By Chris Marler
Texas A&M rallied from down two scores in the second hald to run away from LSU in College Station, 38-23. It was the definition of a game of two halves. So, what did we learn about both teams over 60 minutes in Aggieland?
Truth No. 1 – LSU still has everything they want to accomplish in front of themselves
The loss sucks, but in this current era of college football it’s not the end of the season. Alabama at LSU has always felt like a defacto play-in game or game with massive title implications, and two weeks from now will be no different.
The Tigers have two losses, but both were on the road, and they currently have the eighth-ranked strength of schedule in the country, according to ESPN. Their last four games feature Florida, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and the worst Alabama team in the last 17 or so years. They get three of those four games at home. Win and you’re in. It’s as simple as that.
Truth No. 2 – The offense has become completely one dimensional
We thought after Arkansas that the run game was finally starting to get going, but one week later it appears that was a lie. LSU has been a pass heavy offense all season, averaging around a 60/40 percentage split on pass to run play calls.
LSU ranks 123rd in the FBS in rush attempts this season, and they rank 4th overall in pass attempts. Even when John Emery, Jr. went down at the start of the season, it felt like there was enough talent in the backfield to have an effective run game. Caden Durham has been great at times this season, but after eight games, your leading rusher is averaging just over ten carries a game and Garrett Nussmeier is second on the team in rushing touchdowns with just three.
Good teams and good defensive coordinators have found ways to make LSU play left handed this year, forcing them to completely abandon the run game. Saturday night was no different as LSU finished their game against Texas A&M with 23 carries for 24 total yards.
The Lie – Texas A&M got lucky in that win
After a night of sleep and some time to dwell on the game, one of the biggest conclusions I have come to is that the better team did win Saturday night. As much as I wanted to believe that a year three Brian Kelly coached team was truly better than a first year Mike Elko led Aggie team, I was wrong.
Texas A&M did the things that great football teams, and championship contending teams do, and they did it all night. The Aggies made halftime adjustments, they won the turnover battle, and they made LSU play left handed.
The Tigers had 24 yards rushing in the first half, and they ended the game with the same amount. Texas A&M made a change at quarterback when down ten points and it led to five straight scoring drives. They got to the quarterback, they forced three turnovers from Nussmeier, and they did the little things right that you have to do to win a football games. LSU, on the other hand, lined up for a field goal three times resulting in zero points, allowed multiple sacks, and after forcing five straight drives of punts or turnover of downs, handed Texas A&M the ball at their own eight yard line to let them back in the game.
