BATON ROUGE, La. — In a rematch of last season’s seven-overtime thriller that saw the Aggies top LSU for the first time since 1995, Saturday’s game was anything but thrilling. Here are the takeaways from A&M’s 50-7 loss to the No. 2 Tigers.
A&M unable to find momentum on the ground
After their worst rushing performance against Georgia, the Aggies failed to bounce back. After garnering a season-low 273 total offensive yards against the Bulldogs, A&M had just 169 against the Tigers. The run game, though slightly improved from the minus-1 yards it had against Georgia, accumulated only 72 yards on the ground.
“We couldn’t get the running game going,” A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said. “We couldn’t get the first downs. In the second half we got a couple nice things going and got established, but we just couldn’t get there.”
Pocket pressure limits passing
Impressive catches are what gave the Aggies the 74-72 win over the Tigers in seven overtimes last season, and a lack of successful passing plays is what lost them the game this season. LSU’s front seven played a key role in that. Mond was sacked five times for a loss of 45 yards, and he was pressured on each passing play. LSU sophomore linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson led the Tigers with 1.5 sacks. Mond went 10-of-30 for 92 yards and threw three interceptions, including one in the end zone. He also had two intentional grounding penalties.
“Kellen was pressured very hard all night,” Fisher said. “They did a good job up front.”
Chase shines for Tigers
Where the Aggies were lacking on offense, LSU shined. Senior Joe Burrow led the Tigers, going 23-of-32 for 352 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Sophomore wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase led the Tigers’ receivers with 197 yards on seven catches and two touchdowns.
“[Ja’Marr] Chase is one of the best receivers we’ve seen all year,” Fisher said. “There’s a handful of them we’ve seen; it’s hard to say who is the best. We’ve played some really outstanding ones, and he’s definitely one of them.”