The Golden Band from Tigerland not playing "Neck" might have been the only aspect of Saturday night that left any LSU fan feeling incomplete.
Senior quarterback Joe Burrow's last night in Tiger Stadium played like a movie from start to finish.
The Heisman trophy front-runner from Ohio ran out the tunnel with a special-made "Burreaux" jersey as a nod to his new home state's Cajun culture, torched Texas A&M to complete the most prolific passing regular season in SEC history and exited to one curtain call after another.
His favorite target, sophomore receiver Ja'Marr Chase, tacked another of the top pass-catching games in program history on to his own Biletnikoff Award campaign in the process.
But as exceptional as No. 2 LSU's record-setting offense was once again, the defense joining in the dominance was all the more critical in the 50-7 rout of the Aggies (7-5, 4-4).
"I feel like we made a statement today," junior safety JaCoby Stevens said. "It's not a secret that that's the reason why Ohio State jumped us. But as a defense and as LSU, we take that as a challenge. I took that as a challenge, and I'm not gonna back down from it. I'm a competitive person, and when I see somebody's doubting me, I'm gonna try and prove them wrong."
The College Football Playoff Committee dropped the Tigers below the Buckeyes for the first time in three weeks despite a 56-20 defeat of Arkansas (2-10, 0-8).
Ohio State survived then-No. 8 Penn State (10-2) and an uncharacteristically sloppy afternoon protecting the football to win, 28-17, and climb to the top of the rankings.
The Buckeyes continued to be posed as "the more complete team" than the offensive juggernaut of LSU that had simultaneously slipped out of the nation's top 50 in total defense after allowing big numbers in defeats of No. 5 Alabama (10-2, 6-2) and Ole Miss (4-8, 2-6).
"I mean, you never want to read into the outside clippings and stuff like that, but at the same time, internally, you know what's going on, you know the problems that need to be fixed," senior defensive end Breiden Fehoko said. "And just being another leader on this defense, you need to address it. And I feel like we did."
The Tigers (12-0, 8-0) held Texas A&M to 169 yards on 60 plays — an average of 1.8 yards per play.
The Aggies' 72 rushing yards marked less than half their season average and the fewest LSU has allowed to an SEC opponent thus far this season
And Texas A&M's 97 passing yards — just more than a third of its season average — on a 10-for-30 night by junior quarterback Kellen Mond marked the first time since the Tigers' season opener against Georgia Southern (7-5) they had held an opponent below 100 passing yards.
"I thought we rushed the passer very well," coach Ed Orgeron said. "We dialed up some blitzes. We put pressure on the quarterback. We didn't allow them to beat us one-on-one. I thought our defensive backs made some tremendous plays on the football. It was just an overall tremendous night."
LSU recorded a season-high six sacks and matched season highs with three interceptions and five quarterback hurries.
Junior outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson led six Tigers to chase down Mond with his 1.5 sacks and team-high six tackles.
And junior defensive backs Grant Delpit, Stevens and Kary Vincent Jr. each pulled down interceptions.
"Not really so much the ranking, but people just throughout the season you guys have been hearing the disrespect — and you probably feel it as well — that the defense just hadn't been playing throughout the season up to the LSU standard of defense," Chaisson said. "So that's what we made sure we kept in mind throughout the game."
Until the final plays of the first half, LSU had scored more points than the Aggies had gained total offensive yards.
And other than one 45-yard pass from Mond to running back Isaiah Spiller, LSU continued to contain Texas A&M's attack throughout the game.
"I think the defense sent a message to the country," Burrow said. "Because they have been criticized for the last half of the season and that's what they were talking about all week — they wanted to make a statement."
A large contingent of fans still in the stands roared in the final minutes as junior defensive end Neil Farrell Jr. chased Mond toward the back of the end zone to force an intentional grounding penalty and safety.
The final two points were just icing on a cake that was as substantial as it was sweet.
Now, the Tigers head to Atlanta to face No. 4 Georgia (11-1, 7-1) for an SEC championship game as confident as they've at any other point this season.
And their coach insists even better football still lies ahead — which, as the Aggies would probably attest, could be a scary proposition for the Bulldogs and any other potential opponents ahead.
"I think our guys know what's at stake," Orgeron said. "I think defense had a little chip on our shoulder, and I think we've been looking forward to this. But I think that this team is gonna get better. I think there's some improvement we can do, and they know that. And on to the next week."
Senior quarterback Joe Burrow's last night in Tiger Stadium played like a movie from start to finish.
The Heisman trophy front-runner from Ohio ran out the tunnel with a special-made "Burreaux" jersey as a nod to his new home state's Cajun culture, torched Texas A&M to complete the most prolific passing regular season in SEC history and exited to one curtain call after another.
His favorite target, sophomore receiver Ja'Marr Chase, tacked another of the top pass-catching games in program history on to his own Biletnikoff Award campaign in the process.
But as exceptional as No. 2 LSU's record-setting offense was once again, the defense joining in the dominance was all the more critical in the 50-7 rout of the Aggies (7-5, 4-4).
"I feel like we made a statement today," junior safety JaCoby Stevens said. "It's not a secret that that's the reason why Ohio State jumped us. But as a defense and as LSU, we take that as a challenge. I took that as a challenge, and I'm not gonna back down from it. I'm a competitive person, and when I see somebody's doubting me, I'm gonna try and prove them wrong."
The College Football Playoff Committee dropped the Tigers below the Buckeyes for the first time in three weeks despite a 56-20 defeat of Arkansas (2-10, 0-8).
Ohio State survived then-No. 8 Penn State (10-2) and an uncharacteristically sloppy afternoon protecting the football to win, 28-17, and climb to the top of the rankings.
The Buckeyes continued to be posed as "the more complete team" than the offensive juggernaut of LSU that had simultaneously slipped out of the nation's top 50 in total defense after allowing big numbers in defeats of No. 5 Alabama (10-2, 6-2) and Ole Miss (4-8, 2-6).
"I mean, you never want to read into the outside clippings and stuff like that, but at the same time, internally, you know what's going on, you know the problems that need to be fixed," senior defensive end Breiden Fehoko said. "And just being another leader on this defense, you need to address it. And I feel like we did."
The Tigers (12-0, 8-0) held Texas A&M to 169 yards on 60 plays — an average of 1.8 yards per play.
The Aggies' 72 rushing yards marked less than half their season average and the fewest LSU has allowed to an SEC opponent thus far this season
And Texas A&M's 97 passing yards — just more than a third of its season average — on a 10-for-30 night by junior quarterback Kellen Mond marked the first time since the Tigers' season opener against Georgia Southern (7-5) they had held an opponent below 100 passing yards.
"I thought we rushed the passer very well," coach Ed Orgeron said. "We dialed up some blitzes. We put pressure on the quarterback. We didn't allow them to beat us one-on-one. I thought our defensive backs made some tremendous plays on the football. It was just an overall tremendous night."
LSU recorded a season-high six sacks and matched season highs with three interceptions and five quarterback hurries.
Junior outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson led six Tigers to chase down Mond with his 1.5 sacks and team-high six tackles.
And junior defensive backs Grant Delpit, Stevens and Kary Vincent Jr. each pulled down interceptions.
"Not really so much the ranking, but people just throughout the season you guys have been hearing the disrespect — and you probably feel it as well — that the defense just hadn't been playing throughout the season up to the LSU standard of defense," Chaisson said. "So that's what we made sure we kept in mind throughout the game."
Until the final plays of the first half, LSU had scored more points than the Aggies had gained total offensive yards.
And other than one 45-yard pass from Mond to running back Isaiah Spiller, LSU continued to contain Texas A&M's attack throughout the game.
"I think the defense sent a message to the country," Burrow said. "Because they have been criticized for the last half of the season and that's what they were talking about all week — they wanted to make a statement."
A large contingent of fans still in the stands roared in the final minutes as junior defensive end Neil Farrell Jr. chased Mond toward the back of the end zone to force an intentional grounding penalty and safety.
The final two points were just icing on a cake that was as substantial as it was sweet.
Now, the Tigers head to Atlanta to face No. 4 Georgia (11-1, 7-1) for an SEC championship game as confident as they've at any other point this season.
And their coach insists even better football still lies ahead — which, as the Aggies would probably attest, could be a scary proposition for the Bulldogs and any other potential opponents ahead.
"I think our guys know what's at stake," Orgeron said. "I think defense had a little chip on our shoulder, and I think we've been looking forward to this. But I think that this team is gonna get better. I think there's some improvement we can do, and they know that. And on to the next week."
