By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
COLLEGE STATION—Over the decades, plotlines for LSU vs. Texas A&M have always been intertwined, whether coaching hirings or stealing recruits from each other on signing day.
Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. showdown between the 7th-ranked Tigers and the 14th-ranked Aggies here in Kyle Field has its share of fresh intrigue like A&M first-year coach Mike Elko serving as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator in 2017 on then-Fighting Irish and now LSU head coach Brian Kelly’s staff.
Or the star running backs from each school playing against their native state teams (LSU’s Caden Durham of Duncanville, Texas, Texas A&M’s Le’Veon Moss of Walker, La.).
Or in this 63rd meeting of the Tigers (6-1, 3-0 SEC) and the Aggies (6-1, 4-0 SEC) in the battle of the league’s last two unbeaten squads in conference play, there’s the added frosting of the game’s winner getting an inside track to a possible College Football Playoff berth.
“It’s easy to get caught up in extracurriculars of what this game means, all the different things that play into it,” said LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who has completed 183-of-283 passes for 2,222 yards, an SEC-leading 18 TDs and 6 interceptions. “We can think about those all week, then lose the football game, and then it won’t matter.
“The environment doesn’t matter. Who we play doesn’t matter. We’re focused on executing to the best of our ability and attacking our opponent.”
The Tigers and Aggies have had similar seasons. Both teams lost their openers (LSU fell to USC 27-20 in Las Vegas, Texas A&M lost at home 23-13 to Notre Dame) and haven’t lost since.
“Both (A&M and LSU) had a big stage in the opener, both played a really close game all the way down to the fourth quarter and didn’t make the plays at the end that it needed to be successful,” said Elko, who has the Aggies off to their best start since 2016. “Probably both got written off and then just went to work to improve every week, continuing true to their process and believing in who they were.
“Then all of a sudden, you pick your head up, and here you are.”
While LSU has experienced growing pains on defense under new coordinator Blake Baker and Texas A&M has gotten uneven QB play from returning starter Connor Weigman who has tried to battle through a shoulder injury, both coaches have deftly navigated through problems.
“They (the Tigers) understand that this is a week-to-week thing,” said Kelly, who has a 7-3 SEC road record in his 34-game LSU coaching career. “You win a game, and everybody thinks you’re great. You lose the game, and everybody thinks you’re a bum. So, our guys understand how important it is to stay grounded and focused on what they can control. Controlling the controllable for us is about our preparation. If we do a really good job with our preparation, then good things usually happen.”
Statistically in SEC games only, Texas A&M is second in the conference in total offense (412.5 yards per game), second in total defense (325.25 ypg allowed) and fourth in scoring defense (17.75 ppg allowed).
Spurred by Moss, who’s averaging 107.50 of A&M’s SEC-leading 204 yards per game rushing in league play, the Aggies have been able to produce enough offensively despite Weigman trying to get back confidence and rhythm after hurting his shoulder in the opening loss to Notre Dame.
Weigman played the first five drives of A&M’s win over McNeese and was pulled from the game to give backup true freshman backup Marcel Reed reps. A late-week practice setback resulted in Weigman missing the Florida game.
In last week’s 34-24 win at Mississippi State, Weigman was 15 for 25 for 217 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
LSU’s defense solidified in the wake of star linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. suffering a season-ending knee injury vs. UCLA on Sept. 21. With dynamic sophomore Whit Weeks moving into the starting lineup in the last three games, the Tigers have had in that stretch 20½ tackles for loss (including 11½ sacks), 15 quarterback hurries, 20 pass breakups, 2 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles and 3 recovered fumbles.
“We went to Arkansas and dominated them,” LSU safety Sage Ryan said. “I feel like we could be consistent and do it again. We showed that we can do it. So that’s just the mindset that we have.”
GO FIGURE
3: Straight losses for LSU (2018, 2020, 2022) in College Station
6: Game-winning streaks for LSU and Texas A&M after season-opening losses
6.4: Yards per carry this season for Texas A&M running back Le’Veon Moss
24: Sacks by LSU’s defense, 11 more than it had last season after 7 games
285: Rushing yards (then a school record) and four TDs by LSU running back Derrius Guice in the Tigers’ last win at Texas A&M in 2016
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com