By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
That’s more like it.
What a difference a new coach makes.
The last time LSU played Texas A&M, it was humiliated, 49-25, including by 35-7 in the second half, and coach Brian Kelly was fired the next morning.
The LSU Nation may be celebrating this one until early Sunday morning as new coach Lane Kiffin delivered a dominating, 35-6 victory over the No. 23 Aggies and finally stopped quarterback Marcel Reed after he shredded LSU’s defense for blowout wins the last two seasons.
The No. 10 Tigers (3-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), who had lost three of the last four to Texas A&M, beat the Aggies (2-2, 0-2 SEC) for the first time since a 42-30 victory in 2023 and enjoyed their most lopsided win over A&M since 50-7 in the 2019 national championship season.
“So, that’s really a quality win, 35-6,” Kiffin said. “Really dominating numbers – 506 yard of offense to 197. That feels good, because those numbers mean that a lot of guys were really doing well, much like in the opener (51-10 over Clemson). And a suffocating defense.”
Yes, the third time was the charm for LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker as his unit held Reed to just -13 rushing yards on 10 carries, counting four sacks, and to a mere 106 yards through the air on 10-of-26 passing. That after he rushed for 170 yards and five touchdowns over the previous two games while completing 14 of 23 passes for another 272 yards and two touchdowns.
“I thought they did a better job of doing some things up front to take that (Reed’s running) away from us,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “We tried to do some different things to get him going. We just weren’t able to.”
Reed rushed for 12 yards up the middle on the Aggies’ first play of the game, bringing back nightmare memories for LSU fans, but that was his longest run of the night.
“We just couldn’t get it going, as simple as that,” Reed said. “We executed stuff in practice, and it just didn’t translate to the game. They have a new coach and few players from the portal (actually 42 in all), but I mean that’s college football nowadays. Obviously, they played better than us this year. And that was obvious.”
LSU also decimated the defensive plan of Mike Elko, a defensive expert who was formerly defensive coordinator for A&M and at Notre Dame under Kelly, to the tune of five football fields.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt outplayed Reed by two football fields, completing 17 of 23 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns. And he did most of that after suffering a hamstring injury in the second quarter. But he stayed in the game, and he stayed in the pocket for the most part, because of the injury.
“Sam obviously was very injured,” Kiffin said. “He showed his toughness to play through that, and it got worse later.”
Kiffin said Leavitt will have to deal with the pain, but “it will eventually come back” and heal, he said.
Wide receiver Jackson Harris caught six passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns, while wide receiver Winnie Watkins Jr. added five catches for 107 yards.
LSU rushed for 194 yards on 38 carries at 5.1 yards a pop with running back Dilin Jones gaining 63 on 14 carries.
“I don’t have many words,” Elko said. “We have to find a way to play better football. We’re not playing football at nearly a good enough level, obviously. That’s the understatement of a lifetime. I don’t have answers right now, but we’ve got to find them. And we’ve got to find them fast.”
As well as the LSU defense played, though, there was bad news as senior linebacker Whit Weeks apparently injured his ankle in the third quarter, hopped off the field and did not return.
“Obviously, it didn’t look good when he walked off,” Kiffin said.
“It looked really bad,” LSU coach Lane Kiffin on Whit Weeks’ apparent ankle injury in TV interview. @kacehk https://t.co/yBJxlHLEZL
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 27, 2026
LSU’s defense ransacked Reed despite not have starting star position player Dashawn Spears, who suffered a knee injury last week in the loss at Ole Miss and was lost for the season. Safety Ty Benefield moved to Spears’ position with backup safety Jhase Thomas taking Benefield’s spot.
Benefield led both teams with seven tackles.
“That’s a really great tackler right there,” Kiffin said.
The Tigers took a 14-3 lead with 1:54 left in the first half on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Leavitt to Harris, who then got wide open at the center of Elko’s defense for a 57-yard touchdown and 21-3 lead with with 10-57 left in the third quarter. And the rout was on.
The Tigers made it 28-3 on their next possession after the Aggies – sensing the finality of things – failed to convert a fourth-and-one from their own 34-yard line. Five plays later, backup quarterback Landen Clark scored on a 4-yard run.
Safety Marcus Ratcliffe intercepted Leavitt on LSU’s next drive at the LSU 40, but the Aggies’ anemic offense had to settle for a 53-yard field goal from David Olano for a 28-6 score. Leavitt answered that with a 36-yard completion to Harris to the Aggies’ 12-yard line. And three plays later, Clark scored on a 2-yard run for a 35-6 lead after three quarters.
LSU hosts McNeese State (2-3) Saturday in Tiger Stadium at 6:45 p.m.
The Tigers took a 7-0 lead on their second possession of the game on an 82-yard drive in eight plays. Leavitt found Harris for a 19-yard completion to the LSU 40. Then Jones gained 36 yards to the Aggies’ 24-yard line. Leavitt found Watkins for another 15 yards before Jones later scored on a 1-yard run with 9:37 to go in the first quarter.
Olano got the Aggies within 7-3 on a 24-yard field goal with 8:46 to go before halftime.
A&M had little to cheer for after that, which was a far cry from last season when the Aggies basically took over Tiger Stadium late in the blowout last season as LSU fans left in droves.
“I thought the fans were great,” Kiffin said. “It was awesome, electric. I saw a lot of their fans left. That was good.”
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