By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – No. 10 LSU and No. 23 Texas A&M are in the same pirogue without a paddle heading into Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. fork-in-the-bayou SEC showdown here in Tiger Stadium.
The winner sails through the first month of the 2026 season with its College Football Playoffs hopes solidly afloat.
The loser is bailing water.
The Tigers and the Aggies, both 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the SEC after 32-24 and 31-21 losses last Saturday against then-No. 8 Ole Miss and unranked Kentucky respectively, are already fighting for survival.
What makes the storyline even more intriguing is that LSU and Texas A&M are relying on starting quarterbacks whose strengths and weaknesses, stats and even jersey numbers (No. 10) mirror each other.
LSU’s Sam Leavitt and Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed were ranked by 247Sports as the 15th and 17th best high school quarterbacks in the nation in the Class of 2022.
Leavitt, a redshirt junior from West Linn, Ore. playing for his third school, is 18-5 in 23 college starts (the first 20 at Arizona State, the last 3 at LSU), including a 2024 CFP first-round loss to Texas for 11-3 ASU.
Reed, a senior from Nashville who has played his entire career with the Aggies, is 18-6 in 24 college starts, including a 2025 CFP first-round loss to Miami for 11-2 A&M.
Their career statistics reveal they are dependable runners (Leavitt 1,014 rushing yards and 16 TDs on 236 carries, Reed 1,202 yards, 16 TD on 257 carries) and inconsistent passers (Leavitt with a 61.4 career completion percent, Reed is at 61.3).
In their most recent losses, Leavitt and Reed both had a TD pass and run each, both completed less than 60 percent of their passes, both missed wide open receivers (including Leavitt twice for likely TDs) and both threw interceptions forced into coverage.
“I missed a lot of throws that are layups for me, throws that I make easily,” said Reed when he faced numerous tough questions in the postgame media session following the loss to UK. “I didn’t make them, and they were costly, so I gotta fix it. I can make those throws, and I will make those throws down the stretch. It definitely feels more mental, so I’ve got to fix that immediately, and build my confidence back up.”
Fortunately for Reed, he’s playing LSU, a team he has terrorized the last two seasons in A&M wins (38-28 at College Station in 2024, 49-25 in Baton Rouge a year ago).
In roughly 5½ quarters vs. the Tigers including the entire game as a starter last season, Reed has rushed for 170 yards and five TDs, and passed for 272 yards, two TDs and tossed two interceptions.
Reed’s history against the Tigers is one of many reasons why A&M’s third-year head coach Mike Elko’s faith in Reed hasn’t waned.
“I have a lot of confidence in Marcel,” Elko said earlier this week. “I believe in Marcel. Marcel is our quarterback.”
Leavitt, who’s being paid well over $4 million annually by LSU after the Arizona State transfer was plucked from the portal last January by first-year Tigers’ coach Lane Kiffin, hasn’t yet looked comfortable for an entire game.
While Leavitt leads all SEC starting quarterbacks in rushing yards (198) and TD runs (6), his completion percentage of 61.3 percent is among the worst in the league.
He’s thrown a SEC-worst five interceptions with just three TD passes.
Since LSU has rarely allowed Leavitt to speak to the media (including just one postgame interview so far), Kiffin has been the designated spokesman to explain Leavitt’s struggles.
“We have a lot of incompletions, a lot of dead plays where we’re not getting anything,” Kiffin said. “We’re not making the defense run sideline to sideline.”
Kiffin understands Leavitt’s tendency to quickly bail from a collapsing pass pocket rather than hang in and complete passes.
“When you get impacted early in the game by rush, and you can’t step up and throw in rhythm,” Kiffin said, “it affects you. They (the Ole Miss pass rush) did a really good job.”
Pro Football Focus, which reviews college game films, charted the duress Leavitt received from the Rebels. He was hurried 11 times by the pass rush, pressured 14 times and sacked three times.
According to PFF, LSU’s starting offensive line grades were abysmal vs. Ole Miss, averaging 54.1 percent as a group. Left offensive tackle and Colorado transfer Jordan Seaton, the second highest paid player on the team earning more than $4.3 million, graded 53.6.
Kiffin considered possible O-line changes in practice this past week.
There may be a new starting lineman or two or increased playing time for a trio of FBS transfers with considerable playing time. Sean Thompkins (a junior from Baylor), former Shreveport Calvary Baptist Academy standout sophomore Devin Harper and Wiliam Satterwhite II (a sophomore from Tennessee) have been trained at multiple line spots.
The better the O-line, the more Leavitt feels he can throw from the pocket.
“Confidence is fragile at every position, but especially at quarterback because it’s the one position you’ve got to do your job with potentially getting hit from all over,” Kiffin said. “When he (Leavitt) was having success by taking off on his own (he ran for 63 yards and a TD on 17 carries vs. Ole Miss), it’s hard to stay in there (the pocket) when that’s how the game was going.
“But he knows we have to do a better job of that, even in those situations. Deliver the ball on time and not try too much.”
LSU receivers, as sophomore Ole Miss transfer Winston Watkins, are adapting to Leavitt’s madcap scrambles.
“Sam Lev is a guy that’s going to try to make an extra play or try to extend plays with his legs,” said Watkins, who has a team-leading 15 receptions for 207 yards and two TDs. “So, it’s just understanding the type of quarterback you got, understanding scramble drills and understanding the play is not over till it’s over. It’s finding a way to get open and making that extra play.”
GO FIGURE
6: Sacks for LSU edge rusher Princewell Umanmielen, who leads the FBS in the category
14: Sacks by LSU, which leads the FBS
8-1: A&M’s record under third-year head coach Mike Elko when leading entering the fourth quarter
33: Rushing yards per game allowed by the Tigers, first in the SEC and second nationally
34:28: A&M’s average time of possession, first in the SEC and seventh nationally
55-3: Texas A&M’s huge fourth-quarter scoring advantage in its first three games
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com