a crusher. The punt team’s on for LSU and a dead ball. Personal foul gives LSU new life to the 42. I think it might have been Dez Ricks who was really on the bench of the LSU sideline and it came well after the play. Let it roll and then you’ll see couple defenders go into the sideline. Watch right here. A little push. Number two up to the right of the screen. Yep. Up to the right. And now Nusmeire taking a shot downfield. Looping throw. Catch made by Barry and Brown. Deep shot. He beat Ricks that time and LSU was set up. Well, good job here by Nusmeer. He gets a safety kind of cheating up so he’s got one-on-one. He just puts it up for his receiver. What an adjustment late. I don’t even know how he saw the football. 41 yd strike. Jeez, what a catch. Caught through the hand fighting of Ricks. And I don’t think he saw that ball until the last few moments to be able to secure it. LSU receivers a lot of drops this year among the leaders nationally. Not a great record on contested catches. That was highly contested that time and Brown did a tremendous job. What a swing. That personal foul. We We think it was Rick’s, not clear, but gives the Bio Bengals new life. And then a 41 yd strike and they’re going to be set up in the red zone here. Another look here. Well, I think we’re going back. Dez Ricks gave up this big pass and you go two plays earlier. there. I don’t think he cared for for that little push there by Barry Brown and then he responded. It was his response that got the call that kept this drive alive. And the very next play, they go right after him again, right after Dez Ricks. Same matchup. It was Brown blocking. This time he’s going downfield and makes what a what an incredible catch this is. Pretty good coverage by Ricks. What a one-on-one battle on the edge between these two guys. just caught it with his right arm and hand. First down from the 17. Nusmeer steps up, throws Enzo. He almost threw a pick. Tracking back across was Dalton Brooks, the safety. You know, you you see that throw right away, you think, boy, what’s he thinking? But I think it was tipped up close near the line of scrimmage. Yeah, that ball clearly is tipped. Looked like an easy pick for Brooks, who’s a really good athlete. But right there, that ball’s going to go anywhere. Zone defense. Eyes on the ball. He just doesn’t secure it. Only two picks on the year for&m’s defense. Now they hand it off to Barry. And the freshman bursting down inside the five. Brian Kelly said he’s earned the start and he looks the part 13 yds. Great job on the right side. Josh Thompson a Northwestern transfer and Weston Davis combination block and then on the back side he’s able to kind of locate. This is really good vision for a true freshman. Just kind of presses the hole and then waits for that blocks to be established. Colen Eckles who was involved in that block is now having his ankle looked at on the field. It’ll be first and goal for LSU. The stride extended by the penalty and the big 41 yd strike to set it up. Looks like he’ll have a chance to be able to come back at left guard, but that right side with Davis and Thompson, a great block. The left guard spot’s been a problem all year for LSU. But I tell you, against this sophisticated&m defense holding up pretty well. You got a true freshman at left tackle. You got a red shirt freshman at right tackle against this defense. That is tough. Paul Mubena steps in for Eckles. Empty backfield. Four receivers stacked to the right. Got Green off to the left. He threw it that way before. Now Nusmeire is going to run it. Nusmeire tried to weave his way inside. Had to bounce it back and he’ll take a loss. Noah male the tackle for loss. Yeah, nice job here on the edge. I think that’s really what blew up the timing of this. He needs to sell this as a pass, but he just doesn’t have the time to do it. Got penetration so quickly it forced Nusmeer, who by the way has been dealing with all kinds of injuries. They want him to use his legs when it’s ready. That’s a designed QB draw to catch the defense off guard with that quad formation. But they were ready. Second and goal. Barry hesitation, makes a cut. Freshman in the end zone. LSU reclaims the lead. Boy, the back showing some great vision on these last few plays. They warned us, players and coaches telling us about Harlem Barry and what he could do. They wanted some energy in this run game. Well, fans of St. Martins’s Episcopal High School, which is a 1A school, said, “We could have told you. We could have told you Barry was good and he was ready for this.” But you can’t overstate. You can see Elco’s face how disappointing that was from the&m perspective. That that penalty as the pat by the way doinks off the upright and the lead is still one. Ramos very reliable kicker. They got a piece of it looked like before it hit the upright. So special teams on both sides a little shaky at the moment. Let’s take a look at the AT&T connected clicker. You’re going to see a DN collapse down. There’s no edge to the defense and really good vision by this freshman. See how he presses the hole, but he’s not just going to run it right into the teeth. Instead, he’s able to find grass to the backside. Sees that in had collapsed and then it’s just him hitting north and south and having a nose for the for that goal line. Really good vision, good instincts. You can just see it as a true freshman. Tory and York very productive tackle. He was right there kind of trying to break it down and freshman said I’m too quick for you. Here’s what happened on the extra point. Look like it was partially deflected. Is it was it Regis in there? May have gotten a hand before it dked. But anyway, LSU 75 yd penalty aided drive in eight plays and LSU back on top by one. Ali, impressive play so far from Harlem Barry. That’s right. We talked to the coaches. You know, you come in this heralded from me, Louisiana to a place like LSU and they said he has no diva behavior. He is a hard worker. He’s quiet and he is really into being better every week. He’s earned this start. But I actually talked to his mom before the game, Tamika. She was so excited for him to get the start. And I said, “What do we need to know about your young man off the field?” She said, “He’s a praying young man. He’s out here making some really great moves so far. He looks comfortable. He’s He’s You know, they told us in week one when we had him against Clemson what kind of talent he was. But as Holly just talked about, has worked diligently to like any true freshman back to get better in pass protection and understand the offense, the little nuances of it, and but they can trust him late in the year. You’re seeing that as a pass catcher. That was natural. He caught a lot of passes in high school, but pass pros. So that that’s what you really got to make sure the freshman’s ready for especially when your first start is against a defense as aggressive and as good as&m is. So a two back look Owens and Marorrow flanking Reed who’s got to bounce back from that interception that he just threw in the end zone. Hand off right side. Owens picks up about five. And just think if you’re an&m fan, it’s third and goal from the three yd line. Interception. You this could be 21 to9. So you have that that play. Then the third and 18 they stop him. Mike Elco’s ready to get off the field. Dead ball personal foul. And the very next play a 41 yd completion to set up that LSU touchdown to give them the lead. As expected, it’s been an emotional game. And there have already been some dramatic momentum shifts. Aggie is trying to get something here before halftime. Got two timeouts and a two-minute timeout to work with. Pressure. Reed got the ball out. Catch made on the end. Craraver. Oh, Craraver flashing the speed. Just brought down. Picked up 20, but wanted to take it the distance. And and you know, he told us about playing baseball when he was a youngster. He needed it here because the shortstop background comes in handy. Nobody picks him up. That is you see that in the NFL every single week from the greatest to do it. Marcel Reed felt that pressure got out of the fake kind of aborted it and that sidearm flick to be able to get the ball out there to Craraver for big yards after the catch. And watch PJ Woodland if he doesn’t make the tackle for LSU. That’s a house call. He was the only guy between the speedy Craraver and the end zone. Twoinut timeout. Really good first half here in Baton Rouge. Agies on the mark trying to retake the lead before the halftime. halftime report coming up. The Capital One break brought to you by Capital One with Kevin Nagandi and Booger McFarland. Booger no doubt looking in with the alma mater by one here. What a day in the SEC and really around the country. BYU involved in a battle with Iowa State. They’ll have highlights of all of it coming up. Two minutes for the Aggies. Ball exactly at midfield and Reed trapped and spun down behind the line by West Weeks. Boss of two. Really good job at taking away the jet sweep. It’s a read for Marcel Reed and it’s taken away. He decides to keep it. He wants to get underneath the guard, but Weeks was coming downhill from the snap of the ball. assignment football sometimes against this style with Marcel Reed. He had the quarterback and he got downhill able to escape that guard who was pulling to pick him up. Block running. No hurry. Aggies. And the ball bcepted deflected off the edge and picked off by Harold Perkins. Man sword de lane the lock down corner got a piece of it and Perkins was there and they’re charging down to the student section to celebrate. Well, Monsour Delane the best maybe one of the best transfers in the country came over from Virginia Tech where he played nickel and some safety and corner. He’s right here. We all know what kind of cover man he is. But here he shows you the timing kind of disguising this blitz late. really roll the dice cuz look how deep the safety is if Marcel Reed gets that up and over. There’s some room to run, but Housey took that cushion away. Would have been a bang bang play if he in fact got it over. But two great plays by LSU DBsy and Delane there to give this Tigers defense some life and get the ball now back to their guys. See if they can get some more points. Takeaways and backto-back possessions. You know, one interception in the end zone to kill it. Did not start him. my signal. And now this one to give LSU the ball, the plus 49. They’ve got two timeouts in a minute 14. And a veteran quarterback who knows how to handle this situation. Can they protect him? You have confidence in Nusmeer, his receivers. Will he have time with the freshman tackles? Well, they move the pocket and get the ball quickly on the edge to Kyle Parker who’s brought down by Chappelle after about a 5-yd gain. Mike Oko not sitting back at all. He’s not going to play soft. They they bring pressure. They blitz. Play straight up manto man. Zero coverage. No safety behind. Second down play. Durham off the right side. Still going. Kayton Durham lowers the shoulder. Delivers a blow and it’s into the red zone before Daltton Brooks got him. Well, Nick Anderson, the transfer from Oklahoma, has a huge block that time. And Durham seems to have his health back. He’s been hobbled and slowed in the last few games with an ankle that time. Kept his balance and got down that right sideline. You seen the freshman Barry step up and make a big impact. They put the sophomore Durham back in there. Timeout is taken by LSU. scoring position try to add to this one-point lead. I think the previous play where he got out the safety Marcus Ratcliffe, he comes downhill in a hurry and watch what happens to him when he starts to cheat down. Watch four bang. Nice crack block. Make the corner miss. And I think Durham getting healthy. Maybe Barry getting the start as a true freshman. Here’s a good look at it there. Nice job keeping his head in front and a good shake of the corner. will lead block to safety. Make that corner have to tackle a really good back. But like I said, Kaden Durham’s had an ankle. He’s kind of lost his twitch. Here is Shaq. He’s fired up. We’re fired up to have Shaq. And the guys on ESPN had 28 yds for number 29. And LSU set up here with the first down. 34 seconds. The one timeout. You want to hold on to that as long as you can. Got to be smart here if you’re the quarterback there at Nusmeire. Durham in motion. Nusmeer looks back to the right and Aaron Anderson really could work through Cashes. How the the pass rusher dropped into coverage that time. Has an option route there and depending on the leverage, he can work to the outside or the inside. Derek Nusmire saw grass to the middle and Aaron Anderson, he just kind of settled. Second time we’ve seen those option routes in the interior. Not quite on the same page with Aaron Anderson. A chance for Nesar to take a breather here. Collect himself. Plenty of time on the play clock. Second and 10. Anderson up top. It’s Green who motions across. They run it to Durham who darts forward and is knocked down after a three yd gain. Didn’t spend a timeout here. Ryan Kelly right away wants to use that that timeout. Now the Aggies got off to very quick start. Marcel Reed longest touchdown run of his career. 41 yds. They jumped on top. Nusmeer and LSU would come right down and answer. Here’s Green with the box out. But Marcel Reed, Kevin Holland, the offense was in sync. Great job there of being able to hit that touchdown with Conpsion. Things started to change. Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night started to come alive. Special teams get the ball back to Nusmeire. A big touchdown and some turning some plays that really turned the events and the vibe of this football game over the course of the uh the second quarter. Interceptions by Holly and Perkins for LSU trying to cash in play that Perkins made off the carum. Third and seven. take a shot into the end zone or at least the very least you got to get the first down. No timeouts. It’s Anderson motioning back and forth and they look short. Anderson dropped it. Probably a good thing. You really had nowhere to run at that point. The clock would have kept ticking. They would have had to run the field goal team out quickly. Yeah, it’s almost a blessing in disguise there. Keep in mind Aaron Anderson, he’s had a some injuries, a knee that’s kind of hurt him this year. So, just not quite in sync with his quarterback. That was an interesting call with no timeouts. And you can tell Brian Kelly wasn’t too pleased with it. I thought they’d go vertical and get downfield. 30 y for Damen Ramos. He’s closing in on the career record for points scored and field goals made at LSU. And he knocks it through. Boy, most of this first half, the&M offense clicking. They they seem to be in control of things and then LSU turns it and they’re going to take a lead of four points into the locker room. Like we said, it could have been a very easily 21 to9. But the the third down interception from the three yd line by by Reed. We’ve seen a lot of bad snap, blocked punt, made two interceptions. He’s turned those two takeaways into nine points. Meire was thinking end zone there, but didn’t quite have enough time and timeouts to work with. Any quarterback that’s ever played for Brian Kelly knows you’re going to have these kind of conversations. He gets very animated, gets emotional. We we talked to Garrett about it. He’s a coach’s son, Doug, who’s with the Saints right down the road and raised him to be a tough mentally tough quarterback. And he said, you know, I’ve been around it my whole life. find out how to handle it. But he’s also a competitor, right? Out in the middle of a of a battle. When your coach comes up to you, you look him in the eye and you talk to him. That’s what Garrett Nusmire did there. He’s never minded tough coaching. He’s gotten it really from the time he started playing football. Next Saturday at 3:30 Eastern time, the SEC on ABC is off to Jacksonville, the game formerly known as the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party. Georgia and Florida as well as the all new ESPN app and ABC in the afternoon. Doesn’t matter what the record is. Florida is unranked, but they will hang with Georgia. You can better believe it’ll be competitive. Oh, it’s always a fun game. Great scene. Boy, Marcel Reed’s got to be sitting here wondering what the heck’s happened. They they were in complete control this game early. The operation so clean those first couple possessions. And they hand it off to Owens. Owens with a quick burst to the 40. They have a couple timeouts if they want to spend them here. Oh yeah. You run the football there just of seeing what might happen. And you hit you hit a crease. Now you’re all the way up to the 40 yd line. So your your mind mindset really changes. You use that last time. You got one time out, 14 seconds. So with Marcel Reed, you could take a shot downfield, easily get into field goal range. Interesting. We talked about how Marcel Reed is so poised in components. Love tough environments like this, but the interception, something we really haven’t seen from him. A couple of them bunched close together, back-to-back possessions. Yeah, the the the one where he threw off to his left, I think he got caught predetermining. I think he thought he had a matchup that he liked, missed the safety. Now it’s about he’s a young quarterback. as much upside as he has and this offense has. You got to respond to the eb and flow and the momentum swings especially on the road. You can’t make these mistakes and expect to win on the road in any conference, especially here at Tiger Stadium at night. Opportunity to get points perhaps. Randy Bond needs probably about uh 25 yardds to to be in field goal range. That would make it a 52 y. They will get the football to begin the daily as well. Ideally, Chris, you get this downfield, you work the boundary, try to get out of bounds or get the first down and fire and stop the clock. If LSU comes after him, they’re showing pressure. They don’t bring it and it’s a checkown. Owens makes a cut. Flag is out as he’s knocked down in LSU territory at the 49. Down to five seconds. Holden offense number 55 10 yd penalty first down. Maj Adams the right guard flag there. So the opportunity to get points kind of dissolving with that play that call. He’s pulling 55 pulling from the right side. Payton who’s had a really good first half gets up around his his neck. Obvious call. Penalties have been an issue as we said for the Agies. Hasn’t cost him a game yet, but that’s the fourth for 45 yards. LSU penalized just once. Has not committed a turnover. So, a pretty clean game so far from the Tigers. Home underdogs here, but up four at the break. And this resilient Aggie team will have to respond. Huge second half in last year’s meeting when they scored 31 and turned it around. Have to come from behind again. Let’s get down to Holly with Mike Elco. Well, coach, you’ve got all the momentum and it really started to shift with that operation issue with the center snap. What happened there and how do you fix it? Yeah, we got to get on the same page. Obviously, we had a mistake with the snap count. Can’t happen. Uh, two turnovers can’t happen. And we got to start tackling on defense. That was my next question. They’re starting to get you a gash in the run game. How do you adjust defensively against the run? We have to unblock players at the line of scrimmage. Have to tackle. Simple. Thank you. Very simple. I love his interview. Very direct. Unblocked players at the line of scrimmage. Have to tackle. Here we go. Ready break. LSU up 1814 at the break here in Baton Rouge. Now time for the Capital One halftime report. Let’s go to Kevin Nagi. Book McFarland. Set for the second half of Tiger Stadium. Welcome back to the SEC on ABC Saturday Night Football presented by Capital One, part of an SEC All Day, presented by IHC Hotels and Resorts. It’s a wild day in the conference. Capping off with what should be a dramatic second half. Chris and Kirk back with you. Aggies get the football down by four trying to get the offense going. They were clicking so crisply early. Oh, it was incredible. They to be able to come on the road in this environment and execute the way they were early. But some miscues as we’ve talked about, change the momentum and now they get a chance to start the second half and try to get it going with the football. Busty from the one and Terry Busty breaks free. Look out. Just tackled. Touchdown. saving play made on the far sidelines. Aaron Burl, the kicker, got into position to stop Busy. You brought it back 43 yds. Well, he he also does a good job right away early part of the return of just making a man miss to 25 coming from our left right there. He just shook him and now you got you got a gap. Now you got a chance to run and use your speed. And you’re right, shooting tackle or that one’s to the house. What a wing. We just talked about opportunity change the momentum. Levon Moss excited get this offense going and give them great field position at about their own 44. Special teams important tonight. LSU blocking the button for a safety. He’s got a hand that a pat which then dinkked off the upright. And now this return two back look. Owens and Marorrow and Reed takes off. Marcel Reed weaving his way into the LSU secondary picks up 14. Well, we’ll go back just to show just in case you’re tuning into this game. Marcel Reed up 14 to nine. Have some miscues through an interception. Now you got a block punt. There’s the pick on third and three from the three yd line. A penalty that that’s after they got off the field potentially on a third and 18. And then there’s the tip ball where Perkins ends up coming up with the interception. They’re off to a good start here, Chris. Getting that two back look. And again, they don’t hand it off. Reed rolls the pocket and has to throw it on the ground. There was nobody open. Mara was covered well in the flap. That’s a coverage sack. Really, really effective that time. It’s a tough group of receivers to be able to match up with, but they did. Safety sitting in the middle, kind of leveraging the crossing route. Nowhere to go with the ball. And then they do a good job not letting him escape with his athletic ability and speed that time. Doing a much better job of mirroring him to not give him that option to take off and go. Keeps it again. Reed has the edge. Makes a cut. Takes a big shot inside the 35 from Jack Pyurn just short of the marker. It’ll be third and one. Now, this is this is the read. If you’re the quarterback, you want to look at Pyburn. Is he collapsing down or is he sticking? He’s kind of in that gray area, but Marcel Reed has such confidence in his legs. He pulled it out of there. Trying to get him to declare down. Now, it’s a foot race to get to the edge. He’s able to get around 44 and get up field with some good blocks on the perimeter. Viburn had him around the waist. It was Kulie who delivered the big shot. Owens is the back on third and one. Hand off up the middle and they do move the sticks. Holly, well, they want to be smart about how much they’re running. Marcel, you’re seeing him use his legs a lot tonight. He is a very slender build. He told us he weighed in on Thursday at 181 pounds. He said sometimes during the course of a game, he’ll lose seven or eight lbs because of the sweat. And so, they’ve got to be smart so he’s not out here taking too many big blows. Yeah, he’s lean but he’s strong. 400 lb squat guy. been a big focus of his since he left high school to get stronger. He’s got a light lighter frame but able to put some weight on. Added some muscle in the off season. Turning the corner is Owens and he’s tackled after ripping off a nine yd play. That that kick return set him up and this Aggie offense kind of regaining momentum now. Colin Klein has done a really nice job throughout this night of of maintaining balance. He knows he’s got a quarterback that can run. Haven’t really relied on that unless it’s been a scramble. But 18 runs, 19 passes. That’s what makes this offense good. You commit to the run, they’re going to throw it. You stay back, they got the ability to win the line of scrimmage and run. Been a very solid offensive line. Guys who are experienced in the program. End round. Craraver just able to tackle him at the 11 yd line after a 10 yardd gain. working the body kind of like body blows in the interior between the tackles and then you go jet sweep and instead of the big backs you’re you’re able to get Craraver out in space and you know he brings the toughness really both these receivers concepts and Craver they fit the the the culture of being portal guys they bring a little toughness on the edge that’s not a good sign that’s sir Delane the best players on this defense the corner went down. He’s not a guy that you’d present as injured when you’re not actually injured. And that happened Texas A&M, there was a fine actually given, but he’s a guy you want in the field. You don’t want him out there for one snap. The Yagis are threatening. They got to get him up and uh cuz he I think he got his bell rung. I mean, he was involved where Craraver was trying to run the football where the contact was right there, finishing on it, and then his head, you could see it hits the surface. So, with the corner out of the game, we’ll step aside. First down for the Aggies coming up. Delane made the tackle on Craver. Watch number four. His head hits the ground very hard. All his momentum right into the ground. Couldn’t get his hands down to protect. He got up crooked. Tried to walk around. He knew something was wrong. Yeah. Right away he starts to kind of You can see him blinking. Things are a little bit blurry, not feeling it. So, he ends up taking a knee. So, that’s very serious. He’s in the tent and out of the tent. So, that’s good news. They did assess a timeout to LSU in that play. The ball was spotted before Delane went down. That’s not really the intent of the emphasis of that rule. Delane’s health. The obvious concern as Amari Daniels is in the back field on this first down play, but it’s an end around again. They try it to Craver. This time coming around the corner. Big collision knocked out short of the pylon by AJ Holly. That was a foot race with the corner PJ Woodland who ran with him in man coverage on that jet sweep sees its man. He knows he’s got a chance. He is fleefooted. Gets some good blocks man downfield but eventually gets pushed out of bounds by Holly. What we’ve seen here these last two or three plays, Colin Klein wants to get the ball out on the perimeter, make those DBs have to tackle like he’d love to punch it in here. Remember, there was a interception in the end zone after the Agies were set up in a similar situation in that second quarter. Shake Jackson in up the top there on the edge. No play. There’s a whistle before the snap. Beth Roman ended up with the ball, but the whistle had blown before the pass was thrown and it’s a false start. Offense number 78 got penalty. No foregone conclusions down here, are there? It’s Crownover who makes this mistake. Another mistake for Texas A&M. We just talked about the young corner coming in. They go trips and look at a couple defenders. They jump here. Miscommunication. Wide open target there. So LSU catches a break. Second and six. The first down markers at the one. Run all the way and Reed’s going to be knocked down at the five by Holly who’s making play after play for this defense. Not fooled at all by emptying out the the backfield. Had the tight end. You got six blockers. But LSU eyes on Marcel Reed. The threat of the quarterback draw. They were ready for it. ninth play of this drive. Settle for a chip shot or can they punch it in and take the lead. Well, if you want to win in here, you got to finish these red zone opportunities with touchdowns from the pocket. Reed scrambling and scoring. Second rushing touchdown for the AU quarterback and back on top. Tail Harold Perkins is sitting in there at linebacker and he’s got to spy Marcel Reed. Everybody in this stadium, everybody watching at home, you and I talking here, it’s like, okay, they’re going to either throw it or Marcel Reed’s going to scramble. And you better be ready for him when he does take off the scramble. And they were not. Played a variety of positions. They had him at the star. They thought it was a good spot for him, but after the Vanderville loss, moved him back to weak side linebacker Perkins. Flag out on the PAT. Bond knocked him through. It’s going to be offside. So on LSU, so they can decline it and the lead will be three. Offside from a zero of the defense. That penalty is declined. The try is good. Well,&m responds. Let’s look at this big play. And this is what you have to be able to eliminate is the threat of the quarterback run. Watch Perkins get deaf. Look at his his eyes aren’t even on Marcel Reed. See couple receivers together. That’s kind of a blunder. But now there’s nowhere to go with the football. So what is he going to do? Of course he’s going to trust his feet. They never really let him down. He sees an opening. Nobody accounting for him till it’s too late by seven and white. This a touchdown. If his job was to be the spy, he was the worst spy ever. He was, as you said, peeking inside and then retreated into the end zone. Yeah. In his eyes, he’s looking at crossing routes. He’s not even really thinking at all. Next bot level spot. No, no. Marcel Reed, great poise on that nineplay 56 yd drive to get this second half started. Zurkel to boot it away. It’s going to be Brown from the four. Barry and Brown spinning three. Finally knocked down about the 23. Holly. Well, Coach Kelly told me that Barry and Brown that big completion in the first half has really opened up their offense because they have to protect downfield. Now they’re able to run the football a little bit better. Also, Garrett Nesmire, you saw him get a little bit more injured in the first half. that left ab injury just below his belly button. They are able to do some things at half time to help him. Some topical numbing cream, put some more padding on, massage, but coach Kelly said it best. He’s our guy. If we have to put them together with glue or tape, we’re going to do it because he wants to be out there. He’s so tough. Oh, there’s no shortage of want to or toughness. You have to see how he throws the ball though, Kirk. If he’s reagravated that ab injury, that can affect your velocity and your accuracy. Barry for three. Well, LSU fans have to be thinking, are you serious with Marcel Reed? Last year, he ran for three touchdowns. Didn’t have an answer for him when he’s using his feet. Tonight, leading the Aggies in rushing, averaging almost 10 yards a carry with two touchdowns. Different kind of runs, right? Last year was the zone read. It was more design. This time freance. Yeah. This time it’s more backyard ball just creating a lot of times on third down. from the pocket. Nusmeer on second down. Long throw to the sideline. It’s going to be broken up by Dez Ricks who stepped in front of Brown that time. Third and seven now. I think Brown did a nice job of selling this up at the top like he’s going vertical. He’s going to go by him. Put his puts his brakes on, but good job of reacting by Dez Ricks who’s out there on that island. Looked like he may have had that right hand just on the ball to keep it away from Brown. Well, those coaches love those corners that have long arms like Ricks does and they protect us. M. And he’s going to be brought down at the line once again. That pass rush. That’s DJ Hicks this time. And it’s fourth down. There are a lot of great defensive minds out there, but Mike Elco, I think, is as good as there is on third down in college football. Walks everybody up like you see now. It’s a matter of just dropping. They’re rushing four, but the offensive line with two freshman at tackle. They’re they’re completely confused. It’s not one guy, it’s the entire pocket collapses on top of Nusmeire. They’re now 0 for six on third down against Elco. No surprise. They’ve been tough all year. Chadick with a big boot. Conpsion backed up all the way to the 23 and breaks free. Look out. KC Conception still running. They’re not going to catch him. KC Conception. Touchdown 79 yds. The return game a huge part for&m here in the third quarter. Wow. He you know you know how gifted he is. Transfer from North Carolina State. Marcel Reed knows big smile on his face. He is he’s a receiver but he really his entire career in Raleigh and now in what he’s doing at College Station. He’s a running back that plays wide receiver with that kind of skill set. So, both teams have made huge plays on special teams, but that’s the biggest special teams play tonight. And&m couple of touchdowns here in the first part of the third quarter to go up by 10. You mentioned a big return to get the second half started on the kickoffs. That’s just making a guy miss. That’s not great blocks. Now, you got some blocks and now the instincts just take over. He’s so gifted and so natural&m has come out with a different attit attitude here in this second who’s bringing the heat brought to you by Sonic and it’s KC Conpsion and had a touchdown in his first game as an Aggie against UT San Antonio. This one much more important. Yeah, a couple tackles he’s able to break, but like I said, he’s so close to that sideline and so comfortable with the football in his hands. Always has been. see the reactions from LSU. Brian Kelly throwing the headset just furious&m return yards tonight. Think of this. He is a bad man. He sure is&m return yards 161 LSU total offense 185. Talked about the connection Holly did between Reed and Conpio and each of them have two touchdowns tonight. LSU Barry and Brown dancing around. A flag comes in as he’s dropped at the 16. Suddenly, Kirk, this is a 10-point deficit for an offense that has struggled frequently this year to create big plays. It’s going to be a holding, so it’ll be half the distance. During the return, Olden 46 receiving team is half the distance to the goal. First down. And just like last year, LSU had the lead at the break and then&m dramatically and drastically turning things around in the third quarter with a couple of touchdowns. There’s the hold right there. Right right in front of us. Alan Singleton, backup linebacker. Well, great teams, they respond to adversity. We’ve seen&m respond and that first half got away from them. LSU things looking a little bleak now. The holding call moves them back all the way to the seven yd line. How are they going to respond? Great teams respond. Nyer high throw and catch made. Tackle immediately made by Ricks. Get into these conference games especially late October into November. There’s injuries, there’s momentum swings. It’s the team that just kind of keeps their head steady and keeps grinding through those tough times. It’s usually going to be the team that wins. Of course,&m one remaining undefeated team in the SEC. LSU with a couple of losses, two and two in the conference, cannot afford a third pitch incomplete on the sidelines. Kirk, so there’s urgency in this game, but also urgency with all all the hopes and dreams and goals of this football team, preseason top 10 team. Yeah. Yeah. And this is it for them, too. If you’re thinking about those big dreams, this is Anderson trying to get Did he get a foot down? It’s at least worth a look. Completed the process of the catch. Watch this, Chris. Watch. Did the right foot stay down? Whoa. I hope they take a look at that control right there. He’s got two hands on it. The foot is on the ground. surprised they’re not going to buzz down. LSU in no hurry to run a play, giving the replay booth time. Not going to buzz it. Those third and four here. Quickly on the edge. Anderson spins free. Fights hard. It’s going to be tricky to spot. And they’re moving to sticks. That’s their first down. That’s their first conversion on third down the entire night. Knew that would be a big matchup. There’s the line to gain the progressive pylon cam kind of nonchalantly there on the boundary, but they gave him the yards for the first down. So they finally convert. Had to have that at least to get the drive going here. Xavon Thomas in motion. They hand it to him. It’s a little wrinkle as he looked like he was going to be headed behind the quarterback to the far side. Stopped. Albert Regis wasn’t fooled. These this defensive line they’ve depth. They are able to get up field here. Kind of set the edge inside there. Chris mentioned Albert Reges kind of blows it up from the inside. And then How’s having a great year, second year with the Aggies and a great night, sets that edge. Boy, how is a player off the edge? Nine. Green comes in motion. Barry is the back on this second and 10. Fake it to him. Nus Meyer steps up, flips it far side over the head of Aaron Anderson, who is tightly covered by Chappelle, but had to be a perfect throw that time. Yeah, he tried to go up and over against man coverage. Put a little touch on it. It’s tough to do to a shorter receiver at 5’8. There. Look on your far left. There’s Howal. Again, we knew that these young freshman, a true freshman on the left and Kern and a red shirt freshman on the right and Davis would need help. And when they’re on islands, boy, they got their hands full against How company. Can they go back to back on third down after not making one all night? This time they need 10. That’s six guys walked up bringing a seventh. Pressure comes. Had to hurry to throw and the catch is made along the near sidelines. Good grab there by Xavian Thomas, but he’s short on fourth down. Kelly doesn’t want to punt it away. They need two. Down 10, midway through quarter. Here comes the punch. Look at this throw. I I I thought that was going to be an incompletion. Great catch. Terrific throw, but is short. What do you think? They You know what the fans think? They’re they’re booing for the punter coming out. I mean, it’s not a half a yard or a yard. It’s still a a 10-point game. Third quarter. If you go for it, you don’t make it. Everybody’s ready to fire you. I mean, you you can’t go for that here. Don’t mention fire around here. And I’m not talking about flames. A lot of fans have used that word. And ball will roll dead. There’s a flag down on the far side of the field. A good long punt that rolled dead at the 21. Now we’ll check the marker. Illegal formation. Kicking team more than four in the back field. 5 yd penalty. Fourth down. May want to make him kick it again after that big bounce. They’ve got about 15 yardds on that bounce. And again, that’s a that’s a unforced error. Just a guy that’s not lined up on the line of scrimmage. So you get an illegal formation. Think about the night that Brian Kelly and his special teams what they dealt with. They did block a punt for a safety, but it’s been a some tough moments for the special teams. Missed extra point. Big kickoff return to start this half and Busy set him up. Return by Conpsion. So, it’s been uh special teams issues piling up rapidly. Busy is back deep. This kick is not nearly as good. And it’s off his chest. Scrambled for it. M says they retain possession. Kind of came up on this very short high punt. Bounced right off the numbers. Looks like Bravian Rogers for the Aggies may have made them the saving recovery. Still trying to unpile. Yeah, there were there were two guys that had the ball simultaneously and you got both sides saying we got it. Some serious lobbying. Byurn and Bethl Roman having some fun. That’s just one of those where you’re just wrestling underneath the pile. James Carter trying to sort things out. Texas&M. So&m does avoid the muff punt there and LSU remember that that ball rolled dead down at the 21 yd line. That 5 yd penalty is going to make about a 30 yd difference in field position. Agies back to work up 10. Now, the normally rowdy LSU student section, always contenders for the Taco Bell Liv Mas student section of the year contest. A little little gloomy right now. This is a make orb breakak moment for LSU and their defense with&m starting in midfield. cannot afford to get down 17 already. Two touchdowns by the Aaggies here in the third quarter. Reed looking for more. Takes off. Look, he’s great from the pocket and all that. He’s improved as a passer. He wants that to be his calling card, but when things break down, he says he also loves his backyard football. I I’m not comparing him to Lamar Jackson. I’m just saying that the stop and go, you know, he’s a great basketball player. We talked with him this week. I’ve again I’ve known him since elementary school. He’s a great baseball player, too. But he has that his favorite sport is basketball. He has that point guard kind of feel when he steps up, climbs the pocket, and he’s making people miss. He’s just so at ease with that part of his game. We were asking, do you think he could score for the Aggies basketball team? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I think I get 1214 a game as a point guard. A lot of football players think they can hoop. Yeah. He went to McGomery Bell Academy where my my boys went and he he was one of these guys that as a freshman, he was dominating. He’s a point guard, but he can really shoot. Uh and and you know the vision on the basketball floor really helps you out I think as a quarterback. But right there it’s what he’s doing tonight. You know that crossover that shake and bake making people miss. Whether it’s basketball as a point guard on the break or playing quarterback it’s the same thing. Need two on third down. Owens flag comes in. Plenty of yards for the first down inside the 35. But that’s in the area where you’d suggest it’s holding. Actually, it’s being signaled holding against LSU’s defense as Owens limps off during the run. Holding defense number 88 was a 10 yardd penalty from the end of the run. Automatic first down. Goodton was fighting through a double team and in the process of that grabbing on to to an&m offensive lineman. And he’s talking, there’s coach talking to Casey Conpsio, making sure he’s he’s good to go. Went into the medical tent after that punt return for a touchdown, which is why Busy was out there for that last return, which he muffed. Mhm. And remember, Leos obviously out. Oh, he stepped right there on KC Conception and then went down himself. Conpion had the ankle check. Marorrow houses it. Aggies pulling away 24 yd touchdown and&m just like last year dominating Kelly’s team after the break. You know, sometimes in man-to-man coverage, we always think about the receivers and the corners. They I think&m and Colin Klein, they they came into this game knowing that they could attack LSU in the interior in man coverage. Blake Baker plays a lot of man. He leaves his linebackers out there, whether it’s Perkins or Whit Weeks. That time they got him isolated and that is now 21 unanswered points if they hit this extra point. 21 points in 11 minutes here in the third quarter. You said it was a little gloomy coming in, some pessimism on the fan base. And now Kirk, we’re noticing a few empties over there on the far sideline. Yeah, it’s just freeze now. Watch more. He was a very natural receiver and there just no coverage. There’s nobody out there. You know, I don’t know if LSU got confused. You did have, you know, another jet motion to affect the eyes. A little eye candy, but he’s out there and linemen have no one to block. Forget about tackling him. The linemen have no one to block till Perkins comes over late. So Reed is now thrown for two, run for two. Just can’t help about Brian Kelly telling us on our Zoom this week, we were too tentative against Vandy. You know, we challenged our guys this week. Turn it loose. Play free. Play nasty. Those some scuffles on the practice field. He like what he saw. They were shown that aggressiveness, that nasty edge, and they did have a four-point lead at halftime. But look at their turn back. Whit Weeks, who’s not playing tonight, he’s seen enough. He wants them to compete. Just compete. Let’s go. Stands are empty in here. It’s very strange. Yeah, he said the blanking embarrassing. You could see what he said to his teammates there. Well, the All State bus Sam piloting things here to Baton Rouge. It’s the All State good hands play. Well, let’s talk about the last 11 minutes. Texas A&M, they really responded. Marcel Reed with a good scramble for a touchdown. Casey Conpsion to the house breaking a few tackles. Little sidearm playing on a on a string. A bust by LSU. And&m has taken complete control of this football game. 31 points in the second half last year, 21 so far. We’re still four minutes in the third quarter. Serious urgency. Quick pitch in the perimeter to Barry and Brown. And&M will give them that stuff at this point. Oh yeah, keep everything in front. You don’t want to give up any explosives, but I I’m still just in shock at LSU’s defense. Five plays tonight of 20 yards from where they’ve allowed for a couple touchdowns. You throw in the big punt return for touchdowns. A lot of explosives. If you’re an&m fan, you got to love to see this from this offense and your special teams. Nobody got more than 24 points in the first six games of the year. Vanderville put 31 on them last week. The Aggies now with 35 and counting. The LSU defense had kept this team in every game. Even when the offense was struggling, but as you said, Kelly trying to change things up tonight, has not produced instant results. Not at all. another at another third and long averaging about 10 over 10 yardds every third down and they’re one of eight against Mike Elco who’s one of the best at dialing up and creating confusion for an offensive line and pass showing pressure. They bring it and Green the target there tackled immediately by Scooby Williams who’s been getting healthy rejoining the&m defense the last couple of weeks and his fourth down. So they walk eight guys up and you know they show this sometimes that they’ll bring it but you get a motion and watch look at the eyes already. He’s already locked in. I got him. No miscues, no mistakes. So it’s complex and it’s a lot for an offensive line and a quarterback to deal with. And yet look at the execution on the other side by Texas A&M and their defense. Good job of finishing a good awareness by Scooby Williams, the backer. Now there’s they’re booing. And there’s also some chanting you could hear as Conpion is back in the game. Feels the punt again. Look out. Casey Conpsion dancing and weaving. Still going. They couldn’t bring him down. runs out of tackles and is going to be stopped inside the LSU 35. That will only increase the volume level of these booze. I I I think the most impressive thing I’m watching with Texas&M, they got a good lead, 35 to 18. This is more about&m for me than LSU. They have their foot on the gas. They aren’t even thinking of being conservative with the lead. They got guys that, you know, you hear that term dogs. That’s what these guys have. led by Marcel Reed, Casey Conpsion, a veteran defense now in their second year in this system of Mike Elco and a frustrated Brian Kelly. But I got news for LSU&M is not looking to slow down. It was a line drive punt that Kelly was talking about the hang time just three and a half seconds and concepts continues the theme here&M’s return game. Hey, it’s been a massive story after halftime. I’d go play action and take a shot. You You got LSU right now on the ropes. Mentally not sharp. I’m take a shot here. Quarterback keeper. Reed dangerous anytime. He’s got the ball on his hands. Holly knocks him down. See, he’s frustrated here. It’s the punter Chad. Yeah. Talking about the line drop not getting up in the air. Well, the tackling was the bigger issue, too. I guess it was a low kick, but they had I have four or five chances to tackle it. Yeah. Really on both his big returns. He’s a tough physical runner. Low center of gravity, tough to bring down. Using the play clock now and zips it across the middle. Pass was behind Craraver that time. made a nice catch, picked up five yards, up for a first down. Kind of a deja vu for&m. Marco Reed comfortable. Plenty of time to be able to make a good read. You remember last year&M outscored LSU 31-6 in the second half. Yep. Tonight so far, 21 to nothing. That’s 52-6 in the last three quarters or two and a half quarters almost three. 14 second half yards for the LSU offense. Daniels quick first down to the 15. This is a kind of a not an electric play. He said go for the jugular. They may do so, but they’re doing it methodically here. Using up clock. LSU came in tonight five and two. You see in the bottom right two and two in conference play. And with a new 12 team playoff, as frustrated as they were about losing to Vandy, it was still in front of them. Still an opportunity to rally, get them to believe. And now you’re down third. Now you’re down 35-8 to a quarterback and an offense that’s in control of this game. Hand off Daniels around the left side. Knocked out of bounds at the two yd line. DJ Picket knocked him out after a 13yd game. just seems inevitable that&m’s going to punch it in and turn the lights out here. No doubt, who’s a great player, is coming down from this spot at safety, but again, just not not at the spot, not not setting the edge. And that’s your best player, your best tackler, leading tackler who’s coming down with that job. He he kind of got his eyes and his nose inside and opened up that outside lane for for Daniels to make a run, get the corner. complete dominance in the third quarter which began with that second half kickoff return. Three touchdowns for the Aaggies. They’re on the doorstep for a fourth with the fourth quarter coming up. Back after this match as it were from your local ABC stations. You’re watching the SEC on ABC. Welcome back to the fourth quarter here in Baton Rouge. The SEC on ABC. Aggies have taken over. You don’t see that. That’s a fighting Texas Aggie band down there waving the towels. Fans all over this place and beginning to become more obvious because the LSU fans have headed home. Some of them. It’s an LSU team at night 20 and one under Brian Kelly Tiger Stadium about to be 20 and two. 1994 the last time&m won in this place. That was the last time they also started 7 and0. Well, this team feels different. They have all year. You and I have seen the best of the best this year. These guys can play with anybody in the country. EJ Smith down near the goal line, spotted short. Alabama and&m still undefeated in conference play, but the Agies the last undefeated team in the SEC. They have the looks of a team that uh not going to lose anytime soon. No. And I and again, I I got to just talk about the intangibles of this team that Marcel Reed brings to this offense. A veteran offensive line. Conpsion comes over. Craraver, they’re very focused. They have intention. every little detail. They’re locked in. They’re not even concerned about the score. It’s a veteran team. Tight ends shifting around and they hand it off to one of them in the back field. Flag is down. Orcher, tight end there, took the hand off and he was excited about scoring as a running back. See if they’re going to get backed up five. Or did LSU line up off sides? They have lined up in the neutral zone. How many guys are out there? That’s a lot of guys. There are two fouls on the defense. Both will be declined. Offside number 88 defense. Illegal substitution. 12 players in the formation against the defense. Both of those fouls are declined. The result of the play was a touchdown. It’s like what else? Remember we talked about unforced errors, you know, the illegal formation, 12 men on the field, miscommunication. Blake Baker giving the explanation. So they had 12 guys out there. They lined up in the neutral zone and they gave up a touchdown to a tight end who just went diving over like a fullback. Vanis 71 29 start. See that good block there. Eye candy with the motion. Colin Klein the play caller said a heck of a night himself. Texas&M with the flex here in Baton Rouge tonight headed for 8 and0 and they ble clean all the way to the SEC championship game. Maybe we’ll talk about that. College Station East here in Baton Rouge. Aggies doing their thing. Swing at the end of the third quarter. LSU doing their thing there in the middle, too. What did Johnny Manzel say in our tease before? We know all about Death Valley tonight. We’re going to come there and make it our house. Absolutely, Johnny. I know all the proud of this effort tonight. Check in with Kevin Dandi. Well, it was kind of gloomy earlier. Now it’s the ordinary I would say was what the fan attitude is here in Baton Rouge. Celebratory if you’re an Aggie. That’s Meyer on the move on the run hits Aaron Anderson who scoots out. big gain in near midfield. Got 22. Able to get him out away from the pressure. He’s been harassed most of the night. Whether it’s been third down creativity of Mike Elco and Jay Baitman, the defensive coordinator, or just winning, just winning with four that time. Rolled him away and got the first down. Tried to find Anson on the slant. He was very well covered. this this Texas A&M team, man. Any people need to start talking more about them, not just in the SEC, but on a national level. What impresses you? I I think they sent a message the execution coming into this environment. But Mike Elco has a veteran, trusty, focused, determined team. Both sides of the ball, special teams, good leadership. These guys show up, it’s all business. They’re as good as anybody in my opinion the way they’re playing right now that there is in the country. That’s Meyer. He’s going to be sacked all the way back at the 30. That’s Ryland Kennedy who backs up How joining the party and slow to get up. 16 yd loss and actually pressure from both sides. He’s going up against a tight end. This is a tough ask, right? Bard Sharp trying to block a defensive end. Both the defensive ends get home, but it’s Kennedy that comes up with that big sack. Remember, they didn’t blitz there. They rush four. Hayes on one side, Kennedy on the other. That shows you the depth they have. That’s their third and fourth defensive end getting after it. Third and 26. Good luck, Nus. Meer from the pocket too high. And he’s knocked down again after the throw. absolute mismatch in this second half at the line of scrimmage. He’s been knocked around a lot this year. He’s played through numerous injuries. Still bothering him tonight. Had that emotional release and tears for the towel over his head after the loss last week, but still came back ran feeling like everything was still in front of him. If they can get the W tonight, it’s turned into a nightmare in the second half. Four punts, three three and outs forced by this&m defense in the third quarter and now early in the fourth ABC Saturday Night Football is presented by Capital One. What’s in your wallet? Quarterback comparison brought to you by Dr. Pepper. Marcel Reed, the first 100yard rushing game of his career. 11 for 102 and a couple of touchdowns. Had that 41 yd run early as a passer 12 of 21. Did have the two interceptions but bounced back from that two touchdowns. So Nusmeer has battled. He’s been beaten up, knocked down a lot, sacked four times now. They just haven’t been able to keep pace with the Aggies after the break. Smith a short game. Yeah, Texas A&M, if you go back to last season, Marcel Reed really showed what he could do with his legs against this LSU defense and what he’s been able to do tonight. It hasn’t been the way last year went with his own redesign QB stuff. This has been a lot of him taking off and going and challenging the defense and eye discipline on that second and third level and making people miss. Look at that. 40 going back to last year. 40 or more in four straight road games. Longest streak in school history. To your point, Kirk, 67 those 102 rushing yards have been on scrambles. So, not designed runs at all. Smith inside. It’s going to be the fourth consecutive game where LSU’s given up huge rushing yards to a quarterback. Holly, well, Marcel Reed has so much charisma. His offensive coordinator, Colin Klein, said he’s infectious the way he impacts our team. They spent a lot of time in the offseason tweaking what they do offensively to match his skill set. He said he don’t let his happy go-liness fool you. This young man has depth. He comes into my office two times a week for extra film study with me. He is deep. He’s competitive. He thinks the game because of his father’s long coaching. And this is a really locked in, dialed in young man who has that riz, as the kids love to call it. The charisma is infectious. He does on third down. He’s going to keep it and he’s going to be tackled short of the first down. Play made on the edge by Jamari Butler. Fourth down now. Yeah. Again, I I used to, you know, my kids went to elementary school with this guy. had go to the pickup line after school and he was just a guy that had that personality. It wasn’t just he’s got skill. It’s what Holly’s talking about. And it’s both his parents, by the way. His dad’s a football coach. His mom runs the show. And so I think it’s a it’s a mixture of mom and dad, but his composure. What I keep bragging about with this&m team is the focus, the seriousness, the urgency, and the intangibles that they have as a team. and 10 I think really helped set the tone with his approach. Know the play clock was going to expire before the punt from Tyler White whose only previous punt tonight was blocked through the end zone for a safety. There he is still talking. You got this big lead. He’s still communicating. I I I definitely need to talk about Mike Elkco because we’re talking a lot about these players and we should, but it’s a guy in his second year that’s really changed the culture for the better with accountability, work ethic, all the stuff that you talk about and hope to have, they have it. And after this big win on the road against a top 20 team, look at this. They go to Missouri. Missouri just their quarterback’s down with it. Injuries, that’s a different game on the road. South Carolina having a tough year. That’s at home. Not sure who that one is. That would be Sanford. Okay, whatever. And then you got Texas. And then you go to Texas in a rivalry game on Black Friday. So, they’re gonna be heavily favored. That 36 needs to be looked at. I don’t know if I agree with that. Home or away. I would agree. Texas very, very lucky to escape Starkville with a victory. I like the chances against Sam though in that. I had nothing for Sam. I got everything else. I got nothing on Sam. That’s the one of the That’s the virtual by week in the SEC when they all just take a timeout. I was like, I was good. I was good. Sam, he’s good. He’s really good. Yeah, he is. Take a break. What do you have for us? Capital 1 card holders can redeem their credit card rewards for tickets to exclusive events and experiences on Capital One Entertainment. Scan the code to learn more. Capital One, what’s in your wallet. About 10 and a half to play here in Baton Rouge. The Aggies They can win a low score grinder if they have to. Did it against Auburn. They could also win shootouts. Went a couple shootouts this year over Notre Dame and last week against Arkansas. And now this is just a route. They’re routinely putting 40 plus on the board in the road. These guys, man, they don’t they 4218. It’s 000 to this defense, to this entire team. It’s a great point about how they can go either way. If if it’s a game that wants to go tempo and they got to score 40, they can go that way. If if it needs to be a lowcoring field position game, they got the defense and special teams to to play in that style, too. No face mask called tackle by Scooby Williams that time. Second and nine. I I these guys are are the game is salted away. They’re playing hard. When teams get a lead, I feel like you look how they’re paying attention on the sideline. Like these are the cool things to watch when a team’s up 42 to 18. Easily could be over there clowning around, acting just like, thinking about whatever. Did you see me in that second quarter? These dudes are completely locked in on what’s going on on the field and on the sideline. Culture Mike Elco. Pass underneath by Johnson. You’re right. A lot of teams have been over there high-fiving their fans cuz the Aggie fans have moved down behind their bench or taunting LSU fans. None of the above. Maybe finding your parents or whatever. you could be easily distracted, but it’s just not the and again we’ve got to give Mike Elco a lot of credit, but also the leadership on the of the players. They really set the tone. Well, Carrie is current. We talked about the true freshman stepping in to make the start at tackle. It’s been a tough night again for that O line and he is now being looked at by the athletic trainers. The Aggie defense has really stepped up after halftime. They got this was an early sack by Howal sending a message. Well, it’s been an entire group here. The backup, right? This Ryland Kennedy that’s able to get in there, giving them some different looks. Done a nice job of confusing that offensive line. They’ve brought some pressure, disguised some pressure. They’ve rushed forward at times. It’s been a really a mixed look like you’d expect and very very successful obviously here in this second half. Absolutely nothing after halftime for the LSU offense. Holly. Well, Cash’s Hal has been a game record tonight. You’ve seen him all over like you guys were just talking about. Wanted to talk about his development. He came in from Bowling Green as a transfer, but he has gotten better. He has increased his top speed by 17%. His vertical jump has increased by 7 in. His bench press by 50 lbs. The squat has gone up as well. every aspect of his game from speed, get off, what he knows about the IQ of a part of the game. This young man has improved exponentially and it’s showing up on the play. That’s a great point, Holly. They you can find, you know, he came from Bowling Green. The MAC has produced some guys who maybe out of high school were underappreciated, but they’ve really developed in their stop in the MAC and then when they make the bounce in the portal to a higher profile program is really elite pass rushers. Oh man. And you know, he’s known really for his power. Not so much his twitch, but we’ve seen plenty of twitch tonight against these freshman tackles. LSU going for it on fourth and four. Musmeer makes the long throw. Green makes the catch, but he’s going to be stopped short. Dez Ricks came up, hit him immediately, and the Aggies will take over on downs. Chris, you’re going to love this. A little bit of kind of a switch release. And watch the communication with the two defensive backs. Just you take him, I’ll take the outside, you go with the inside. Good job of adjusting and communicating and then finishing the play by Dez Ricks. Look at that. They they switch on the fly. That is a hard thing to do in college football to be able to make sure that you’re on the same page in a blink of an eye. They clearly were. It’s something they rep all week and it pays off from there on that fourth down. Ricks has had to bounce back. He had that penalty, that dead ball personal foul which prolonged an LSU drive. Then he got beat for a touchdown, but he has stayed in the game. And the starters, by the way, were still on the field largely for the&m defense. Reed still out there and still running. I don’t know if you’d want to have Marcel Reed taking hits at this point in the game. Does pick up four. Presenting the rankings to Ohio State off Indiana. Indiana with a lot of UCLA. Again, they just show up. Another team that just kind of shows up and executes and takes care of business. Abama had a scare, but they were able to pull one out. Old Miss in a competitive game really in control most of that game on the road in Norman. Georgia Tech challenged early but stayed undefeated. Chris, I don’t know how good LSU is. I mean, it’s easy to look at this and say, “Oh, they’re they had the lead, by the way. They they had the lead in the in the first half.” And it’s easy to look at this score now and say, “Ah, this this isn’t a good football team.” A&M took this game over. I think&m really sent a message to the nation tonight that that number three ranking is very, very deserving with the way they played all year. And uh that continues tonight here in Baton Rouge. I agree. The win at Notre Dame was certainly a statement victory. This feels different, doesn’t it? That was just getting it done, showing maturity on the road. This is just comprehensive. Very, very tough-minded team. Absolutely. You know, we Chris in an era of portal and NIL. It’s tough to get everybody to buy in and care and compete together regardless what the score is. We saw Ohio State do that last year after they lost to Michigan. Got on that four-game run two years ago. We saw a veteran Michigan team stick together through some very difficult circumstances off the field. This&M team has that kind of vibe about them, that maturity, that focus that it takes to make a run throughout an entire season into the postseason. You know, the motto has been finish. They didn’t like the way the season finished last year. Remember, they’re playing for a bid in the SEC championship game. They had the Longhorns at home and the renewal of that old rivalry. Did not get the job done. didn’t like the way that it finished. This is a bunch that is not going to let up at all. You saw the all state playoff predictor. That’s Bantis, by the way, the left guard who’s down. 94% chances of virtual luck. That that that means that for them not to make it, they’re going to have to stumble a couple times as as big favorites. Think think about their schedule and who they have left. I mean, we showed it to you earlier. here. I mean, they are they got winnable games remaining remaining. Get a buy. And then Missouri again, Missouri’s quarterback out. He’s out. South Carolina, your Sanford team. And then at Texas, we keep talking about who’s going to Atlanta. You have all these teams. Who’s going to get to Atlanta? Hard to really look at Texas A&M and think that they’re not going to be one of those teams in Atlanta. It’s almost who’s who’s going to be playing Texas A&M in Atlanta is maybe the new question. Alabama rallied at South Carolina. They’re still undefeated in the SEC. The Aaggies would join them at 5-0 at top the conference. They’d certainly be the two teams in co-pole position for that. Bama since their loss to Florida State early like you’re saying, they they continue to get better and better with Tai Simpson. cut back spinning and scoring. Jamarian Marorrow joins the party with a touchdown for a true freshman. I mean, you got you got five backs when Moss is healthy. Kind of an embarrassment of riches and every single guy when he gets a chance, he’s competing for carries. All of these guys when Moss is there, Owens, Daniels, Mororrow who you just saw, EJ Smith, Holly Row right there in the middle of it enjoying that. That’s it. Trooper Taylor saying, “I told you.” I told you, Holly. It’s going to be 35 points in the second half after the PAT. They’ll follow the 31 points a year ago. Maro Reed and Conpsion two touchdowns each tonight. He just kind of walked in. Yeah, this a beaten down LSU defense. Game’s gotten away from him. Tackling’s not been real good here lately. There’s Marcel Reed, by the way, caught up. Can certainly celebrate the Aaggies. The night belongs to them. But this guy and this LSU team is another part of the story. Yeah. Because Les Miles once said, “Death Valley is where opponents dreams come to die.” That’s been true over the years. LSU’s dreams died here tonight though, the home team with their third loss. And Chris, think about what could have been when this season started. We had them week one on the road. Remember, it was a battle of the Death Valleys against Clemson. Nusmeer coming back, went into the portal, spent a lot of money, had some great players. They beat Clemson. Here we go. Now we go. It’s the new year. And since then they’ve lost to Miss last week to Vandy and tonight getting blown out by Texas A&M at home on a Saturday night and it’s off to Tuscaloosa by the way next game. In the meantime, it’s going to get loud and ugly around here with the the narrative. Alabama really had to escape. They were down eight, scored, got a two-point conversion and then won it in overtime. You knew that one was going to be tricky after playing four straight ranked teams. This was a basically elimination game. Give Lane Kein and his team a lot of credit. The offense you know about with Trinidad Chamblas. The defense with Pete Golding made some critical plays against John Matier. And what a day in Nashville started with game day. They had their hands full against a good Missou team, but they get it done in Texas. What a story, right? Yeah. Ryan Nibblet who had a punt return in Red River had 79 yer to basically get it even and then they won it in overtime. Arch Manning left the game hurt in OT. We’ll have to see what the severity of that is. I don’t think it’s too bad. Well, they made a tough night for Nusmeer. He will now exit. That’s enough punishment. He’ll be again frustrated by this result. You can see building on what’s happened the last few weeks. Michael Van Buren one time a Mississippi State starter comes in there and finds Tradez Green who catches it in stride out near midfield. Well, that’s right off the bench. Comes in for Garrett Nutsmeer. Finds the big tight end at 67 in the scene. gets it over top of the safety who came down and that’s right off the bench for Van Beern Jr. Been bench all year. This is the second game that he’s played through an absolute strike and now gets welcomed to the game by that pass rush. Well, they you have moved DJ Chester who’s could play center or guard. They move him out on the edge. It’s been a long night for these whoever’s lined up there to play tackle. Has six sack by the Aggies. Marco Jones getting around the edge. I’m one guy, right? I mean, you’re seeing everybody get involved. There’s Weeks trying to console his buddy. Ben on the move, zips it across the middle and the catch is made by Hilton. No, they obviously a very passionate fan base. When they’re winning leavon rule, the good times roll on the bay. When they’re not, their passion turns to anger, frustration. They want to change everything, including the coach. Oh, and he he signed a 10-year $95 million contract in 21. He’s got a buyout for 53 million. So I don’t I don’t Is that even even I mean besides the fans and the noise is that even that’s not real, right? Well, the decider matters more than the talk show hosts and the blogs, but you know, I think it’s going to get loud this week, right? It’ll be loud, very loud. Buyyous have not necessarily been something that prevents teams from making a move. Brian Kelly met a bit of concern. I think he really believes that, you know, they’ve got a great recruiting class lined up. believes that they’ll sign the real weakness of this team. One particular area is kind of an important one. The offensive line is what’s held him back more than anything. And then the defense I think the defense when we had them week one, there was so much talk about they went into the portal and got some defensive ends. They’re going to rush to quarterbacks. You got a better secondary. And you know, they’ve had some injuries, but it just some of those bigname defensive end portal guys just haven’t been able to step up the way they had hoped. And there’s who they still have to play. Long way to go. None of those SEC games are going to be easy to say the least. Arkansas comes here. You got Tuscaloosa. They got to go to Norman in the finale. You get picked preseason top 10. They were much more highly regarded than the Aggies were in this conference preseason. A&M was basically considered by the pundits and the magazines, all that stuff. Middle of the pack in the SEC. said they’re sitting at top the heap. Ben pressure and going to take a hit as he’s run out of bounds. Nusmeer reminds me of the of the quarterback position and I don’t I’m not saying NIL dollars, but this guy could have gone to the NFL decides the comeback huge expectations. Everybody calling him QB1, the guy that’s going to get drafted early. And you know, things got sideways. He started to get nicked up, not able to live up to what he thought of himself and what the expectations were on the outside. And it’s just it’s suffocating. It’s taken the fun out of the game for him. You could see the anguish on his face, not just physically, but emotionally. It’s been a lot of lot of wear and tear on Garrett Nusmeer this year. No doubt he is tough and resilient. talked about his background, but the frustration has been building. It’ll be another tough week for him. And he Nobody has higher expectations than him. Yep. And like you said, he’s he’s one tough guy. And when I say tough, I’m talking about the mental toughness that it takes to play the position. He’s got that and he’s been through a ton of adversity last year and this year. There’s an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Jordan Lockard. shot on the sidelines on that last carry by Van Burren. Van Beern running for his life this time to the far side and scoots out of bounds near the 15. You know, the last time we came in here, I believe was last year when Alabama Jaylen Milro came in and the reason I I’m kind of having a flashback is I remember that game got got away from LSU and it it looked a lot like like this like what we’re looking at right now, which is just very very unusual to see this stadium so empty in a fourth quarter of a game on a Saturday night. Two minutes to go. is putting the finishing touches on a huge road victory tonight. No surprise there. Boy, Chris, BYU and Cincinnati, by the way, both still undefeated, leading the Big 12 Conference. How about the Cincinnati Bearcats? What a year. Van Furan. Well, he’s uh he’s come in and now he’s taking the punishment from these Aggies who are still playing hard on defense. So, again, that’s the personality. These backup guys get a chance, you got to live up to the culture of what Mike Elco and this staff has created. They got to grind away now. They’re going to be patted on the back just like all teams are these days that are really successful. And you’re a lock. I saw it. I saw it on ESPN. You’re a lock for the playoff. Now the right battle is to focus three on the road. I feel like there’s enough maturity on this team. They’ve been through enough bad that I think that can help keep them focused. And Marcel Reed, keep talking about him, but he’s over there on the sideline. We have cameras on him. He’s talking to every person over there. Whether you’re a coach, a player, a starter, scout team guy, he encourages everybody. Van Beern steps away from the pressure trying to direct traffic and get somebody open in the end zone and throws it and off the juggle. Kyle Parker comes up with it. Touchdown LSU. Kind of stopped the ball with his left hand. Then he got focused on his feet. It was just a matter of whether or not he had possession. You know, he’s really had to come on this year with Andrew Anderson dealing with injury. There’s the left hand. Now I watch his eyes go straight down. Let me make sure I’m in. Possessed the ball. Has it both feet down and kept control of the ball. Final minute and it’s the first point for LSU after halftime. They outscored&m 11 nothing. Remember in that second quarter they had that four-point lead going to halftime and immediately big kick return to begin the third quarter. Turn the tide. Conpsion big punt return for a touchdown. The Aggie defense just suffocated LSU the third quarter and most of the fourth here. How about Van Beern coming in and leading them down three or four 50 yds and a touchdown. 12 play 75 yd touchdown drive and I believe he had five points tonight. Ramos may have broken the LSU career scoring record. Not that he’s going to take a great deal of positive emotion out of that one. Hey, here’s the last time the the Aaggies won this one. Pick six. Pick six isn’t good. No. But here comes bounce back. This is apparently out of producer Bill Bennell’s VHS machine. He saved it all these years. He brought it out from 1994. You know that guy Leland Maroy. Leo. Remember him as a great return man. Great running back. What else happened in ‘ 94? The Lion King came out and topped the box office. Friends. Friends debuted Tuesday night. You and I used to climb up there and watch those. They didn’t have a World Series where there’s a strike. There was no World Series. The ACC SEC game moved to Atlanta for the first time. I think there was something else going on the West Coast out there in the LA freeways in 94. It was a big year. It was a big year. A big year. Let’s take a peek at these SEC standings after this one. Yep. There’s Bama who you talked about. Georgia not far behind. And they visit or not visit they take on Florida in the cocktail party in Jacksonville. Have you seen their schedule after winning today in Norman? Pretty favorable. Very favorable. Don’t forget about Old Miss. Vandy with a win today. Somehow Texas surviving only has one loss in the SEC. It’s incredible. Feels like eight the way that people have talked about them. So you’d have six teams either undefeated over just a single loss at this point. Yeah, deeply satisfying for Mike Elco. Second straight week that Brian Kelly have lost to a guy who was at one point a defensive coordinator for him at Notre Dame. Clark Lee and now Elco Miles O’Neal gets to take victory formation. Well, this a good football team. Going to be a lot of fun to watch them over the the next few weeks. Hopefully they stay healthy and it’s going to be a lot of fun. They got some big matchups coming up if things go well. That’s a playoff team right there. Take it home is with the Aggies fans who now at this point outnumber LSU fans if you can believe that. I I would say far outnumber them. The Aggies come to Death Valley and pummel LSU to stay perfect on the season. 8 and0 first time since 1992 and they’ve got their sights set on 12 and0. They’ve never made the SEC championship game since joining the league. Big 12 titles were not easy to come by either in their previous conference. They would be strongly favored to get to Atlanta this year. Well, two of the heroes for the Aaggies tonight. Marcel Reed, Casey Conpsion are with Holly. Well, Marcel, you said you want all the smoke of a road game that you live for moments like this. How did you get this stadium empty and quiet this crowd with your performance tonight? I mean, we just we just did what we practiced all week. You know, we we knew that we were the better team all week. I mean, we got the guys, we got Casey over here, you know, who make plays every day and, you know, we just went out there and executed the best of our ability and, you know, so that cleared cleared their stands. Our student section went all the way to theirs. Shoot, it feels great to be a 12 man right now. For you, this is a new experience for you playing at Texas A&M this season. You guys have developed some beautiful chemistry. What’s it like for you out there right now? I mean, it’s just amazing, you know, it’s just amazing, you know, to um to uh be out there with, you know, all my guys, you know, just out there having fun, you know, um cheering for one another. So, I mean, it’s just an amazing feeling, you know, it’s it’s like no other feeling. Tell me about the P return. That was an electric moment to change this game from your perspective, Marcel, cuz you were out there dancing with him. Start with you and then let’s get your perspective. I mean, it’s always amazing when we can put points on the board and I don’t have to go out there. So, I mean, I’m just watching this dude. I told him he’s best in the nation. I told this dude he was nice when he came to the sideline. I mean I ain’t seen that many returns in a season like from one of my teammates ever. So like just to see somebody who can make explosive plays like that is amazing to watch. Why are you so special out there? Um you know um I’m just I’m just blessed by God. You know um you know uh I caught the ball and then you know um I had I had acted like I was going to bounce and then I saw number three kind of kind of let up a little bit and then you know I just I just hit the sideline and then you know The burners. I hate the burners. The burners. All right. Well, thank you guys. Go get that alma mater son. Go sing that. Let’s go.