Dark clouds gathering for star LSU defender's availability ahead of A&M game

LSU captain and star linebacker Whit Weeks still has yet to participate in practice with the Tigers this week, according to LSU insider Shea Dixon. This comes after Weeks missed the Tigers' loss to Vanderbilt last week, in a game where he was sorely needed against a dynamic Commodore rushing attack.

Dixon also reports that Weeks is still in a "non-weight-bearing ankle boot," which sounds far less than positive for one of the best defenders on the LSU team. The official availability report for these two teams will be relased tonight, but early signs are pointing towards Weeks missing this game.

While you want to beat every team you play at full strength rather than give fans an excuse for why they lost, this is something that could definitely give Texas A&M an advantage. The Aggies' run game is just as multifarious as that of Vanderbilt, and that was an aspect of the game that gave LSU some fits in their matchup last week.

LSU captain Whit Weeks still not practicing with Tigers ahead of Texas A&M game

While Whit's little brother West Weeks (that's a lot of w's) does play for the Tigers, he's not yet the quality of player that Whit is, so LSU fans certainly don't want to be missing last year's second-leading tackler in the conference. Going without him would be a really tough draw for the Bayou Bengals.

Of course, given that the Aggies are missing their best running back in Le'Veon Moss, it's not as if this unfairly slants things towards Texas A&M. Moss means more to the Aggie offense than Weeks does to the LSU defense, so this just draws things more even in the final analysis.

Texas A&M will no doubt look to take advantage of this matchup with their very senior offensive line, however. Collin Klein is an expert at scheming up creative runs, so I foresee the Aggies being able to create some big time leverage in this game if all goes according to plan.