For the last time in the current configuration of Kyle Field, the Texas A&M football team took the field Thanksgiving night in College Station, Texas. Before a crowd of 105,829 fans, the Aggies fell to the LSU Tigers 23-17.
The game, which was lopsided in favor of the Tigers for most of the night, came down to the wire. Down by six points with just 2:07 to go, the Aggies had the ball with a chance to win the game.
Facing third-and-10 on their 49-yard line, the Aggies appeared to catch the Tigers offside. Thinking he had a free play, true freshman quarterback threw up a jump ball that was intercepted down the field. Because there were no flags thrown, LSU kept possession after the interception.
“That was the play call — if they jump, snap it,” senior offensive lineman Cedric Ogbuehi said. “He jumped, [center Mike Matthews] snapped it, so Kyle [Allen] thought he had a free play. He threw it up and the refs didn’t call it.”
After the play, A&M players and coaches could be seen pleading their cases to the referees, but to no avail. The call would stand and LSU (8-4, 4-4 SEC) would take a knee and walk away with the win.
“I mean, you’ve got to live with it,” senior cornerback Deshazor Everett said. “There’s not much you can do. You can argue with the refs; you can yell at them, but you can’t make them see something. They can’t go back and reverse that call and we’re going to have to live with it. The game shouldn’t have come down to us needing to win that late like we had to.”
With losses to Ole Miss, Missouri and now LSU this season, A&M failed to win a conference game at Kyle Field for the first time since 1970.
The Aggies jumped out to an early lead — scoring first for the 32nd time in 38 games under head coach Kevin Sumlin. After an interception by DeVante Harris, running back Trey Williams broke through the middle of the line untouched for a 41-yard touchdown run to make the score 7-0.
After that drive, it was all LSU for the rest of the first half. The Tigers scored 17 points in the second quarter and held A&M to just 85 yards in the first half while racking up 286 first half yards themselves.
The Tigers kicked a field goal to make the score 20-7 in the third quarter. The Aggies answered with a field goal of their own from senior Josh Lambo at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
After a missed field goal, the Tigers second of the game, the Aggies took over at their own 23 yard line, down 20-10.
Allen and the Aggies showed some life for the first time since the start of the game, capping eight play, 77 yard drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Speedy Noil to make the score 20-17. Noil and Allen were among six true freshmen that started for the Aggies Thursday night.
With all of Kyle Field on their feet, the Tigers drove down into Aggie territory with a chance to seal the victory. However, a sack by junior defensive back Devotna Burns on third down forced LSU to kick a field goal. The 43-yard attempt was good and the 23-17 score would hold.
The Aggies were outgained 491 to 228. A&M gave up 384 yards on the ground — a season high. The Tigers had 41:13 minutes of possession to the Aggies 18:47. LSU had 25 first downs; A&M had 12.
For the 17 graduating seniors, Thursday’s game was their last one to play at Kyle Field. During their time at A&M, they have compiled a 34-17 record. They are just the eighth senior class to play in four bowl games and have a chance to be the first class in school history to win all four.
“I told the team I was sorry for the seniors for their last game here at home,” Sumlin said. “I told them that I was proud of the way all three phases at the end of the game gave us an opportunity to win. Our guys didn’t quit and that’s important. We didn’t make enough plays to win, but we did not quit.”
A&M (7-6, 3-5 SEC) now awaits its postseason fate.