With a month left in the season, only one team remains undefeated in SEC play: Texas A&M. The Aggies made a quarterback switch from Conner Weigman to Marcel Reed midway through the game and scored 31 points in the second half to sprint away from LSU 38–23, handing the Tigers their first conference loss.

Texas A&M picked off LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier three times in the second half and erased a 10-point halftime deficit with an offense unleashed under speedy redshirt freshman Reed, who finished with 91 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Here’s what you need to know about a night of wild momentum swings in College Station.

How the arrival of Marcel Reed changed the A&M offense

LSU sacked Weigman four times in the first two and a half quarters, so head coach Mike Elko had to do something to relieve the pressure. It rarely felt like Weigman was comfortable in the pocket.

Reed’s arrival opened up a slew of options for coordinator Collin Klein and the Texas A&M offense. Klein’s system feels like it was designed for someone with Reed’s skills; Klein himself was a great dual-threat quarterback at Kansas State. The quarterback run game changes the math for opposing defenses, forcing them to account for an extra player.

Weigman is a great athlete, but he is more of a scrambler than a natural downhill runner and thus less suited to attack. When Reed came in, there was suddenly more room to run along the line of scrimmage. When A&M went to the read option – which led to Reed’s touchdown run on his first snap of the night – and got into the full range of pre-snap moves and shifts, LSU struggled to account for everything and the Aggies were able to get chunks . of meters to the ground.

Reed isn’t just a runner, though. His 54-yard completion to Noah Thomas in the fourth quarter was as good and confident a throw as any quarterback made Saturday night. Reed only threw the ball twice, but he was effective and accurate. After the deep shot to Thomas, A&M fans at Kyle Field chanted Reed’s name.

Reed led A&M to a road win at Florida and a neutral-site victory against Arkansas. If A&M continues to push him forward, he will have earned the belief and trust of his team and staff. — Sam Khan Jr.

Mistakes cost LSU a lot of money

The Tigers played as solid a first half as you could hope for before falling apart in the third quarter. Nussmeier came out looking poised in the pocket, deftly navigating the pressure and making decisive, accurate throws to lift the Tigers to a double-digit lead.

The third quarter revealed a very different LSU team. Nussmeier threw his three interceptions, a would-be field goal attempt failed when a snap went off on the left shoulder of unsuspecting punter/holder Peyton Todd, and LSU opened the second half with four consecutive empty possessions.

Texas A&M deserves credit for the defensive adaptability that made Nussmeier and the LSU offense look different. But the lack of a run game is also a major culprit in LSU’s collapse. Neither Caden Durham nor Josh Williams could find room to run consistently, although Durham was a key factor as a receiver out of the backfield. If LSU could move the chains consistently on the ground, there wouldn’t be as much placed on Nussmeier’s shoulders.

LSU’s advantage in this game was at receiver, as Kyren Lacy and Aaron Anderson won battles against the Texas A&M secondary with their big playmaking ability. But some semblance of balance would have helped LSU prevent the Aggies’ comeback. — Khan

Texas A&M defense delivers

Elko and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman did a good job of changing their look in the second half, but also give credit to A&M’s defensive front. Although LSU protected Nussmeier well early and didn’t commit a sack in the first three quarters, A&M continued to get at the quarterback, forcing him into tough throws and decisions and keeping him from getting too comfortable in the second half. Finally the pressure to go home began

In Elko’s first four years at A&M as Jimbo Fisher’s defensive coordinator, the Aggies were often able to lean on the defense for consistent quality play. That will also be a staple of this 2024 team. — Khan

The Garrett Nussmeier roller coaster

Nussmeier is a quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft class. But his performance Saturday night against Texas A&M might as well have been a microcosm for the entire group. As soon as you start complimenting them, the engine starts to rattle.

In a year where the high-end college quarterback’s play has been wildly inconsistent, leaving the race for QB1 completely moot, Nussmeier entered Saturday night as one of the biggest risers in the class – and left disappointed with three interceptions and a loss. However, this doesn’t change the story of Nussmeier’s year, at least not yet.

The junior is a smart processor with an above-average arm, enough athleticism to avoid pressure and enough confidence to make anticipatory throws between the numbers. He doesn’t take sacks, he’s tough enough to take hits and he’s smart enough to keep his team in games. However, he is far from a finished product, as we saw on Saturday night.

Earlier this week, colleague Dane Brugler compared Nussmeier to the college version of Tony Romo: not a player with unmissable physical attributes, but a talented passer with survival skills. Nussmeier has the goods to work his way into becoming a very good prospect, and while Saturday night was one of his most inconsistent efforts (he still threw for 405 yards), he’s still someone to watch next spring, he was allowed to speak out. Nussmeier could clearly benefit greatly from returning to LSU for another year. However, if he shakes this off and plays well, he may be in a great position to take advantage of a weak QB draft. — Nick Baumgardner

Texas A&M smells history

After losing their season opener at home to Notre Dame, the Aggies are now in the driver’s seat to play for a conference title for the first time since winning the Big 12 in 1998, trying to remove themselves from the bracket of six SEC members who did so. never made it to Atlanta for the SEC championship game. The Aggies were picked to finish ninth in the SEC this summer, but first-year coach Mike Elko has put together Jimbo Fisher’s troubled program and brought his penchant for success to College Station early in his tenure.

Offensive coordinator Collin Klein has juggled an uncertain quarterback situation and relied on the running game as Elko has built a defense that was destroyed by the transfer portal last offseason.

The Aggies haven’t won double-digit games since Johnny Manziel’s Heisman Trophy season in 2012; before that, they hadn’t done it since 1998. South Carolina, Auburn, New Mexico State and a season finale against rival Texas at Kyle Field are all that remain on A&M’s regular season schedule.

In so many seasons over the past two decades, preseason hype in Aggieland has led to midseason disappointment. Now, in a year that started with modest expectations, the Aggies are on pace for one of the best campaigns in recent program history. — David Ubben

(Photo: Tim Warner/Getty Images)