Electric KC Concepcion punt return helps Texas A&M rout LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. – Most of the purple and gold cleared from Death Valley long before the Texas A&M Aggies converged on the south end zone of Tiger Stadium to celebrate with their fans late Saturday night. It had been 31 years since the 12th Man celebrated a football victory here, and Marcel Reed and Co. didn’t just beat LSU.

Mike Elko’s No. 3 ranked Aggies dominated LSU 49-25, and it truly wasn’t even that close. The Tigers ate only what the Aggies let them during a self-sabotaging second quarter before Texas A&M scored 35 points in the second half to rout LSU.

“They told a story before we even got here (Friday),” Reed said. “Kick them in the butt, and the crowd will start to empty out toward the third and fourth quarter. They did. Our crowd started to go over there and kind of take over their student section and make all the noise at the end of the game. So it was really cool.”

The Aggies improved to 8-0, 5-0 in the SEC heading into their second bye week of the season. Reed torched LSU’s defense for the second year in a row. He rushed for a career-high 108 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, highlighted by the 41-yard touchdown scamper that gave the Aggies the early lead. He also completed 12 of 21 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, both during a troubling second quarter.

Electric KC Concepcion

Junior transfer KC Concepcion added 177 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, highlighted by a 79-yard punt return for a touchdown. After regaining the lead early in the third quarter on Reed’s five-yard touchdown run, the Aggies took over the momentum when Concepcion received a punt at the 21-yard line.

More from Our Esquina

Texas A&M star KC Concepcion speaks with authority

Texas A&M is cooking with KC Concepcion, Mario Craver

Jacob Rodriguez leads Top 26 Latinos to watch in College Football

Concepcion sprinted toward the left sideline to blow past two LSU players. Then he cut toward his right, breaking through one arm tackle at the A&M 40-yard line. By the time he hit the 45-yard line, there was no Tiger within 10 yards as he sprinted toward the right corner of the end zone. He then greeted a pair of Texas A&M fans at the railings.

The stunned LSU faithful watched in disbelief as the raucous crowd of Aggies among the 101,924 filled Death Valley with a thunderous roar. 

Third quarter dominance

“KC had that kickoff return, and after that it just went up from there,” defensive lineman DJ Hicks said. “The momentum just swung to our side. I think that was definitely the reason.”

Long after the game was settled, LSU added a touchdown with 59 seconds to play. The Aggies trailed 18-14 at halftime after allowing a safety on a blocked punt, two interceptions, and a silly unnecessary roughness that helped extend an LSU scoring drive.

The Aggies responded with 21 points in the third quarter. Then they added two touchdowns in the fourth. Defensively, the Aggies battered LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier all night.

Texas A&M finished with seven sacks and 11 tackles for a loss. Cashius Howell set the tone early. Howell got his first of two sacks to force a third-and-19 at LSU’s 34-yard line on the fourth play from scrimmage. 

Concepcion returned the subsequent punt 14 yards to set up the Aggies at their 32-yard line to start a six-play, 68-yard drive that Reed capped with his 41-yard touchdown run. Concepcion helped the Aggies take a 14-7 lead with a 15-yard touchdown reception with 40 seconds left in the first quarter. 

Elko challenged his players to clean up the issues that cost them the lead in the second quarter.

Responding to Mike Elko

“I said, ‘You’re the better team, but you have to play better football,’” Elko said. “If you don’t play better football, then you’re going to let one slip away. That’s honestly what I told them at halftime.”

Elko pleaded with his team to stop committing penalties and stop short-circuiting their drives. He also told thempp to tackle better.

“Obviously we went out and got a good start to the second half,” Elko said. “I think we got the momentum. Then the punt return really put us up. Then we started to play from the front, and I thought we had a big advantage at that point.”

The LSU fans appeared to have the same assessment, considering most of them started leaving toward the end of the third quarter.