Two wins was all that stood between LSU and a possible College Football Playoff berth.
An uphill climb in the SEC Championship was seen as the major hurdle, but the Tigers still had one regular season game left before heading to Atlanta. However, many had already written off the then 4-7 Texas A&M Aggies, a team that had already clinched last place in the SEC West.
The matchup between LSU and Texas A&M proved that football isn’t played on paper.
From the start, the game did not have the feel of a 9-2 team facing off against a 4-7 team with nothing to play for. Kyle Field was packed and full of energy, which seemed to have an impact throughout the game.
Texas A&M got off to a fast start, stopping LSU on its first drive and immediately following that up with an opening drive touchdown. Slow starts have been one of the themes of LSU’s season, so the Aggies’ early momentum was not too alarming to LSU fans.
Texas A&M found itself leading 17-10 at halftime, with all the momentum now in favor of the Aggies who elected to defer, receiving the ball first in the second half. However, LSU seemed to stifle that momentum early on. The LSU defense forced an immediate three-and-out and the offense followed that up with a touchdown drive before the defense forced another stop.
After that, disaster struck for LSU.
On a third down deep in LSU territory, Jayden Daniels kept the ball on a designed run and fumbled, setting up a 27-yard fumble return touchdown which gave the Aggies a lead they never lost.
That seemed to be the turning point as from there, it was utter domination by Texas A&M.
The Aggies scored two more times, getting out to as big as a 21-point lead before LSU scored one last touchdown to cut the final deficit to 15. The defensive score seemed to give Texas A&M a new energy from the crowd to the players,and it was one that LSU couldn’t overcome.
“It was one of those things where you know, you wish you could have done it all over again,” Brian Kelly said about the fumble. “It’s a huge play. That momentum swing, I don’t know that we ever really recovered from it.”
The biggest takeaway from the team’s overall performance was Texas A&M’s rushing attack. The Aggies ran for 274 yards, led by a career night from Devon Achane. Achane finished the game with 28 carries for 215 yards and two touchdowns.
“So many different things that happened defensively,” Kelly said. “We didn’t get our jobs done and [we’re] very disappointed.”
With that loss, the outlook of the rest of LSU’s season changes. With three losses, a playoff bid is off the table for LSU. However, the Tigers still play in the SEc Championship game next week. With a championship opportunity on the horizon, Kelly made an emphasis on turning the page on this game with the team.
“We’re pretty much moving down the road already. They know what happened tonight. They understand our process and what they need to do and maybe wasn’t done to the level that needs to be done each and every week, tonight,” Kelly said.
“Man, I’m so proud of what they’ve done. It’s just so hard. I mean, to do it each and every week in this league,” Kelly said. “We ran into a team that played really well tonight at home and we just didn’t have what it took tonight, for whatever reason. We’ll learn from this.”
Like he has all season, sticking to the process was a key point mentioned by Kelly. Even with the obvious disappointment on the night, few expected LSU to be in this position at the beginning of the season.
Common predictions for the team were 8-4, 7-5 or even 6-6. Now even with the loss, LSU finishes the season 9-3, with a 10-win season and SEc Championship still a possibility. While it’s certain this loss will be painful for the team losing its chance at a playoff berth, the progress made since September is what Kelly’s process hoped to achieve.
“I don’t want this loss to at all take away from what they’ve accomplished this year,” Kelly said. “This was one of the most enjoyable years that I’ve had in my career in watching these kids grow. This was not a step back,”
