COLLEGE STATION, Texas — With his Texas A&M football team down 10 in the third quarter Saturday night against LSU and looking to jump-start his stagnant offense, Aggies coach Mike Elko pulled quarterback Conner Weigman for Marcel Reed.
The move paid off.
Reed ran for three second-half touchdowns, and No. 14 Texas A&M beat eighth-ranked LSU 38-23 to become the Southeastern Conference’s last team standing without a league loss.
“It was a litany of issues,” Elko said, “and we just felt like we needed a spark, and we pulled the trigger and went with Marcel, and what a spark he gave us.”
The Aggies (7-1, 5-0) picked off three of Garrett Nussmeier’s passes after halftime to get their seventh straight victory since losing to Notre Dame in the season opener.
Texas A&M, in its first season under Elko after Jimbo Fisher’s firing, scored touchdowns on four straight possessions with Reed taking the snaps in the third quarter.
“We all had a chip on our shoulder,” the redshirt freshman said. “We didn’t think they respected us coming into Kyle Field. So getting that spark in the second half and getting the team going, there was no going back from that at all.”
The Aggies wowed a crowd of 108,852 to improve to 5-0 in SEC play for the first time as they chase their first appearance in the conference championship game. Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012.
“The price of success and the price of winning games like that is you have a target on your back,” Elko said. “What 5-0 means is we’re really going to have a heck of a time to get to 6-0.”
LSU (6-2, 3-1) led by 10 with about eight minutes left in the third when Texas A&M cornerback BJ Mayes grabbed an interception and returned it to the Tigers’ 8-yard line. Reed came in and scored on a keeper on the next play to cut it to 17-14.
The Tigers had a chance to add to their lead with some five minutes left in the third quarter when they lined up for a 46-yard field-goal attempt. The ball was snapped before the holder was ready, though, and it bounced off his shoulder and rolled away.
“That’s twice now that’s happened. It’s unacceptable,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “We have to get it fixed. That’s never going to happen again, ever.”
A second 8-yard run by Reed made it 21-17 near the end of the quarter.
Mayes intercepted Nussmeier again two plays later to give the Aggies the ball right back. Reed’s third touchdown came on a 4-yard scamper early in the fourth.
“We need to spend more time each and every week, because right now I would run the quarterback against us,” Kelly said.
Nussmeier ran for a 1-yard touchdown with some 10 minutes to go, but the pass for two points was incomplete, leaving LSU down 28-23.
Le’Veon Moss scored his second touchdown on a 3-yard run on the next drive to push the lead to 35-23. Reed set up that score with a 54-yard throw to Noah Thomas followed by runs of 12 and 6 yards.
Nussmeier was picked off again on the next drive to squash any hopes of a comeback.
Reed, who started three games this season when Weigman was injured, was 2-of-2 for 70 yards and ran for 62 yards. Weigman was 6-of-18 for just 64 yards before he was pulled in the third.
Nussmeier was 25-for-50 for 405 yards and two touchdowns with the career-high three interceptions.
LSU led early after Mason Taylor’s 2-yard touchdown reception with about four minutes left in the first quarter. That score came after the Tigers recovered a fumble by Moss on the Texas A&M 21.
Texas A&M cut the lead to 3 when Moss scored on a 7-yard run late in the first quarter.
Aaron Anderson scored on a 76-yard catch-and-run play to make it 17-7 with five minutes left in the first half.
LSU’s Damian Ramos missed field-goal attempts of 48 and 49 yards in the second quarter.
Elko is proud of the progress the team has made in his first season.
“This is a real program. It’s not fake,” he said. “It’s not a politician running this program, talking fast and BS-ing everybody. This is a real program, and for all the recruits out there, this is a real place.”
Reed showed that A&M’s offense is much more dangerous and dynamic with him under center, making a strong case to remain the starter for the rest of the season.
The Aggies piled up 242 yards on the ground while the Tigers managed just 24. Texas A&M entered the game ranked 13th in the country by averaging 218.6 rushing yards per game.
Nussmeier must make better decisions for the Tigers to bounce back from this loss and remain in contention for a spot in the conference title game. LSU had won six straight since falling to Southern California in the opener in Las Vegas.
“We lost our margin,” Kelly said. “We have no margin for error.”
LSU is off next week before hosting No. 15 Alabama on Nov. 9; the Crimson Tide also have an open date before that matchup in Baton Rouge.
Texas A&M travels to face South Carolina next Saturday.