BATON ROUGE, La. — That’s how you walk the walk.
Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko acknowledged earlier this week that his program was “going to have to go out” and make good on their proclamations to build a serious winner.
Saturday’s 49-25 win against No. 20 LSU at Tiger Stadium certainly fits the bill.
The third-ranked Aggies (8-0, 5-0 SEC) had lost six consecutive games at Tiger Stadium since they joined the league and hadn’t won a game in Death Valley since the 1994 season.
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Saturday, in front of 101,924 fans at one of college football’s most-revered venues, they snapped the skid and further certified themselves as real-deal contenders in the process.
Here are five thoughts from the game.
The ramifications
The Aggies control both their own destiny and have an impressive résumé to woo the College Football Playoff committee with four regular-season games left to play.
They are one of two teams still unbeaten in conference play alongside Alabama and are one of six undefeated teams nationwide. The Aggies would play Alabama in the SEC championship game if the season ended today and could then clinch their own guaranteed entry into the College Football Playoff bracket.
But, in an instance where they potentially lose to Missouri, South Carolina, Samford or Texas before the postseason begins and are squeezed out of the conference title game, their body of work might be decent enough on its own to earn an at-large bid. The Aggies entered this week with the top-ranked strength of résumé nationwide, per ESPN, and are one of two programs with multiple ranked road wins this season. Their early-season win against Notre Dame was the first in more than a decade.
Texas A&M wide receiver KC Concepcion (7) carries against LSU cornerback DJ Pickett (3) in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 in Baton Rouge, La.
Gerald Herbert / AP
The turning point
The Aggies won the first quarter. The Tigers won the second.
KC Concepcion won the third.
Concepcion, a junior wide receiver, returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown that gave the Aggies a 28-18 lead with 8:47 left in the third quarter and snuffed out any last whiffs of momentum that the Tigers had secured at the end of the first half. The Aggies re-took the lead early in the quarter on a five-yard touchdown run from quarterback Marcel Reed but Concepcion’s return — which included a tightrope run up the LSU sideline before he cut right and up the field — kickstarted a seismic shift.
That was the second touchdown in a 28-0 run that the Aggies orchestrated to take a 42-18 lead into the fourth quarter. They finished with 132 total yards of offense (a figure which doesn’t include Concepcion’s return) and held the Tigers to 14 in three drives.
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The second quarter of misery
So, about that second quarter that the Tigers won.
It wasn’t particularly close either.
The Tigers scored 11 of their 18 first-half points directly off of A&M miscues. They went as follows:
The Aggies’ first second-quarter drive included a fumbled snap for an 11-yard loss, a quarterback in the end zone to force fourth down and a blocked punt that resulted in two points. Tigers defensive back Jhase Thomas blocked Tyler White’s punt through the back of the end zone to cut A&M’s lead to just five points with 12:13 left in the half. The Aggies marched down the field on their first possession after the safety. Well, technically, they nearly marched down the field. The eight-play drive — which included a miraculous 47-yard circus catch from wide receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman — ended at the three-yard line when Reed was intercepted by defensive back A.J. Haulcy in the end zone. Haulcy returned the interception to LSU’s 25-yard line. The Tigers nearly blew the opportunity. They were prepared to punt the ball after two negative plays, a false start and a short completion before an unnecessary roughness foul on Texas A&M defensive back Dezz Ricks gifted the Tigers a first down and 15 yards. The Tigers took a 15-14 lead on a Harlem Berry touchdown run five plays later. Reed’s second interception came earlier in a drive than his first. On 2nd and 12, less than two minutes after A&M lost its lead, Reed’s pass attempt was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Mansoor Delane and intercepted by linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. at the 48-yard line. The Tigers kicked a field goal six plays later to take a 18-14 lead into halftime. 
Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed (10) dives into the end zone for a touchdown in the first half of an NCAA college football game against LSU, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 in Baton Rouge, La.
Gerald Herbert / AP
The quarterback showdown
Saturday’s game reflected the topsy-turvy college football quarterback landscape that’s been on display this season. Reed had the 17th-best Heisman Trophy odds of any quarterback in the preseason and entered this week with the fifth-best overall. Nussmeier, a Flower Mound alum, had dropped from 3rd to 24th per FanDuel Sportsbook.
That looked like reality Saturday night.
Reed completed 12 of his 21 pass attempts for 202 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while Garrett Nussmeier finished 22 of 35 for 168 yards and one touchdown. Reed also ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Reed, a sophomore, looked dynamic in the first quarter before the aforementioned nightmare second. He scrambled for a 41-yard touchdown to give the Aggies a 7-0 lead with 10:10 left in the first and navigated a collapsed pocket to find Concepcion for a 15-yard touchdown at the end of the quarter. He stumbled in the second quarter with two interceptions but regained his composure in the third with a 5-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Jamarion Morrow.
The game wrecker
Aggies defensive lineman Cashius Howell was an early presence.
Howell sacked Nussmeier twice in the first half. The first, in which he sped past backup left tackle Carius Curne and laid a blindside hit, elicited a 3rd and 19 and forced the Tigers to burn a timeout less than two minutes into the game. His second, against right tackle Weston Davis, blew up LSU’s first second-quarter drive.
Howell has 10 sacks in his second season with the Aggies. Defensive linemen D.J. Hicks (who played at Allen) and Rylan Kennedy (a Mansfield Lake Ridge alum) each also recorded a sack.
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