LSU to A&M: 'You complete me' — Tigers save best overall game in regular season for last

Glenn Guilbeau | The Daily Advertiser

BATON ROUGE — "You complete me," Tom Cruise told Texan Renee Zellweger in the movie "Jerry Maguire."

Cruise, who was playing Maguire, was declaring his love for Zellweger's character, Dorothy Boyd, after they had split up in the 1996 classic.

LSU in no way loves Texas A&M. In fact, LSU's players and coaches love to hate the Aggies more than any other opponent lately - more than even Alabama because of A&M's questionable, 74-72, win in seven overtimes last year at this time that was followed by an ugly fight started by A&M assistant and former LSU assistant Dameyune Craig.

"We spent the entire year thinking about those (expletive deleted)," one LSU staff member said while pointing to the A&M bench as the No. 1 Tigers celebrated their 50-7 revenge-soaked victory over A&M Saturday night at Tiger Stadium with a little more class.

Here's a hint. The expletive starts with the same letter that Aggies does.

But more than revenge, which may be best served cold but at its best short-sighted, No. 1 LSU saved its most "complete" game of the regular season for Texas A&M and for last. And that will serve the Tigers (12-0, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) better down the road in the SEC Championship Game Saturday (3 p.m., CBS) in Atlanta against No. 4 Georgia (11-1, 7-1 SEC) and beyond - no matter how cold, empty, and thoroughly beaten the Aggies (7-5, 4-4 SEC) were as they left Tiger Stadium.

And this just four days after College Football Playoff committee chairman Rob Mullens basically said Ohio State was a more "complete" team than LSU. And up until Saturday, that was clearly true.

"To date, their defense is not as strong as Ohio State's," Mullens said after his committee flip-flopped No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Ohio State.

More: See LSU quarterback Joe Burrow wear 'Burreaux' jersey during pregame

That may still be true after Saturday, but LSU's defense took a major step toward LSU's ultimate completion as the Tigers stepped on A&M's collective face.

"You complete me," LSU coach Ed Orgeron could have told Texas A&M coach and former LSU coaching candidate Jimbo Fisher after the game. Fisher's offense managed season lows for total yards and passing offense with 169 and 97 yards, respectively.

"You complete me," LSU outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson could have told Texas A&M junior quarterback Kellen Mond, whom he sacked 1.5 times and whom LSU sacked five times in all along with five hurries.

It was Mond who said the following at the SEC Media Days last July about the overtime win: "As you could see a lot of the LSU players were cramping, and obviously we were standing tall on both sides of the ball."

Not now. It was Mond who had one of the worst games of his career here Saturday night — 10 of 30 for 92 yards and three interceptions.

"You complete me," LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, whose defense has often been incomplete this season, could have told Fisher, who tried to hire him away from LSU when he was taking over at A&M after the 2017 season.

"They kicked our butts on all three phases - offense, defense, and special teams," Fisher said. "Kellen was harassed all night."

More: LSU vs. Texas A&M Aggies football video highlights

Yes, LSU was telling Aggie jokes all night long as it outgained A&M, 553 yards to 169 and totaled 31 first downs to 12.

"It was what we have been looking for all year," Orgeron said. "This is overall a tremendous night, an overall package. I am so proud of Coach Aranda. What a difference a year makes."

Yes, on Dec. 1, 2018, LSU was 9-3 and 5-3 and in yet another slow burn about the SEC office following some controversial calls and no-calls in the A&M loss.

On Dec. 1, 2019, LSU is the new Alabama (10-2, 6-2 SEC), which has two regular season losses for the first time since 2010 after falling, 48-45, at Auburn Saturday night.

That kind of "completes" this magical season for LSU, too. Alabama will NOT be in the playoffs for the first time since that format began in 2014, and LSU will be for the first time if it beats Georgia, and maybe even if it does not.

"That was the LSU standard of performance," Orgeron said. "So many great things happened tonight. We are happy to be 12-0. Tremendous job by our staff. But you know what, we ain't done yet."

Much more to come, particularly from quarterback Joe Burrow, who did the usual as he "completed" 22 of 32 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns. In the process, he set the SEC record for passing yards in a season with 4,366, breaking the mark of 4,275 set by Kentucky's Tim Couch that had stood since 1998 when "Jerry Maguire" was fresh on VHS. Burrow also tied the SEC mark for touchdown passes in a season set by Missouri's Drew Lock with 44 in 2017.

More: LSU's Joe Burrow sets SEC single-season passing record

But he wanted to talk about LSU's defense.

"I think the defense wanted to send a message to the country," Burrow said. "They've been criticized the last few weeks, and that's what they've been talking about all week."

LSU's defense was the missing link. A&M's offense is not close to great, but the Tigers' defense at least ended the regular season on an upswing and looking like it could at least play with Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma or whoever.

As long as it has Joe Burrow.

"I've said it all along after watching tape," said Fisher, who lost to Clemson this season. "He is playing as good as anybody. LSU's offense is outstanding."

Yes, Texas A&M completed LSU.

But you had me at Burrow.