What a difference a year can make.
A year ago, Texas A&M came into Tiger Stadium and humiliated the Tigers 49-25, a result that became Brian Kelly’s final game as LSU’s head coach.
Saturday night, the Aggies (2-2, 0-2) returned to Death Valley and LSU returned the favor.
No. 10 LSU avenged last season’s loss with a dominant 35-6 victory over No. 23 Texas A&M, improving to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in SEC play.
“That’s a really quality win,” LSU coach Lane Kiffin said. “You know, you’re playing in the SEC, with two teams that were ranked in the Top 25 coming in. So, to win 35-6 and really dominate numbers, 506 yards to 197, was really good.”
There weren’t very many people left in LSU’s building who were around for that loss a year ago, but one man who certainly remembered was defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
And his unit answered the call resoundingly.
Texas A&M was limited to just 197 total yards, including only 91 yards on the ground, and failed to score a touchdown. The Aggies’ only points came on field goals of 24 and 53 yards.
Perhaps most importantly for Baker, LSU finally found an answer for Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed.
Reed had been a nightmare for Baker’s defense in each of the previous two meetings.
In 2024, Reed rushed nine times for 62 yards and three touchdowns against LSU. Last season in Tiger Stadium, he did even more damage, rushing 13 times for 108 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing a pair of scores.
That added up to 170 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns against Baker’s LSU defenses in two games.
On Saturday night, Reed never got going.
LSU consistently kept Reed bottled up in the pocket, pressured him without repeatedly losing contain and forced him to beat the Tigers with his arm. He finished just 10-of-26 passing for 106 yards with no touchdowns and an interception while being sacked four times. After sack yardage, Reed finished with minus-13 rushing yards.
It was a complete reversal of the previous two meetings.
Safety Tamarcus Cooley intercepted Reed early in the fourth quarter, while LSU’s defensive front made him uncomfortable for much of the night. freshman defensive tackle Deuce Geralds dropped Reed for a seven-yard loss late in the first half, and Cooley added an 11-yard sack on Texas A&M’s opening possession of the third quarter.
Edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen also recorded his team-leading seventh sack of the season.
Safety Ty Benefield and linebacker TJ Dottery led LSU defensively with seven tackles apiece, helping anchor a unit that never allowed Texas A&M to establish any rhythm.
While LSU’s defense exorcised one of its biggest demons from the past two seasons, the Tigers may have also seen an important step forward from quarterback Sam Leavitt.
The numbers were impressive. More important was how Leavitt produced them.
Rather than constantly looking to escape the pocket and create with his legs, Leavitt appeared much more comfortable staying home, allowing routes to develop and delivering the football downfield.
He completed 17 of 23 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, repeatedly attacking Texas A&M vertically. He completed 74 percent of his passes and delivered several of his best throws from within the structure of the offense.
LSU didn’t need Leavitt to be a runner Saturday night.
It needed him to be a quarterback.
And for perhaps the most encouraging stretch of his young LSU career, that’s exactly what he was.
“Sam (Leavitt), obviously, was very injured,” Kiffin said. “I joked to him that maybe it was the best thing that happened because he had to stay in the pocket and throw on time; he knew he couldn’t run. Really gutsy performance by him.”
Leavitt’s first touchdown pass came late in the second quarter. After completions of 35 and 36 yards helped move LSU down the field, Leavitt found Jackson Harris for a 16-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 14-3 halftime advantage.
The biggest play of the night came early in the third quarter.
Facing fourth-and-1 from its own 43-yard line, Lane Kiffin left the offense on the field. Leavitt sold a play fake, stayed patient and found Harris running uncovered down the middle of the field for a 57-yard touchdown.
“One of my favorite plays we’ve had, I think since week one, to be honest, just to carry over, and we kind of had a little sneaky shift in the backfield,” Leavitt said. “Jackson (Harris) did a great job selling the crack and go. Just a great call on a fourth-and-one situation.”
Just like that, LSU led 21-3 and the rout was on.
Harris finished as LSU’s leading receiver with a career night, catching six passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns.
Running back Dilin Jones led LSU on the ground with 14 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown, including a 36-yard run on LSU’s first scoring possession. Jones capped that drive with a one-yard touchdown run to give LSU a 7-0 lead.
Backup quarterback Landen Clark added a pair of rushing touchdowns from four and two yards out in the third quarter as LSU blew the game open.
LSU scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to turn a competitive 14-3 halftime game into a 35-6 demolition.
For a program that spent the offseason hearing about what happened the last time Texas A&M came to Baton Rouge, Saturday night represented a dramatic reversal.
A year ago, Reed ran wild, Texas A&M scored 49 points and LSU left Tiger Stadium facing a coaching change.
This time, Baker’s defense didn't allow a touchdown.
Reed couldn't escape.
And Leavitt stayed in the pocket and picked the Aggies apart.
One year later, it was LSU delivering the humiliation.
