With 8:17 left in the third quarter, Marcel Reed faked a handoff and instead ran the ball himself for an eight-yard touchdown.

About seven minutes later, Reed dropped back to pass but once again ran the ball himself. His offensive line pushed him into the end zone an extra yard for another eight-yard touchdown.

LSU had no answer. But were they prepared to have one? Brian Kelly certainly thought so, they just didn’t execute.

“We have a plan for the running quarterback,” Kelly said. “I don’t know that we executed it at the level that we needed to.”

While the head coach won’t come out and say his team was unprepared, Greg Penn III provided a more honest answer to LSU’s preparation for Reed and his style of play.

“We didn’t really prepare for it, honestly,” Penn said. “We didn’t think that he was going to come into the game. Him coming into the game kind of caught us off guard. We didn’t really know what runs they were going to run.”

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Conner Weigman started the first half for Texas A&M, and along with his 64 passing yards on 6-of-18 passing, he ran for -14 yards on six carries.

Weigman was not effective against the Tigers, so Aggies head coach Mike Elko looked to his backup quarterback in Reed. 

Elko had to look to Reed; LSU’s defense was constantly putting pressure on Weigman and forcing him to make bad throws.

It was time for Elko to make a big move to shift the momentum of the game, especially while at home. And he hit the bullseye. 

“Unbelievable credit to Marcel Reed to be ready to go,” Elko said after the win. “We just felt like things weren’t moving. It certainly wasn’t Conner’s fault, There weren’t a lot of open windows. We couldn’t get the passing game unglued at all.”

But looking to Reed in a moment of need was not outlandish for Elko. Weigman suffered an injury two games into the season, and was sidelined for nearly a month until making his return against Missouri.

At that point, Reed was A&M’s answer, and he held the fort down. While the three wins where Reed was the starter were all by 15 points or less, Reed’s run ability was the X-factor.

In all three of those games, Reed either ran for 70 yards or more and/or threw for 160 yards or more. It was clear what Reed would bring to the table.

“I feel as though from a coaching standpoint, we need to help our team,” Kelly said. “We need to coach better and execute better in the second half. It’s disappointing that we did not.”

For a player that has played in Texas A&M’s last six games, all of which were wins, did LSU think its game with the Aggies would be an exception?

Why would it be? Reed was a part of Texas A&M’s six-game win streak, so why would Elko ignore that when his starting quarterback isn’t getting the job done?

While Weigman had a completion percentage of 60% or higher in the Aggies last two games, he threw for just one touchdown, and did not run for any.

Texas A&M’s run game was consistently effective, but to become that one-dimensional in an offense is a dangerous game to play.

Reed only had to throw the ball twice in the Aggies’ win over LSU, but that was only because the Tigers could not stop his run game.

Did Kelly and the LSU staff simply think that Weigman not coming through was not possible? For a quarterback that only played four games up to its matchup with LSU, it was very much possible.

Regardless, it’s puzzling how the Tigers just don’t prepare for a running quarterback. While Reed is a much more effective runner, Weigman is not immune to running the ball.

In three of the four games Weigman started prior to Texas A&M’s game against LSU, he ran the ball four times or more for 25 yards or more.

LSU’s defense not having an answer for a running quarterback is inexcusable. 

It’s not encouraging, especially if the Tigers looked ahead a tiny bit: In two weeks, LSU will see another running quarterback in Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.

And he’s arguably much more of a threat in that aspect of the game than Reed.

You’d assume, and somewhat hope for LSU’s sake, that the team will prepare for a quarterback capable of running the ball effectively. 

Milroe and Alabama may see this inability to respond and double down on Milroe’s run ability that much more. If that’s the case, and LSU once again does not respond, it will be a long night for the Tigers.

“Right now, I’d run the quarterback against us,” Kelly said.