LSU's playoff hopes die with its College Station stinkbomb

It was simply about the team at the bottom of the SEC’s Western Division with one league win, after a nightmare season featuring a six-game losing streak, making the absolute best of its final shot at redemption at the expense of college football’s 5th ranked team which happened to be the SEC’s Western Division champions.

It was about heart, effort, being the most physical squad and leaving it all out the field.

It was Texas A&M sticking a knife in the heart of LSU’s College Football Playoff hopes and watching the Tigers bleed out in a 38-23 loss Saturday night in Kyle Field.

The Aggies, from start to finish except for a brief dip early in the third quarter when LSU pulled into a 17-17 tie, dominated offensively. They ran for 274 yards (including 8.8 yards per carry on third down) en route to 429 total offense yards. They scored 21 straight points to take a 38-17 lead before the Tigers were able to find the end zone again on running back John Emery’s third TD run of the night.

"We're were off, this was not a team that you'd normally seen during the year," LSU first-year head coach Brian Kelly said. "We didn't make the plays that we normally make. We needed more juice, more fire and we just seemed to lack that.

"A&M played really well. I thought their energy was great. I thought that their best players played at a high level. They made a lot of plays. It just wasn't our best and our best was needed and we didn't have it. We didn't do our job as coaches. We didn't do our job as players."

A&M junior running back Devon Achane, who missed the last two games because of an ankle injury and who hardly practiced this week, ran for a career-high 215 yards and 2 TDs on 38 carries.The guy who was a gametime decision whether he would play or not set the tone for A&M’s offense repeatedly slugging LSU’s defense in the mouth.

When Achane wasn’t running over LSU defenders or cutting so sharply the Tigers were tackling air, A&M freshman quarterback Conner Weigman carved up LSU’s secondary like it was Thanksgiving leftovers.

He competed an efficient 12 of 18 passes for 155 yards and two TDs and had a couple of drive-extending scrambles in third down and long situations.

An A&M offense that ranked last in the SEC in scoring offense and in third down conversions scored a season-high point total and converted 9 of 13 third downs.

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who hurt his ankle twice yet kept playing, threw for 189 yards and ran for 84 yards but also committed the turnover that flipped momentum back to A&M.

After trailing 17-10 at the half, LSU’s defense held the Aggies’ offense to its first two three downs-and-out series of the game to open the third quarter.

Following the first stop, LSU drove 71 yards for Emery’s game-tying TD with 9:40 left in the period. Then after the Tigers quickly forced a punt, they had a third down-and-1 at the LSU 35 when disaster struck.

A&M defender Edgerrin Cooper penetrated untouched and forced a Daniels fumble. A&M safety Demani Richardson scooped the rolling ball and ran 27 yards for the go-ahead TD pushing the Aggies to a 24-17 lead with 7:03 left in the third quarter.

"We got the quick stops and we got the score," Kelly said. "I thought we got the thing back in order. But it is what it is. The ball comes out (Daniels fumble). It's huge play, a momentum swing, I don't know that we ever really recovered from it."

The Aggies never looked back and at game’s end celebrated long and loud into the night knowing it gave the 9-3 Tigers (6-2 SEC West) their most painful loss of the season.

And unless LSU somehow manages to upset No. 1 ranked Georgia in next Saturday’s SEC championship, the Aggies sent the Tigers tumbling down the SEC bowl food chain.

If LSU had lived up to its role as a 10-point favorite over A&M, it likely still could have been invited to a New Year’s Day Six Bowl such as Sugar or Cotton Bowls even with a loss to Georgia. Now, it seems like the Citrus or Tampa Bay is the Tigers’ likely bowl destination consolation prize.

Before this season under Kelly and a revamped roster littered with 4-year transfers, LSU would have been ecstatic for a bowl trip to Orlando or Tampa. The Tigers would have felt that way even when they were 4-2 after Tennessee hammered LSU 40-13.

But after a magical five-game winning streak punctuated by the 32-31 overtime victory over Alabama, the Tigers were fully in charge of their own destiny.

And now they aren’t.

Because the team that just wanted to get to 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the SEC West played with required desperation and perspiration.

LSU didn't and Kelly hopes the painful lesson learned can be used properly.

"They have done some incredible things," Kelly said of his team. "I don't want this loss to take away from what they've accomplished this year. This is one of the most enjoyable years that I've had in my career watching these kids grow.

"This (loss) was not a step back. This was a bump in the road where they're gonna learn from it and understand how hard it is each and every week in this league."