What We Learned After LSU’s Dominant Win over Texas A&M

Saturday night in Death Valley was a disappointing night for Texas A&M football.

The offense couldn't do much. That applies to the defense as well.

It fell apart in the second half for head coach Mike Elko’s program, which stayed within striking distance of LSU but let the game get out of hand. That said, the 35-6 loss revealed many areas this team has lacked not only this week but in past weeks as well.

Rushing Numbers Must Improve

Rueben Owens Texas A&M Aggies. — Sep 26, 2026; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Texas A&M Aggies running back Rueben Owens II (4) runs the ball as LSU Tigers linebacker TJ Dottery (6) attempts to tackle during the second quarter at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Without a run game, offenses more often than not struggle to put together a good outing. That was the case against the LSU defense.

Injuries have plagued A&M’s running back room with Tiger Riden Jr. out for the season. Jamarion Morrow also missed the LSU game. KJ Edwards has also been banged up this season, which left many touches to either starting running back Rueben Owens or freshman Carsyn Baker.

Both got a majority of the reps in the game against the Tigers. Between Owens and Baker, the duo combined for 18 of the Aggies' 33 rush attempts. The El Campo, Texas native recorded 62 yards on the ground while the Fairburn, Georgia native tacked on 15 yards.

Altogether, the Maroon and White had 91 yards, averaging 2.8 yards per rush.

Last week versus Kentucky, A&M had 187 rushing yards, and that significantly dropped at Tiger Stadium. In Week 2, Arizona State’s defense held them to under 100 yards, so winning at the line of scrimmage hasn’t been their strongest suit thus far. That must change in a hurry.

Marcel Reed Has To Be More Accurate

Completion percentage has not been a friend to quarterback Marcel Reed.

In Week 1, Reed completed 70 percent of his passes. In Week 2, he posted a 60 percent completion percentage, followed by 53.1 percent in Week 3. It fell to a career-low 38 percent this past weekend against LSU, where he had only 10 completions on 26 attempts.

Multiple scenarios could have made those numbers look better, but massive errors by the rest of the offense cost Reed a couple of huge completions that were wiped away by penalties. Some mistakes were drops, too. Others were passes slung way over the reach of the receivers.

Through four games, the Nashville, Tennessee native has a 50.9 QBR and has thrown for 738 yards and six touchdowns, but has four interceptions. Despite a few disappointing weeks, Reed has lots of football ahead of him to clean up the poor decisions and make the most of the season left.

A&M’s Secondary Has To Figure Things Out

Going into the season, Elko & Co. strongly believed this was one of the best groups in the secondary he's had in his three-year tenure in Aggieland.

It is full of veterans who have been part of the program for at least a year, or even longer, and the product on the field hasn’t been what they imagined. There has appeared to be some confusion. Why? No idea. Why do explosive plays keep happening? Not sure.

No matter what the defense has lined up to throw offenses off, some of it hasn’t worked, with way too many blown coverages and missed assignments.

Quarterback Sam Leavitt played with one good leg all night and still finished with over 300 yards in the air, and nothing stopped him from controlling the game.

Did he see something that guys like Dezz Ricks, Marcus Ratcliffe, Dalton Brooks, and others haven't seen? Who knows, but there have been missed tackles and way too many scenarios where they haven’t responded after getting punched in the mouth. The 848 yards surrendered, averaging 212 yards per game, doesn’t meet the standard this team holds itself to.

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