No. 14 Texas A&M football continues its run through the SEC when it hosts No. 8 LSU for a primetime showdown at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Kyle Field. Since 2018, the programs have exchanged wins each season, with, to the Aggies’ advantage this year, the home team winning each time.
The last time the Tigers visited College Station in 2022, A&M salvaged its season with a 38-23 win over No. 6 LSU. Here are a few takeaways from Monday’s weekly press conference as coach Mike Elko and three players previewed the matchup.
Opportunity awaits for the Aggies
Nearly two months ago, this writer penned in his article about A&M’s platform to make a statement on the national stage when it opened the season against Notre Dame. It’s been well-documented that the Aggies fell flat against the Fighting Irish, but the past eight weeks have built up to A&M’s chance at redemption.
LSU is the third top-10 opponent to visit Kyle Field this season, and likely not the last, if No. 5 Texas continues along the path it’s on. A win on Saturday likely puts the Aggies in position to enter the top 10 and boosts their status as a contender for the College Football Playoff. With A&M already leading the SEC, who’s to say it couldn’t make a run at the conference championship, defending on how things play out?
“It’s a lot at stake from the outside point of view,” Florida transfer linebacker Scooby Williams said. “Internally, it’s just another week, just another team. We’ve just got to focus and prepare how we usually prepare, and we can’t let up.”
A rivalry matchup under the lights in front of a juiced up home crowd understandably attracts plenty of fanfare and excitement. In the team facility, Elko and his coaching staff are looking to stifle any outside noise from creeping in.
“We spend so much time talking about where success comes from,” Elko said. “You can spend this whole week thinking about the play you’re going to make, the celebration, what you’re going to look like in the [uniforms]. Or you can spend the whole week focusing on all of the things that are going to help you have success on Saturday. It’s just trying to shift their eyes every single day in the lane and stay there as long as humanly possible with the strong knowledge that they’re 18 to 23 [years old] and it’s an ongoing process.”
Saturday’s matchup is just one part of a jam-packed weekend in the Elko household.
“On to next week, which is a really, really big week,” Elko said. “My older son starts his World Series, so he’s got Game 1 and 2 of the World Series. My younger son is playing for the conference title in a battle of unbeatens back in Apex, North Carolina. My daughter and wife are going to Taylor Swift in New Orleans.
“So, yeah, that’s probably all we’ve got going on this week.”
No, Elko’s son does not play for the Yankees or Dodgers.
A&M seeing growth on both sides of the ball
Beyond Elko, coach Adam Cushing is on the short list of individuals that have engineered the turnaround of the A&M football program this season. The offensive line coach has turned a once-much-maligned unit into one of the team’s biggest strengths. With veterans on the line, those painful years helped push the unit to where it is today.
“I think, really, we grew up and we grew up together,” junior right tackle Dametrious Crownover said. “We found out what it means to play as an offensive line. We didn’t have success those last two years, but it helped us realize what we needed to do to get to where we are now.”
The Aggies have allowed the second-fewest sacks in the SEC, averaging just one per game, including perfect showings in matchups at Florida and Mississippi State. The success hasn’t come without its adversity, with sophomore center Mark Nabou Jr. suffering an early season-ending injury and redshirt freshman offensive lineman TJ Shanahan missing time as well.
“At the beginning of the season, we knew playing offensive line, it’s a fight in there every time,” Crownover said. “We know people are going to go down, we knew that. It was our goal for us to be like, ‘Oh, we lose somebody, who’s next?’ Somebody’s got to be able to step up in that position and know their role that they’ve got to play and know how we want them to play and match our standard.”
In the linebacker corps, the monster-sized void left by Green Bay Packer Edgerrin Cooper from last season has been filled through the joint efforts of Williams and sophomores Taurean York and Daymion Sanford. Williams said the unit’s on-field highlights are a reflection of the work it puts in on the practice field.
“Our linebackers, it’s always a competition, we’re always trying to get better,” Williams said. “We’re always trying to better each other. I feel like that pays off, and Saturday [at Mississippi State] it paid off. All of us came up, we were prepared, overly prepared, actually. … We’re all motivating each other, meeting extra after practice with our [graduate assistants] and our coaches, so I feel like all of that just adds up over time, and y’all get to see the results on Saturdays.”
Aggies prepare to be tested by Tigers’ offense
A&M will meet arguably its greatest offensive challenge through seven games this season as LSU boasts the SEC’s No. 5 offense at 34.1 points per game, just behind Notre Dame’s average of 34.6 points. The Bayou Bengals have relied heavily on their aerial attack, passing for 322.4 yards per game, the eighth most in the nation.
“The quarterback’s very special, he has a big arm,” junior safety Bryce Anderson said. “Their receiver corps is very special. I feel like it’s going to be one of the best, as a group, the best receiving corps that we’ve seen this season with [fifth year wide receiver Kyren] Lacy, [redshirt sophomore WR] Aaron Anderson. They’ve got a couple other guys that are real special. We’re going to have to keep a top on the coverage and limit the big plays.”
Redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, son of former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier, has patiently waited his turn to take the reins of LSU’s offense. He sat behind Max Johnson, who later transferred to Texas A&M, in 2021 before backing up Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels over the past two seasons.
“I think he’s a testament to kind of doing this the right way,” Elko said. “I think he has stayed the course, I think he’s really comfortable in their system, I think he’s grown and developed. He’s gotten his opportunities over the first couple years when the opportunities presented themselves. I think that’s prepared him to come into this stage this year and really be their leader.”
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