Houston Chronicle Sunday

A&M no match for No. 2 LSU

LSU channels any CFP ranking anger into dismantlin­g of overmatche­d A&M

- BRIAN T. SMITH brian.smith@chron.com twitter.com/chronbrian­smith

The Tigers show they are best team in country with 50-7 victory.

BATON ROUGE, La. — This was not why all that big Texas A&M money swore that Jimbo Fisher was the answer.

This was not LSU versus the Aggies on Saturday night inside an electric, echoing stadium.

It was the No. 2 Tigers vs. the College Football Playoff committee, which somehow had the nerve to place Ohio State above the best team in the country.

Fisher’s lifeless Aggies weren’t a factor on the field that defines.

Fisher’s Aggies were destroyed in the first quarter, down 28-0 with more than 10 minutes remaining in the first half and often looking like a school that had never played an SEC team before.

Fisher’s Aggies were ripped, shredded and pulverized by Ed Orgeron’s football monster at Tiger Stadium.

That magical seven-overtime game and surreal 74-72 A&M finish were already lost to history. The crazy numbers were useless for the Aggies a year later, instead simply providing another platform for a school that has much more at stake in 2019.

This wasn’t simple payback for Orgeron’s Tigers.

This was indisputab­le proof. LSU 50-7 before 102,218 on Saturday propelled the Tigers to a still-perfect 12-0.

“We’ve got bigger motivation to get where we want to go,” said Orgeron, whose team outgained the Aggies 553-169. “This team was just in our way. We didn’t want to get too emotional and give that game last year a lot of attention. … Going 12-0 and going to play for the SEC championsh­ip, that was our goal this year.”

Joe Burrow (23-of-32 passing, 352 yards, three touchdowns) is the best quarterbac­k in the country and should soon win the Heisman Trophy.

Orgeron has created an everincrea­sing legion of local, regional and national believers in 2019 and, right now, only the supposed know-it-alls running the pre-CFP version of the CFP are standing in LSU’s way.

The Aggies were a disposable stepping-stone. They also fell to 7-5 this season and a boring 4-4 in the SEC, which should already have A&M boosters questionin­g if Fisher can win a national championsh­ip in College Station if he can’t beat the best coaches in the country.

Death Valley echoed searing white noise. And that was before LSU required just six plays and 2 minutes, 10 seconds to cover 75 yards. And before Kellen Mond was flagged for intentiona­l grounding to end the Aggies’ initial drive, as A&M answered the Tigers’ strong opening statement with a punt.

It was 7-0 LSU with national eyes watching, Alabama locked in an Iron Bowl shootout with Auburn, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney having already taken shots at the CFP committee and No. 1 Ohio State having already beaten Michigan 56-27.

Every touchdown recorded or prevented was a ringing nationwide message. Each brilliant call, hard takedown or blown cover meant even more than normal for LSU.

“You’ve got to win. … We’ve got a ways to go,” said Orgeron, who publicly dismissed all the CFP talk after another impressive victory. “We’ve got a couple games left, and let’s see where it takes us.”

A&M was trying to fight off loss No. 5 in 2019 and hoping to wreck another team’s dream season.

The Tigers were staring at what could become the greatest season in program history and still trying to prove the CFP experts wrong.

“We blocked out the noise,” Orgeron said. “We wanted to be 12-0. … We control our own destiny.”

It was 14-0 home team after just eight minutes of game clock. When No. 5 Alabama’s defeat was displayed on multiple Jumbotrons at once, Tiger Stadium roared even louder.

Mond started 1 of 4 for 13 yards and was sacked. Burrow connected on a 78-yard touchdown that reminded national eyes why the stunningly unprepared Aggies were unranked. LSU versus the CFP committee was cranked to full blast.

With 4:27 left in the first half, the Tigers had 31 points and 324 offensive yards. The Aggies, of course, still hadn’t scored and had recorded just 19 yards.

The second half was readymade for a running clock. Burrow was kindly pulled by his coach with 12:34 to go, exiting the trouncing to a ringing ovation.

After 50-7 was official and “12-0” glowed in purple and gold on oversized screens, “Joe! Joe! Joe!” was proudly chanted as LSU’s senior quarterbac­k bonded with his screaming fans.

“Joe’s meant a lot to Louisiana and Louisiana is very proud of LSU football,” Orgeron said. “People in Louisiana have heart, man. When they love you, they love you. They love Joe and Joe loves them.”

LSU was warming up for the SEC championsh­ip game, No. 4 Georgia and the CFP.

Fisher’s Aggies were collateral damage Saturday night in Baton Rouge.

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 ?? Sean Gardner / Getty Images ?? Joe Burrow showed once again why he’s the best quarterbac­k in the country during LSU’s convincing rout of Texas A&M.
Sean Gardner / Getty Images Joe Burrow showed once again why he’s the best quarterbac­k in the country during LSU’s convincing rout of Texas A&M.
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