COLLEGE STATION — Blame the rust from a 21-day hiatus forced by COVID-19 precautions and factor in the chilly, steady rain at Kyle Field.
Whatever the culprit, No. 5 Texas A&M didn’t exactly look its best in a 20-7 win Saturday over LSU. It was still good for a solid, if not artistic, victory.
“We’re hungry, and we’re not done yet,” senior linebacker Buddy Johnson said on the A&M postgame radio broadcast.
The Aggies hope that the College Football Playoff selection committee values body of work and a dominant defense and not offensive style points when it is deliberating its second ratings Monday and Tuesday in Grapevine.
Coach Jimbo Fisher had a more narrow focus after the game and refused to use the weather as an excuse.
“I’m not worried about the playoff,” Fisher said when asked about style points. “I’m worried about playing good football and everything will take care of itself.”
The Aggies got 141 yards rushing on 27 carries from Isaiah Spiller and a big-time performance by the SEC’s top-rated defense to secure their fifth straight win and improve to 6-1 for the first time since 2016. Unlike that season, this year’s start has come against an all-SEC schedule.
“Proud of the team for finding a way to win in an old-school-style slugfest,” Fisher said. “Don’t see many of those anymore. … There’s an art to that.”
It was just the second win in nine meetings against LSU — both under Fisher — since the Aggies entered the SEC, joining the epic seven-overtime victory in 2018.
A&M finally broke open the game late in the third quarter. Under pressure by Aaron Hansford, LSU freshman quarterback TJ Finley forced a pass that Johnson intercepted and returned 15 yards for a touchdown and a 20-0 lead.
“Our defense did a great job of putting pressure on him and forcing him to make decisions,” said Johnson, who finished with a team-high nine tackles.
The Aggies limited LSU to 267 total yards and just 2-of-16 on third down. Defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal was dominant early and finished with seven tackles.
“He’s a talented, talented young football player,” Fisher said.
The unit went nearly eight quarters without allowing a touchdown, going back to the fourth quarter against Mississippi State.
Spiller, who had just 6 yards on six carries, broke a 52-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds remaining in the first quarter for a 10-0 lead. The sophomore recorded his fifth 100-yard rushing game this season and ninth of his career.
“It just shows you how mature and that we know how to win, even in situations when we weren’t playing well,” Spiller said. “Today wasn’t our best day, but we know how to get the job done. That’s just leadership on the team.”
A&M had a 13-0 lead at halftime after a two-hour first half.
It wasn’t all pretty — far from it, with A&M playing its first game since a 48-3 win at South Carolina on Nov. 7. Three positive COVID-19 tests in the program, coupled with contact tracing, had forced the postponement of games against Tennessee and Ole Miss.
Quarterback Kellen Mond struggled, completing just 11 of 34 attempts for 105 yards. He had connected on 71 percent of his passes in his two previous games, with seven touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Entering the game leading the nation in third-down conversion percentage, A&M went 2 for 16.
Fisher said an offensive line that has been dominant most of the season “got their butts kicked.”
A&M wasn’t crisp and more than a few times its own worst enemy. The Aggies had nine penalties for 83 yards.
“We did some uncharacteristic things,” Fisher said, “and we got to get it fixed and we have to do it quickly.”
LSU (3-4, all SEC) suffered major offseason losses from the national championship team that dominated A&M 50-7 in Baton Rouge. The Tigers have been trying to find their footing ever since an opening loss to Mississippi State. They avoided their first shutout since 2016 against Alabama when Max Johnson found Terrace Marshall Jr. on a 3-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds left.
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