No. 3 Texas A&M will head to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to take on No. 20 LSU this Saturday, Oct. 25, for its fifth Southeastern Conference matchup of the season. The Aggies have yet to walk into Tiger Stadium and pull off a win while in the SEC, but things seem to be different this season for A&M as it started 7-0 for the first time since 1994.
The Aggies have been stellar this season after they opened the year with back-to-back wins over UTSA and Utah State — both at home in front of the 12th Man. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed and his offense were able to post 40-plus points in both games.
The first real test for A&M came against then-No. 8 Notre Dame, when the Aggies hit the road and took on the Fighting Irish in an epic matchup, which saw the Aggies win by a mere one-point advantage.
After that, SEC play immediately began and the Aggies played three straight games at Kyle Field, coming out victorious over Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida, before hitting the road for three matchups.
For their second road game of the season, the Maroon and White took care of business against the Hogs, yet it wasn’t a pretty win, as the A&M defense allowed Arkansas’ offense to post 42 points — the most offensive points allowed by the defense this season.
Last season, LSU headed to College Station to take on A&M in a matchup that decided who would be the last SEC team undefeated in conference play. After the Aggies trailed 17-7 heading into halftime, Reed entered the game and completely turned the battle around, leading the Maroon and White to a 38-23 victory over the Tigers.
But after the impressive win, it seemed that everything started to go downhill for the Aggies after they lost 4 of their last 5 games to end the season 8-5.
With A&M being only one of six FBS teams still undefeated, it visits an LSU squad that’s coming off of a loss to the No. 10 Vanderbilt Commodores. After losing to then-No. 13 Ole Miss and Vanderbilt thus far in SEC play, this game is potentially a make-or-break for LSU, since they have an opportunity to fall below .500 in conference play.
Intense energy is inevitable for any opposing team walking into Death Valley for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff: Entering this season, the Tigers are 112-15 in night games at home since 2000.
Reed is coming off of an incredible performance against Arkansas, throwing for 280 yards and three touchdowns, as well as rushing for 55 yards and a score. While the Aggies were able to put up 497 yards of total offense, the defense certainly struggled as they allowed Arkansas to tally 527 yards of offense.
This season, it seems like A&M has either been able to click on offense or defense, yet the two haven’t seemed to excel at the same time. The Aggies will look to change that in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers are coming off of a road loss to the Commodores, where Vanderbilt bested them 31-24, dropping LSU to 5-2 on the season. The Tigers had a mediocre showing against the Commodores despite their 325 yards of offense, as the rushing game couldn’t get going with the offense posting 100 yards on the ground.
So far this season, the Aggies have been outstanding on defense as they lead the league in allowing the least amount of third-down conversions with only 20.
Led by junior linebacker Taurean York, the Maroon and White’s defense has been able to hold certain teams this season at bay, with its best performance coming against Auburn, where it only allowed 177 yards of offense.
With the Aggies opening up as a 2.5-point favorite, there are certainly a lot of obstacles they have to overcome if they want to walk out of Baton Rouge with their eighth win of the season.
The Tigers prefer to throw rather than run the ball, which can pose an issue for the home squad, as the Aggies’ defense had a hard time stopping the rushing attack against Arkansas. The Tigers rank 15th in the SEC in rushing yards per game, averaging 112.9 per game.
A&M and LSU are set for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 25, when the Maroon and White will fight to remain perfect and the Purple and Gold will look for revenge after last season’s loss.
