Texas A&M
6-1 , 6-1
LSU
3-4 , 3-4
No. 5 Aggies Shut Down LSU, 20-7
Nov 28, 2020 | Football
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION (AP) — Isaiah Spiller ran for 141 yards and a touchdown and Buddy Johnson returned an interception for a score in No. 5 Texas A&M’s 20-7 victory over LSU on Saturday night.
Texas A&M (6-1, No. 5 CFP) extended its winning streak to five games in its first contest since Nov. 7 after the team couldn’t play the last two weeks because of a coronavirus outbreak.
“I thought we could have played better,” Spiller said. “We were a little rusty.”
The Aggies relied on their running game and tough defense on a wet and soggy night where rain fell steadily and made passing difficult. Kellen Mond had a season-low 105 yards passing in his first game this season without a touchdown pass. LSU’s 123rd-ranked pass defense broke up eight of his passes in the first half and finished with 11.
“Our offense was way too inconsistent, didn’t get a rhythm (but) our team found a way to win the game and that’s what’s important,” coach Jimbo Fisher said.
TJ Finley threw for 118 yards and had an interception in the second quarter for LSU (3-4) before he was benched for Max Johnson after Buddy Johnson’s Pick-6 in the third quarter.
Texas A&M beat the Tigers for the second time in three years, limiting LSU to 36 yards rushing and allowing just two of 16 third-down conversions.
LSU fumbled on a punt return with about six minutes left in the third, but the Aggies were unable to take advantage of the miscue when Mond was sacked on third down to force a punt.
Texas A&M made it 20-0 when Johnson picked off a pass Finley threw under heavy pressure and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the third.
Max Johnson, who played briefly in the first half, finished the game and had 113 yards passing and a 3-yard TD pass that made it 20-7 with less than a minute remaining.
Spiller had a 52-yard touchdown run, dragging a defender with him for the last couple of yards, to extend Texas A&M’s lead to 10-0 late in the first quarter.
The Tigers looked to have cut the lead to 3 on a long TD catch by Kayshon Boutte with about nine minutes left in the second quarter. But the play was reviewed and ruled an incomplete pass.
The Aggies got the ball back on the next play when Finley’s pass was tipped and intercepted by Jaylon Jones.
Cade York’s 34-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left with about four minutes left in the first half to leave the Tigers scoreless.
Texas A&M led 13-0 at halftime after Seth Small made a 40-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter.
Keep takin’ care of business...keep puttin’ on a show. ????#GigEm pic.twitter.com/s1dy0PGVPC
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 30, 2020
Gallery: Football vs. LSU
Postgame Notes: Team
- Texas A&M extended its win streak to five games, boasting a 6-1 record on the year for the first time since the 2016 season.
- A&M has forced multiple turnovers in three of the last four games, scoring a touchdown on the turnover or subsequent drive in all three outings.
- The Aggie defense limited LSU to just 36 yards on the ground in the game, marking the third time this year it has held its opponent to 50-or-fewer yards on the ground (Mississippi State: -2; South Carolina: 50).
- The last time A&M held its opponent to 50-or-fewer rushing yards in back-to-back games was the 1999 season against Tulsa on Sept. 18 and SMU on Sept. 25.
- After only giving up a field goal at South Carolina and limiting LSU to just seven points, this marked the first time the Aggies have held their opponent to fewer than 10 points in back-to-back games since the 2014 season after topping Rice 38-10 at home before knocking off SMU on the road, 58-6.
- The last time A&M allowed 10 points or less in back-to-back league games was October of the 2000 season when it defeated Baylor on the road, 24-0 and later claimed a 30-7 win at Iowa State.
- A&M did not allow the Tigers to score in the first half, which marked the first time the Aggies have shut out LSU in any half since a 33-17 victory on Sept. 2, 1995.
- The Aggies have intercepted at least on pass in three of the last four games.
- Today’s captains against LSU were LB Buddy Johnson, OL Carson Green and OL Ryan McCollum.
Postgame Notes: Individual
- Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller rushed for 141 yards, marking the ninth 100-yard game of his career. He has rushed for 100-plus yards in four of A&M’s five straight wins.
- Spiller’s 52-yard touchdown run to close out the first quarter was A&M’s longest scoring run of the season. This marked his third 50-plus yard rush of the year, the most in the SEC.
- Senior LB Buddy Johnson returned the first interception of his career 15 yards to the end zone to extend the A&M lead in the third quarter. This was the second time in Johnson’s career he has returned a turnover for a touchdown after recovering a fumble and returning it 62 yards for the score Ole Miss last season.
- Johnson led the defense for the sixth time this season, tallying nine takedowns on the day.
- Senior DB Myles Jones’ two pass breakups against LSU upped his career total to 28, which ties him with Ray Mickens (1992-95) for ninth on A&M’s all-time career list.
- Freshman DB Jaylon Jones recorded the first interception of his young career after sophomore S Demani Richardson tipped the pass in the second quarter.
- Sophomore DL DeMarvin Leal matched his career high with seven tackles.
- Sophomore LB Andre White Jr. leveled the LSU quarterback near the opponent’s end zone for his first sack of the season and second of his career.
- Senior LB Aaron Hansford matched his career high with 1.5 TFL and set a new career mark with two QB hurries.
- Junior S Leon O’Neal Jr. broke up multiple passes in a game for the first time in his career, finishing with two.
- Junior PLK Seth Small sailed a 42-yard field goal through the uprights to put the Aggies on the board in the first quarter. This was the 44th made field goal of his career, giving him sole possession of fifth on A&M’s all-time career made field goals list.
- Following his longest field goal of the season, Small added a 40-yard FG at the end of the first half, making multiple 40-plus field goals in the same game for the first time in his career.
- Freshman P Nik Constantinou landing six punts inside the 20 against LSU, marking the second time an A&M punter has done so since joining the SEC in 2012.
Postgame Quotes: Head Coach Jimbo Fisher
- Opening Statement... I’m proud of this team, they found a way to win a very tough, slugfest, old-style football game. You don’t see a lot of games like that anymore, but there is still an art to doing that. We found a way to win, our defense kept raising its game and was able to make stops consistently.I thought our punter was outstanding in the game. He kept getting bogged down in the red zone, inside the 10. I thought he was outstanding in punting the football on the night. You want to come in rushing, our coverage that way. Our field goal kicker was good, but our return game was not. I thought we had too many penalties on punt return. We had a big return that put us down to the 25 that could have put the game away, put us up three scores, but we got a critical holding there, got two on some later ones. The undisciplined part of that is inexcusable. Offensively we were way too inconsistent. We didn’t block well up front, we didn’t protect the quarterback as well, he took a lot of hits. We still missed some throws we should have made, quite a few throws. We had the fumble on the short yardage. We have got to get open better and man coverage, got to be able to play that and get separation. We just didn’t play well, didn’t get a rhythm going offensively and play consistent, but our defense was outstanding in the game. But I’ll say this, our team found ways to win the game and that is what’s important. There is a learning curve in that and that’s where we see a lot of room to improve and we have a lot of work we have to get done.
- On DeMarvin Leal’s performance in the first half... That guy is talented; inside, outside, pass rush and playing the run. He is a talented young football player that can only get better and better. He does a great job of leadership, he was outstanding in the game.
- On the hits made against LSU’s quarterback... Even when you weren’t, you were still getting hits on the quarterback. I don’t care who you are, what you are, the best in the business, when you get hit it affects you. It affected us too on our side, but our defense was outstanding putting the pressure and making the ball come out and made deflections that caused the one interception that we got. It caused the big turnover for the touchdown which was outstanding by [Buddy] Johnson and the defense. I can’t remember the pressure on that play, but somebody got a hit and they were all around him. They were outstanding in the game. I thought Mike [Elko] did a heck of a job on defense.
- On Isaiah Spiller’s performance tonight... I thought he did well, it was a weird way he got his yards because it was more in chunks and big times, he made a big run for the touchdown. He ran hard, but we didn’t get enough movement, we have to get more movement and get up in there. Wait until I look at the film and make final evaluations. I thought Isaiah [Spiller] ran hard tonight, I really did.
- On Seth Small’s performance... I thought he had two nice kicks. The first one was very important, and I thought the kick before the half was very critical too. That was a big drive going down and scoring before the half, which we have done a good job on this year. Seth has had a really nice year and has done a really good job.
GAME UPDATES:
9:10 1Q | A&M 3, LSU 0
The Aggies go-ahead on a Seth Small field goal after a 7-play, 41-yard drive that took 2:16 off the clock.
Seth Small's 41 yard field goal is a season long and his 10th of his career from 40+. With his 44th career field goal he moves into sole possession for fifth most all-time by an Aggie. #GigEm https://t.co/4f5IpNCVeE
— Texas A&M Athletics Communications (@12thmanPR) November 29, 2020
:16 1Q | A&M 10, LSU 0
Isaiah Spiller bursts through for a 52-yard touchdown carry, his sixth of the season.
Isaiah Spiller to the HOUSE for the A&M TD ?? pic.twitter.com/KgJy5PdNfF
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 29, 2020
8:59 2Q | A&M 10, LSU 0
Jaylon Jones reels in the tipped pass and comes down with his first career interception!
Remember that first one, @OriginalJaylon! ??
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 29, 2020
??? https://t.co/OyIfUOf768#GigEm https://t.co/nCUJ2p1n3G pic.twitter.com/bxyOf3IPYX
4:36 3Q | A&M 20, LSU 0
Buddy Johnson intercepts the LSU pass for a TD!
Ain't gonna stop @foebg_1!
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 29, 2020
??? https://t.co/OyIfUOf768#GigEm pic.twitter.com/oEYl55utRK
Victory formation. ??#GigEm pic.twitter.com/zUAh8m3Jq5
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 29, 2020
IMAGES FROM TONIGHT'S GAME:
Pregame Quick Hits
- Senior QB Kellen Mond became A&M’s career passing touchdowns leader at South Carolina, sending a regulation career-high four passes to the end zone to up his career total to 68.
- This season, Mond has also become A&M’s all-time leader in career passing yards (8,847), completions (730), attempts (1,234) and total offense (10,273), while currently sitting in second on the career TD’s responsible for (87) and QB victories (27-13) lists.
- Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller is second in the SEC averaging 6.24 yards per carry, good for 24th in the nation ... After passing the century mark in just one SEC game a season ago, Spiller is averaging 107.2 yards per game against league opponents this year.
- To date, 89-percent of the Aggies’ rushing yards and 96-percent of their receiving yards have come from freshmen and sophomores ... Twenty-five of their 27 touchdowns have been scored by freshmen and sophomores.
- A&M has scored 18 times on its last 19 trips into the red zone (last four games), with 15 of those scores being touchdowns.
- The Aggies’ 62.0 success rate on third-down tries leads the nation, as they have converted more than 58.0 percent on third downs in four of the last five games.
- Texas A&M averages more than 4:00 advantage in time of possession per game and have held the TOP advantage in each of the last five games ... The Aggies lead the SEC in TOP and rank No. 16 nationally.
- Under DC Mike Elko, the Aggies ranked in the top 35 in total defense in 2018 (No. 32)and 2019 (No. 29) FBS statistical rankings ... Prior to Elko’s arrival, the Aggies hadn’t ranked in the top 50 nationally in more than a decade (since 2006).
?? Clocked in.#GigEm pic.twitter.com/fSg4oo5Q3y
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 28, 2020
Milestones to Watch For
- Senior QB Kellen Mond needs 153 passing yards to reach the 9,000 career mark ... The only SEC QBs to throw for over 9,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in their careers are Florida’s Tim Tebow and Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott.
- Mond needs one rushing TD to join Johnny Manziel, Joel Hunt and Bucky Richardson as the only Aggie QBs with 20 career rushing scores.
- With one more rushing touchdown, Mond would also join an elite club of SEC QBs with at least 60 passing TDs and 20 rushing TDs in their careers ... The only members of the 60/20 club are Manziel, Tebow and Prescott.
- Mond is two rushing attempts away from 400 in his career ... The only Aggie QBs with 400+ carries are Reggie McNeal (411 from 2002-05) and David Walker (407 from 1973-77).
- Mond has made 40 career starts, which ties him for the most by a QB in school history ... Corey Pullig (1992-95) is the school record holder with 40 career QB starts (33-6-1).
- Senior OL Carson Green is slated to make his 36th consecutive start, which is the longest streak on the team.
- Senior DB Myles Jones has 26 career pass breakups, which is one shy of breaking into the school’s top 10 list for PBUs.
Team Stats
LSU 0, TAMU 3
TAMU - Seth Small 41 yd field goal 7 plays, 41 yards, TOP 2:16
LSU 0, TAMU 10
TAMU - Isaiah Spiller 52 yd run (Seth Small kick), 2 plays, 54 yards, TOP 0:50
LSU 0, TAMU 13
TAMU - Seth Small 40 yd field goal 8 plays, 44 yards, TOP 0:43
LSU 0, TAMU 20
TAMU - Buddy Johnson 15 yd interception (Seth Small kick)
LSU 7, TAMU 20
LSU - T. Marshall 3 yd pass from Max Johnson (Cade York kick) 14 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:31
