LSU defense shuts down Texas A&M, Manziel in victory

• LSU rallied from an early deficit to beat Texas A&M 24-19 at Kyle Field
• LSU's Jeremy Hill rushed for a career-high 127 yards and a touchdown
• Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel completed 29 of 56 passes for 276 yards, but threw three interceptions.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Aggies' caffeine crash came when it counted as No. 6 LSU revived and survived from a rare a.m. start for a 24-19 victory over No. 19 Texas A&M in front of 87,429 at Kyle Field Saturday.

LSU (7-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) took nearly two quarters to wake up from an 11 a.m. kickoff, dozed off a little in the third quarter, then gradually and methodically turned out the lights and put the quick-starting Aggies to sleep in the fourth quarter.

Just as he did last week with a 50-yard game-icing touchdown late in the 23-21 win over South Carolina, LSU tailback Jeremy Hill bulldozed through a throng of tiring foes for a 47-yard touchdown and 24-12 lead with 3:12 to play in the game. The freshman from Baton Rouge had just 37 yards on nine carries before the fourth quarter, and he finished with a game-high 127 on 18 carries.

"It kind of felt the same," Hill said. "But it was all the offensive line again. They wore the defense down and their linemen down, and we got to their backers and defensive backs. We weren't doing that early in the game. We started slow. It took us awhile to figure out what their defense was doing."

Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2 SEC), meanwhile, appeared buzzing on strong coffee early in their first SEC game against LSU, which was playing its earliest regular season game ever – barring hurricane changes. The Aggies gulped down 11 first downs in the opening period alone and rushed to a 9-0 lead on a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive and a 32-yard field goal by Taylor Bertolet while outgaining LSU 180 to 45.

A&M then scored on its third consecutive drive for a 12-0 lead midway in the second quarter on a 50-yard field goal by Bertolet, and LSU was still seemingly trying to get dressed as it had not yet located either its first third-down conversion or A&M territory past the 49-yard line. By the 5:04 mark of the second quarter, LSU had punted on all five of its possessions.

"There was really no reason to panic," said LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger, who missed on seven of his first 10 passes – often by a lot – and had already been sacked twice. "Just keep grinding away and keep believing," he said.

"We felt like it was only a matter of time before we got on track and solved the issues," LSU coach Les Miles said.

With five minutes left in the first half, LSU's coffee suddenly kicked in with a little boost from A&M quarterback Johnny "Football" Manziel, who threw the football a little too long for his receiver. Cornerback Jalen Collins intercepted it at the LSU 42-yard line. From there, LSU put together a 58-yard drive in seven plays with a pass interference penalty and a pair of nifty rushes around the end by tailback Michael Ford. His second covered 20 yards for the touchdown, cutting A&M's lead to 12-7 with 1:49 to play in the half.

"This showed the world we don't just roll over," Ford, who finished with 78 yards on 11 carries, said.

The Tigers caught another break a minute later when A&M tailback Ben Malena fumbled after a hit by safety Ronald Martin, and linebacker Lamin Barrow recovered at the Aggies' 41. Six plays later, Mettenberger broke a string of six incompletions by throwing perfectly to wide receiver Kadron Boone on a deep route for a 29-yard touchdown and 14-12 lead.

"That was a huge play," said Mettenberger, who completed just 11 of 29 on the day for 97 yards. "It was a real a momentum changer in the game. We took a lot of deep shots. We didn't hit most of them. We got that one."

A&M went into halftime leading 256 to 147 in total yards and 15 to 9 in first downs but found itself behind to a team that was 0-for-7 on third down because of turnovers. "We were fortunate to be ahead after the first half," Mettenberger said.

"We are an attack offense, and we can't take our foot off the gas pedal," A&M wide receiver Uzoma Nwachukwu said. "When we have them down and we have good momentum, we have to put the ball in the end zone."

After the Aggies scored on their first three possessions, they went on to turn it over twice, punted on its first possession of the third quarter, got intercepted by middle linebacker Kevin Minter on the next one and punted on the next one.

In between, LSU's defense adjusted by playing six defensive backs most of the time and continually containing the elusive Manziel. The freshman phenom rushed for a season-low 27 yards on 17 carries – 33 below his previous low against Florida – and did not produce a touchdown for the first time in his career. He hit 29 of 56 for 276 yards, but he was intercepted three times and sacked three times.

"We stayed home," said defensive tackle Bennie Logan, who had four tackles and one of the sacks. "That's what we said we'd do. We stayed in our gaps and didn't let him get outside very much."

That after a first quarter in which Manziel appeared on his way to another stat fest with 11 of 19 passing for 115 yards. But by the second quarter with A&M up 12-0, LSU was fully awake and ready to take on the day.

"We had gotten a good handle on it, and our guys had adjusted to the pace," LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis said. "Let me tell you, it's hard to assimilate what they do with a scout team. And it's hard to assimilate that speed when you don't work against that speed every down. Certainly, we made some adjustments from a scheme standpoint, but the biggest thing was our guys had adjusted to the speed. And once they adjusted to the speed of the game, I felt comfortable that we could do a good job of shutting them down."
In the second half, the Aggies gained just 154 of their 410-yard total, punted twice and turned it over another three times to finish with five. LSU had zero turnovers.

"It's difficult when the turnover battle is what it is," A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "They mixed it up on defense just like they said they would. They didn't play one static defense the whole game. They have depth in the secondary. They have guys they can rotate. There's a reason why nobody else has moved the ball against them very well."

A&M also could not move the ball when it had its best chance after the first quarter. After LSU increased its halftime lead to 17-12 on a 28-yard field goal with 8:35 to play, A&M's James Hairston returned the kickoff 57 yards to the LSU 16. But Manziel managed only a 2-yard run before two hurried incompletions. Then Bertolet missed a 33-yard field goal.

Still down just 17-12 with just under four minutes to go, the Aggies reached their 48 after a pass interference call against LSU safety Craig Loston that nullified his interception. On the next play, though, LSU cornerback Tharold Simon intercepted Manziel and returned it 10 yards to the A&M 47. From there, Hill put LSU up 24-12 with his touchdown. The Aggies scored to make it look better with 1:17 to play on a 5-yard run by Malena for the final.

LSU now takes a week off before playing for the SEC West title against No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 3 in Tiger Stadium at 7 p.m. on CBS.

"We have to get better this off week and prepare for Alabama," Mettenberger said. "We need to work on getting off to better starts, but we're winning."

Glenn Guilbeau writes for Gannett Louisiana