Brian Kelly told ESPN’s Holly Rowe at halftime he wasn’t concerned about the status of starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.
Late in the first half of LSU’s game against Texas A&M, Nussmeier appeared to get stepped on by his lineman on a throw downfield and hobbled around a bit for the final 50 seconds of the half. But when Rowe asked Kelly about Nussmeier, the Tiger head coach shrugged off any concern about his status going into the second half.
“I’m not too worried about that as much as I’m worried about taking advantage of the opportunities we’ve had,” he said. “We’ve had 2 times now where we’ve come up with empty possessions. In a game like this, you just don’t want to leave points out on the field.”
No. 8 LSU had a 17-7 lead over No. 14 Texas A&M in College Station, but the Tigers probably should have had more.
Nussmeier completed 14 of his 26 passes for 259 first-half yards through the air. He had completions to 9 different receivers, spraying the ball around with efficiency. LSU outgained A&M 283-147 in the first half and was more than 3 yards better on a per-play basis.
But an 11-play, 87-yard drive stalled at the A&M 6 and LSU had to kick a field goal. Two possessions later, a 49-yard drive that took 10 plays and 4 minutes off the clock ended with a missed 48-yard field goal.
Late in the second quarter, a pair of early-down drops from LSU receivers stalled out another drive at the A&M 32. LSU sent Damian Ramos out for his third field goal try of the half and watched him miss another.
A&M struggled mightily against LSU’s pass defense, finishing the half with just 49 yards through the air and 2 sacks allowed. The Aggies also lost a fumble. But they’ll probably feel fortunate to be within 10 points at the break.