Biggest Takeaways From Texas A&M's Blowout In Death Valley

The year is 1994. The Texas A&M Aggies and head coach R.C. Slocum celebrate a win at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge in the midst of a dominant season, a high that they'll chase for another three decades.

Until tonight.

With an unbelievable 49-25 win over the No. 20 Tigers, the No. 3 Aggies marked the end of that dreadful streak, but it wasn't easy, nothing in Death Valley is when you're the visiting team, but the Aggies proved that their four-point deficit at halftime was just that, a deficit that could easily be overcome, which they did in traditional 2025 Texas A&M fashion, as for the second year in a row, a dreadful third quarter sealed the fate of Brian Kelly's Tigers against Mike Elko and the Ags.

The Notebook

As the Aggies head into their second bye week still as the only undefeated SEC team before heading to Columbia to take on the Missouri Tigers in two weeks' time, here are three major takeaways from Texas A&M's massive win in Baton Rouge.

Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver KC Concepcion (7) returns a punt for a touchdown during the second half against LSU. — Oct 25, 2025; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver KC Concepcion (7) returns a punt for a touchdown during the second half against the Louisiana State Tigers at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Putting the "Special" in Special Teams

Mike Elko and the rest of the Aggie coaching staffs have to be slapping themselves on their backs for picking up wide receiver KC Concepcion in the transfer portal over the offseason, because the former NC State wideout has put together a season for the ages in the receiving game, yes, but also in the special teams game as well, and he highlighted that again tonight against the Tigers, returning a 79-yard punt return to the house to flip the momentum in favor of the Maroon and White.

With his return score, his second of the season, he became the first A&M player since Christian Kirk in 2016 to record multiple punt return touchdowns in a single campaign, and also caught three passes for 45 yards and an additional touchdown during the game, a further testament to how versatile of a player he is in Mike Elko's offense.

Texas A&M + Second Half = Perfection

There's no telling what the Aggies' obsession with being completely unstoppable in the second half of play this season, but if there was ever a game to pinpoint their best example of it, Saturday night in Baton Rouge was it, the team scoring 35 unanswered points, growing their lead so much that by the middle of the third quarter, there were almost more A&M fans in the stands than LSU fans, with Tiger Stadium becoming another Kyle Field with the rowdiness of the 12th Man fans in attendance.

The Aggies nearly pitched a shutout in the second half, before allowing a garbage time touchdown to the Purple and Gold with a little under a minute left in the game, which at one point, the stadium was just about cleared of LSU fans and Michael Van Buren was in at quarterback in place of Garrett Nussmeier.

The first win in Baton Rouge since 1994 couldn't have been more memorable for the Maroon and White.

LSU's Third Quarter Dooms Them Again Vs. Texas A&M

For the second straight year in a row, the LSU Tigers had a narrow lead over Texas A&M at halftime, and for the second year in a row, the Aggies made the second half theirs and turned it around into an absolute beatdown.

Last year, LSU was up 17-7 at half, and then Marcel Reed came in the second half, yada, yada, yada, and the rest is history, leading to a 38-23 A&M win.

This year was almost a carbon copy, except Reed played the entire 60 minutes this time, and after the Aggies fell behind 18-14 at half after two interceptions from Reed in the second quarter, the Fightin' Farmers put up 21 points in the third quarter and 14 more in the fourth quarter, while the "Wrecking Crew" defense played nearly perfect against the LSU offense, scoring five sacks throughout the course of the game and not giving the Tigers a chance to breath, leading to the 49-25 slaying in Death Valley Saturday night, a most unpleasant birthday present for LSU head coach Brian Kelly.

The Aggies will have their second and final bye week of the 2025 season next week, and will finish out their consecutive slate of road games at Faurot Field in Columbia against the Missouri Tigers on November 8.