By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Act III of the Marcel Reed Show got off to a slow start at Tiger Stadium Saturday night.
The Texas A&M quarterback, who destroyed the Tigers’ defense in back-to-back 49-25 and 38-23 victories the last two seasons, was held to just 13 rushing yards on six carries and 7-of-15 passing for 75 yards and no touchdowns in the first half as No. 10 LSU took a 14-3 lead over the No. 23 Aggies. That quickly grew to 21-3 in the third quarter.
And that was without LSU starting star position player Dashawn Spears, who was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered at Ole Miss last week.
Reed rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns while completing 12 of 21 passes for another 202 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-25 win over LSU at Tiger Stadium last season. In 2024, the freshman Reed came off the bench in the third quarter trailing LSU, 17-7, and completely shredded defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s unit with 62 rushing yards on nine carries and three touchdowns along with 2-of-2 passing for another 70 yards.
This time around, LSU’s defense appeared to solve the elusive quarterback. The only points Reed could lead the Aggies to was a 24-yard field goal by David Olano with 8:46 to go before halftime to cut LSU’s lead to 7-3.
The Tigers answered that later in the quarter with an 83-yard drive in six plays over 2:22 to take a 14-3 lead with 1:54 to go in the half on a 16-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Leavitt to wide receiver Jackson Harris.
Leavitt added a 57-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Harris in the middle of the field at the 10:57 mark of the third quarter for a commanding 21-3 lead. That completion put Leavitt at 11-of-15 passing on the night for 221 yards and two touchdowns as he was much more accurate than a week ago in the 32-24 loss at Ole Miss. Harris had four catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns after that play.
LSU took a 7-0 lead on its second possession of the game with an 82-yard drive in eight plays, including a 36-yard run by running back Dilin Jones, who scored on a 1-yard run with 9:37 to go in the first quarter.
Jones finished the first half with 46 yards on eight carries. LSU wide receiver Winnie Watkins had three catches for 86 yards in the first half.
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