Texas A&M football opponent first look: LSU's offensive firepower means Aggie defense needs to be on guard
Texas A&M football is playing in the most decisive game of the weekend—and maybe the year—come Saturday night. The Aggies will welcome in the LSU Tigers, who, along with the Aggies, remain unbeaten in the conference.
The Tigers have accomplished this on the back of an offensive unit that, while capable, has been inconsistent at times. The Tigers were spinning their wheels against South Carolina until they suddenly leapt into fifth gear late in the first half. They registered an uninspiring performance against UCLA, and sleepwalked through a lot of the game against Arkansas.
Of course, when the offense is on, it's a sight to see. Garrett Nussmeier, despite his proclivity for interceptions, can sling the ball with the best of them, and the Bayou Bengals have their normal cadre of tall, explosive receivers—headlined by Kyren Lacy.
The freshman phenom out of Duncanville, Caden Durham, has been a revelation at running back. His emergence against the Gamecocks was a big reason that the Tigers won that game—along with some help from the officiating crew and an injury to LaNorris Sellers, I mean.
The much-maligned Tiger defense has been improving as of late as well. After four games where they looked all but entirely aimless, they've cut way down on explosive plays allowed, leading to some much better performances overall.
All of this adds up to a team that, like the Aggies, is on quite the hot streak. That's what you'd expect for a pair of squads who have won each of their last six games, of course.
But there are still some holes in this team that the Ags can take advantage of. The aforementioned offensive inconsistency can work in A&M's favor in front of a packed house at Kyle Field, especially if A&M can jump out to an early lead and make the LSU offense press.
This will also be the best rush defense that the Tigers have played, though Durham might be the best back that the Ags have seen (depending on what you think of Ja'Quinden Jackson). Neutralize that aspect of the offense, and things become even dicier for the Tigers.
I'm not totally convinced by the recent defensive resurgence by LSU, either. The Tigers' performance against Ole Miss looked like it had a lot more to do with the Rebels than it did the Tigers, and they took advantage of a hobbled Arkansas offense to put up those numbers.
I expect the Tigers to take the same tack against Weigman and the Aggies as did Missouri and Notre Dame: man up on the outside with some hard press coverage and load up in the box. If A&M can shake them out of that look early with some precise passing from Conner, this could get ugly for LSU.
Don't discount the fact that this will be the second straight road night game for the Tigers, either. That's a spot where teams seldom look even close to their best, and the kind of environment Kyle Field provides won't be a help in that respect.
I think we see the Aggies pull away late in this one. In fact, I think the flow of the game looks quite similar to what we saw the last time the Bayou Bengals visited Kyle Field: tied at the half before the Ags put their foot firmly on the gas. Give me A&M winning by a similar margin: 38-24.