By DOUG IRELAND and RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE — LSU football coach Brian Kelly spent more time Monday talking about the opportunity ahead than the frustration behind.
The 20th-ranked Tigers, down 10 spots in the Associated Press Top 25 after last week’s 31-24 loss at Vanderbilt, are home Saturday night at 6:30 to meet No. 3 Texas A&M. Kelly’s messaging Monday at his weekly media session and talking with the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum was simple: beating the undefeated Aggies is within LSU’s capacity.
“We have a great opportunity this weekend, in Tiger Stadium, to play the Number 3 team in the country. We believe the way we’re moving, if we continue to get better on both sides of the ball, we’re prepared to win the game,” said Kelly. “We believe we can win the game.”
Even if most Tiger fans and media are skeptical.
“We’re disappointed with the loss and we want to do better for our fan base. We get that. But there are a lot of things that we can take away from the game that we need to build on,” he said.
The second straight road loss to a highly-ranked SEC opponent by a one-score margin was rooted in the continuing inefficiency of the LSU offense, he said.
“We had 49 offensive plays. We need to make the most of every one of those, and we didn’t. We turned touchdowns into field goals, and they had touchdowns,” said Kelly. “That ultimately was the difference in the game.”
But the Tigers’ defense was, for the first time in 2025, not up to par.
“It wasn’t our best performance. We didn’t play with the same emotion, the energy. At times we weren’t fundamentally in a good position,” he said. “We had some good calls that would have put us in really good situations … and we paid for it, ultimately.”
That can’t happen again, certainly not in the next two games, against A&M and Alabama. The Aggies are much improved over the unit that handled LSU 38-23 in College Station last year.
“They score a lot of points. The Arkansas game, the Notre Dame game … they’re putting points on the board, they’ve been in the 40’s several times,” said Kelly. “But they can also win keeping the points down. It’s a team that can win either by their offense or their defense, and that’s why they’re one of the top teams in the country.”
But Kelly believes his team can muster a more complete performance than it’s had since the season opening win at Clemson.
“We’ve been on the road twice (in the SEC), and came up short both instances in close, hard fought games. We’ve got to turn the tide at home, play a much better game for four quarters where we complement offense and defense. We’ve got to put both sides of the ball together, and if we do that, we’re going to have a great opportunity to win this football game.”
KNOW YOUR ENEMY
No. 20 LSU (6-1 overall, 3-0 SEC) vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (7-0, 4-0 SEC), Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Saturday, 6:30 p.m. (ABC)
Last game for Aggies: Won a 45-42 shootout at Arkansas last Saturday. A&M rolled for 497 total offense yards and scored on seven of its nine drives. QB Marcel Reed completed 23 passes on 32 attempts for 280 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 55 rushing yards with one score. RB Rueben Owens II ran for 69 yards and a career-high two TDs on 14 carries.
Series record and last meeting: LSU leads 36-24-3. Last year, Tigers’ QB Garrett Nussmeier threw a season-high three interceptions in a 38-23 loss in College Station.
Texas A&M head coach: Mike Elko (51-14 in four seasons overall, 15-5 in second season at Texas A&M).
THIS AND THAT
Early betting line: Texas A&M by 2½.
Betting tip: The home team in this series has won eight straight and the last four LSU-A&M battles have gone over the Vegas total (61.2 ppg).
Number of Louisiana natives on Texas A&M roster: 2
Number of Texas natives on LSU roster: 14
Number of transfers on Texas A&M roster from 4-year schools: 25 players from 20 schools, including 18 players from 14 Power 4 Conference schools.
TEXAS A&M PLAYERS TO WATCH
QB Marcel Reed (125 of 202 for 1,710 passing yard, 15 TDs, 4 interceptions and 241 rushing yards and 4 TDs on 51 carries, RB Le’veon Moss (389 rushing yards, 6 TDs on 78 carries), DE Cashius Howell (15 tackles, 9 TFL, 8 sacks, 3 PBU, 4 QB hurries), LB Daymion Sanford (32 tackles, 6½ TFL, 2½ sacks, 1 interception), PK/KO Randy Bond (9 of 14 field goals, 20 of 20 PATs, 40 kickoffs for a 63.6 YPKO, 33 touchbacks), P Tyler White (28 for 45.0 ypp, 2 touchbacks, 12 fair catches, 7 inside the 20, 8 50 yards or more).
DID YOU KNOW. . .
At one stretch of the LSU/Texas A&M series, LSU hosted 27 of 29 games in Baton Rouge, including 17 straight seasons from 1960 to 1986 (LSU was 13-3-1).
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com