COLLEGE STATION, Texas— Trailing Texas A&M 12-0 late in the second quarter Saturday with the Aggies driving in LSU territory, the Tigers received a welcome dose of a familiar remedy — a turnover.

Freshman cornerback Jalen Collins’ interception of Aggies redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel in the second quarter jumpstarted the No. 6 Tigers’ (7-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) lethargic offense and signaled a turning point for the defense.

Prior to the interception, LSU’s offense totaled just 66 yards, and its defense allowed more than 200 yards.

After the interception, the Tigers tallied their first touchdown, forced another turnover and rallied to take the lead before halftime — a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.

It was déjà vu for the Tigers as the game played out in eerily similar fashion to last week’s 23-21 victory against South Carolina.

Last week, an interception from junior safety Eric Reid resulted in LSU’s go-ahead field goal and gave the Tigers a lead they maintained for the rest of the game.

The Tigers also finished the No. 22 Aggies (5-2, 2-2 SEC) off in matching style, as freshman running back Jeremy Hill broke a decisive 47-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, which mirrored the 50-yard run that put away the Gamecocks last week.

Hill led the Tigers in rushing for a second straight week, collecting consecutive performances with more than 100 yards.

“I just hope the team continues to finish games,” Hill said. “It doesn’t matter if I get called or Spencer [Ware], Kenny [Hilliard], or whoever gets called, we just need to continue to finish games.”

Junior running back Michael Ford, who gave the Tigers their first touchdown on a 20-yard run in the second quarter, said they’re at their best when playing from behind, and it all stems from coach Les Miles’ mindset.

“Miles thrives on [situations] like that,” Ford said. “That’s what he wants, to come back and show the world that we’re not going to fold when people get up ahead of us.”

But many times, LSU relied fully on its defense with conservative play calling, which the defense has no problem with, Reid said.

The defense struggled to contain Manziel and the Aggies’ offensive attack in the first half, but the defense seemed to hit its stride in the second half, causing more pressure on Manziel and creating even more turnovers.

LSU ran more packages with extra defensive backs to compete with A&M’s speed in the second half, but the Tigers’ second half success came once they became acclimated to the speed of the game, said defensive coordinator John Chavis.

“It’s hard to simulate that speed, and when you don’t work against that speed every down — even though we work against our own offense and we get some of it — we don’t get it constantly in practice,” Chavis said. “When they adjusted to the speed, I felt comfortable that we could do a good job of shutting them down.”

But if the Tigers wish to have success against No. 1 Alabama in two weeks, offensive and defensive adjustments are going to have to come sooner because defensive turnovers are not guaranteed, said junior wide receiver Kadron Boone. 

Chavis said the defense is prepared to do its job no matter what situation it’s faced with, but he added the Tigers will need the bye week to sure up that side of the ball before facing the No. 1 team in the nation.

“We’re two weeks away, and it’s going to take us at least that long,” Chavis said. “But this is a defense that we said at the beginning of the season that would get better as the season went along because we’ve had some injuries, and we’ve had to shuffle some people around.”