LSU had a last opportunity to show the college football world that it was a good team Saturday night.
The Tigers, who had dropped one-score games on the road to one-loss Ole Miss and one-loss Vanderbilt, had unbeaten and No. 3-ranked Texas A&M coming to town.
All LSU proved on this night is that it is a bad team.
The Aggies delivered a dominant second-half performance and pummeled the Tigers 49-25.
A Damian Ramos 30-yard field goal put LSU ahead of Texas A&M 18-14 just prior to halftime. The Aggies showed their strength in the second half. The Tigers were victims of a 35-0 Texas A&M onslaught before their touchdown with one minute remaining.
The Aggies had never defeated LSU in Tiger Stadium since joining the Southeastern Conference. Texas A&M did make progress against LSU while Jimbo Fisher was head coach. The Aggies finally won games in the series played at Kyle Field.
On Saturday, Texas A&M broke serve under head coach Mike Elko in a punishing fashion. The Tigers, who were whipped by Vanderbilt at the line of scrimmage seven days earlier, were crushed by the Aggies offensive and defensive lines.
LSU quarterbacks Garrett Nussmeier and Michael Van Buren were sacked seven times. Tigers running backs finished with 97 yards on the ground although offensive coordinator Joe Sloan abandoned the running game after halftime.
Meanwhile, Texas A&M ran for 224 yards. Quarterback Marcel Reed threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Reed did the same to LSU last season when he came off the bench to lead a second-half Aggies comeback victory.
The first drive of the third quarter indicated that the game’s tone had changed. Texas A&M seized control of the contest with a nine-play, 56-yard touchdown drive. All 56 yards came on the ground. The Aggies gained at least nine yards on five of the eight running plays.
Texas A&M then got breathing room on a 79-yard punt return touchdown by KC Concepcion. The other three Aggies touchdowns all came on drives of 50 yards or less. Texas A&M toyed with LSU during the second half beatdown.
So, the Tigers proved in the month of October that they are far from a College Football Playoff contender with two losses in three games. For the sixth straight season, LSU will not be a CFP team. The 2025 Tigers team looks far from being a contender for any type of title.
Following Saturday’s games, nine SEC teams have two or fewer losses. LSU is not in that number. The Tigers are the best of the league’s also-rans. LSU still needs another victory to become bowl eligible.
So, it is apparent that this edition of the Tigers is not a good team by any standard. However, where is the LSU program two months into Brian Kelly’s fourth season as head coach?
Kelly’s rent-a-player approach failed in 2025. The Tigers brought in nearly 20 players from other four-year schools. These players have not jelled through eight games. LSU’s roster is not equipped to produce a winning SEC record.
In the summer, Kelly said that he finally had the personnel which could compete for a championship. Well, Kelly was wrong.
Did Kelly misevaluate the personnel?
The Tigers certainly appeared to be far less talented than Texas A&M. Please discount the first half which had LSU ahead by four points.
If Kelly believes that this roster is his best at LSU, why is the team headed to posting the fewest victories of his four Tigers teams?
Everyone was fooled into thinking that LSU was a CFP team. Just look at the offensive line. The five offensive linemen who started against the Aggies had played a total of nine snaps in SEC competition before this season.
Center Braelin Moore and left guard Josh Thompson transferred from Virginia Tech and Northwestern, respectively. Both the Hokies and the Wildcats had losing seasons in 2024.
Left tackle Carius Curne is a first-year freshman. Redshirt freshman right guard Coen Echols and redshirt freshman right tackle Weston Davis were on the field for five snaps and four snaps against SEC teams, respectively, in 2024.
There is no way anyone should have expected this group to be ready for SEC competition. That situation has played out. The poor performance upfront has resulted in a horrible offensive season – no time for Nussmeier to throw and no holes for the running backs.
Can Kelly get the program on the path to being a CFP team?
One could make the case that only the arrival of Jayden Daniels from Arizona State, an eventual Heisman Trophy winner, has prevented Kelly’s overall record with the Tigers being much worse.
Upper-echelon power conference teams should not go back-to-back seasons without making the CFP. Head coaches should be held accountable. It appears that Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A&M will be in the CFP at least once in 2024-25.
Florida will not be in the College Football Playoff either year and head coach Billy Napier has already been fired. That leaves Auburn, LSU and Oklahoma. Those three teams could all go 0-for-2 in making the expanded CFP.
Auburn’s Hugh Freeze, Kelly and Oklahoma’s Brent Venables could have their tenures ended during the next few weeks. Those schools’ administrations have some tough decisions to make in the immediate future.
