LSU’s second half did not go to plan in College Station on Saturday night. Texas A&M turned to dual-threat QB Marcel Reed and the LSU defense had no response.
On the other side of the ball, LSU’s failure to run the ball put too much on the passing game and QB [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] made a series of mistakes that let the game get away from LSU.
LSU was a slight underdog and playing on the road in the SEC is never easy, but A&M flat-out beat LSU in the second half. ESPN play-by-play man Chris Fowler called it a Texas A&M avalanche. It’s hard to find a better way to describe it.
Texas A&M looked like a playoff team over the final two quarters while LSU looked like a team unprepared for the moment. Mistakes in all phases of the game cost LSU on Saturday night. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
Here are five stats that defined LSU’s loss.
LSU’s 1.9 yards per carry
At first, that reads like a typo. LSU averaged 1.9 yards per carry — not what’s expected from an SEC team with future NFL linemen and blue-chip running backs.
[autotag]Caden Durham[/autotag] ran it 11 times for 15 yards while Josh Williams got seven carries for 23 yards. Together, they combined for a -8.33 EPA on the ground.
LSU’s offensive line couldn’t get any push or create space. Durham and Williams were constantly met by Texas A&M defenders at the line of scrimmage.
Just 19% of LSU’s runs went for 4+ yards. A&M’s mark was at 60%.
“We spent a lot of time on our run game. We should be better there,” [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] said.
Garrett Nussmeier: Three interceptions
After Week 9, [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] leads the SEC with nine picks on the year. We knew Nussmeier was a “gunslinger” who would put the ball in jeopardy at times, but three picks on Saturday allowed the game to unravel for LSU.
Throwing three picks in a half isn’t a recipe for success. The turnovers came on LSU’s end of the field and set A&M up for a touchdown drive of eight yards and 26 yards. The third pick led to a field goal. Combined, A&M scored 17 points off the Nussmeier turnovers.
You could feel the momentum swing after the first interception. That’s where the game was lost for LSU. The Tigers weren’t able to settle down after that and the floodgates opened.
LSU special teams: -5.02 EPA
LSU’s field goal unit struggled on Saturday. A poor hold led to [autotag]Damian Ramos[/autotag] missing a field goal late in the first quarter. In the second, LSU missed another one.
Long snapper [autotag]Slade Roy[/autotag] and holder [autotag]Peyton Todd[/autotag] weren’t on the same page and it led to a bungled snap in the third quarter. That’s nine points left on the board.
With the way A&M controlled the game in the second half, it’s hard to say the nine points were the difference, but the second half looks different if LSU is playing with a bigger lead.
When you send the field goal unit out there three times, you don’t want to come away empty on all three attempts.
LSU’s EPA without explosive plays: -36.29
LSU’s offense had a few explosive plays on Saturday night, including a 76-yard catch and run from [autotag]Aaron Anderson[/autotag] and some third-down conversions to [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag].
Outside of that, LSU struggled to get anything going on offense. Without the explosive plays, LSU’s EPA was -36.29. LSU’s worst mark of the year.
With the run game not providing anything, it was hard to establish down-to-down consistency. That allowed A&M to tee up blitzes on Nussmeier and showcase some disguised coverages.
Nussmeier was feeling the pressure and knew the only way LSU could score was a big play through the air. Kelly said LSU is putting too much on its quarterback and that was evident on Saturday.
Mason Taylor and Kyren Lacy: 8 catches on 16 targets
This stat may feel a little nitpicky, but LSU only completed half of its targets to its most reliable receivers.
LSU turns to Taylor and Lacy when it needs a conversion — they’re Nussmeier’s go-to guys.
This is related to LSU’s lack of down-to-down efficiency. Part of LSU becoming a better situational football team means consistently completing passes to the dependable pass catchers.
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