Logos from sportslogos.net
The LSU Tigers finished their regular season with a hard-fought 42-30 win over Texas A&M at Tiger Stadium on Saturday. Brian Kelly and his team got up early this time to play the Jimbo Fisher-less Texas A&M Aggies in Tiger Stadium. A&M headed into halftime with a last-minute touchdown but the Tigers rolled late to win and improve to 9-3 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU received the opening kickoff and tried to go Brian Thomas Jr on the opening play but the Texas A&M safety forced the incompletion. Jayden Daniels would complete his next two passes to tight end Mason Taylor as he would get tackled one yard and the Tigers would go three-and-out.
The Aggies would go for it on 4th & 2 from LSU’s 40-yard line. Quarterback Jaylen Henderson went to Fernando Garza III across the middle but the tight end dropped the pass. The Tigers took over as Daniels went to Malik across the field and the junior receiver broke a couple of tackles for a pick up of 18. Daniels scrambled for 21 yards to set up 1st & GOAL and a one-touchdown by Logan Diggs.
Texas A&M responded with a 17-play drive that ran off over nine minutes. The Aggie offense picked up five first downs with Le’Veon Moss scoring from two yards out to tie the game less than two minutes into the second quarter.
LSU would punt for the second time of the game and Texas A&M capitalized by taking their first lead. Rueben Owens would get stuffed on 3rd & 5 and Randy Bond would knock through the 48-yard field goal to put the Aggies up by three.
The Tigers would respond and take back the lead late in the second quarter. A late hit out of bounds on Daniels set up LSU inside of A&M’s 40-yard line, then Daniels carried the ball for another 23 yards. Nabers made the short catch and broke multiple tackles to pick up 11 yards on the play and finished the drive with a six-yard touchdown catch.
A&M was able to score late as they took 4:45 off the clock in 13 plays. Henderson rolled out and completed the pass to tight end Jake Johnson for the 14-yard touchdown.
LSU would head to the locker room down 17-14.
The Aggies received the ball to begin the second half and wasted no time as they drove 75 yards in seven plays. Henderson scrambled left and found Jahdae Walker for the 33-yard gain. Offensive lineman Mark Nabou Jr carried the ball as an eligible receiver and scored the one-yard touchdown to extend A&M’s lead less than four minutes into the third quarter.
On 4th & 4 from their own 47-yard line, Daniels ran down the left sideline for a pickup of 49 yards to set up 1st & GOAL. Josh Williams capped off the drive with a one-yard score and cut the deficit to three.
A&M threatened to score as they milked much of the clock and got inside the red zone. Harold Perkins tackled Henderson for a two-yard loss on third down and Bond missed the 31-yard kick.
LSU went three-and-out on the drive but Greg Penn III intercepted Henderson’s pass on 3rd & 7 at the Tiger 34-yard line. Thomas made the catch near the sideline and stayed in bounds for a 13-yard gain. Daniels stayed patient in the pocket and connected with Chris Hilton Jr across the middle, then Daniels went to Thomas again, this time for a 23-yard touchdown in the back right corner of the endzone. The Tigers reclaimed the lead, 28-24 with under 12 minutes to play in the game.
Perkins and Da’Shawn Womack combined to sack Henderson on third down and the Aggies were forced to punt in their on end zone. Nabers became the career receptions holder for the Tigers on the following drive and helped extend LSU’s lead with a 21-yard touchdown.
LSU missed multiple tackles on tight end Max Wright as he stumbled his way into the end zone for a 51-yard touchdown. Henderson’s pass on the two-point conversion was broken up. LSU still led 35-30 midway into the fourth quarter.
The Tigers responded with a touchdown of their own. Nabers made the 45-yard catch across the middle with Kyren Lacy finishing the drive with the 15-yard score,
A&M turned it over on downs on their own 17-yard line and LSU drained the rest of the clock as the Tigers topped the Aggies 42-30.
BIG NUMBER: 186
Malik Nabers became LSU’s all-time receptions leader on Saturday against Texas A&M with 186 passes caught. On the day, he finished with six catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jayden Daniels
Daniels completed 16 out of 24 pass attempts for 235 yards and four touchdowns in the air. He also carried the ball 11 times for 120 yards as LSU came out on top 42-30.
UP NEXT: The LSU Tigers will wait to see which Bowl game they will play in and who their opponent will be. The action between the Tigers and whoever they play can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles, Southwest Louisiana’s Sports Station.