LSU football failed to hold onto its lead and dropped Saturday’s matchup 38-23 to Texas A&M, allowing the Aggies to secure the No. 1 spot in the SEC. 

While LSU came out of the gate with fire, Texas A&M closed out the second half with everything it needed to unravel the Tigers. 
When Aggie coach Mike Elko benched quarterback Connor Weigman to bring in dual-threat quarterback Marcel Reed, he found an answer to overpowering the LSU defense. 

The Tigers now head into the bye week facing serious evaluations to prepare for their upcoming matchup against Alabama on Nov. 9.

Here are three takeaways from the Tigers’ loss. 

Too much pressure on Nussmeier

Every drive, every play, every 3rd-and-long quarterback Garrett Nussmeier was faced with the pressure to deliver.

The LSU run game was nonexistent with a total of 24 rushing yards, and it was up to Nussmeier to be the saving grace. 

No quarterback should be burdened with that level of pressure, and Nussmeier lacked the support of a solid team around him. It was no surprise he eventually cracked, throwing three interceptions.

“I don’t think we give him enough balance within the offense,” head coach Brian Kelly said. “It makes him vulnerable because he has to do so much.”

Without being able to depend on running plays, Nussmeier became predictable for the Aggie defense. He was rushed in the pocket and forced into quick decisions that ultimately created costly mistakes. 

LSU loses control in the second half 
When LSU was up in the third quarter 17-7 and needed to extend the lead, Nussmeier threw an interception to Aggie BJ Mayes, setting up Texas A&M at the eight-yard line. 

Elko brought in quarterback Reed, and he rushed eight yards into the endzone to make it a three point game. 

This was the momentum shift in the game. 

Kyle Field was booming with hope the Aggies would come back, and the fans helped power that into existence. 

In the second half, LSU gave up 20 points off turnovers. When it needed to make big plays it made big mistakes instead. 
The Tigers had missed field goals, fumbled snaps and multiple interceptions. All these errors led to a loss of control in a game LSU could’ve run away with.

Because of the loss, the Tigers have no margin for error the rest of the season. LSU still has a chance to go to the SEC championship if they win out. 
Different matchup, same old problems

“We’re sitting here again talking about the same things,” Kelly said. “About not finishing when you have an opponent in a position to put them away. But what we’re doing on the sideline is feeling like the game is over.”

This quote isn’t from Kelly’s post-game press conference after LSU blew the 17-7 lead, letting Texas A&M win by two scores. 

Kelly said this in the season opener. LSU wasn’t able to finish against USC in Vegas, and Kelly was tired of his team not staying consistent until the end. 

It’s Week 9 now. The Tigers still made the same mistakes. 

Aiming to come back, LSU kept getting in its own way. The Tigers gave up game-changing plays in the second-half and couldn’t contain the running quarterback. 
“We need to spend more time each and every week, because right now I would run the quarterback against us,” Kelly said.

As Kyle Field became more electric, LSU became less energized. 

“I feel as though, from a coaching standpoint, we need to help our team too,” Kelly said. “I didn’t feel like we had the answers necessary on defense or on offense to help the group. We need to coach better. And we need to execute better in the second half.”

Within all these problems, there’s a silver lining for the Tigers. The team can head into its bye week with a clear plan of attack and reassess its offensive strategy and defensive inabilities.

The time is now for the Tigers to really tap into their fullest potential and take this game as a learning opportunity, so the same mistakes don’t happen in the upcoming, critical games.