No. 10 LSU gets another Saturday night spotlight in Baton Rouge, and this one comes with a heavyweight feel.
The Tigers will host No. 23 Texas A&M at 6:44 p.m.
CT on ABC, with the LSU Sports Radio Network carrying the call as well.
LSU is coming off its first loss of the season, a 32-24 setback at Ole Miss last Saturday night. The Tigers erased a 17-point deficit to tie the game before the comeback ran out of steam.
Winnie Watkins was a bright spot on offense, finishing with three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Whit Weeks paced LSU with eight tackles, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry.
Afterward, Lane Kiffin said the film left no shortage of frustration.
"I think they really struggled with this one after seeing it and breaking down the film," head coach Lane Kiffin said Monday. "We really feel, after seeing it, we lost the game in so many situations and areas."
That defense has still been one of LSU’s biggest strengths through three games. Blake Baker’s unit leads the nation in rush defense at 33.0 yards allowed per game and has piled up 14 sacks, also tops in the country.
LSU is No. 13 nationally in total defense, giving up 236.7 yards per game, including 33.0 on the ground and 203.7 through the air. Princewill Umanmielen has been a force up front, leading the nation with 6.0 sacks and ranking No. 2 in tackles for loss with 7.5.
Texas A&M brings a different challenge. Senior quarterback Marcel Reed has thrown for 632 yards and six touchdowns with three interceptions across three games, and LSU knows the quarterback run game will matter.
"This is a big test," Kiffin said. "We've struggled with (Reed) here before.
We lead the nation in rush defense, but that hasn't been against a ton of QBs in schemed runs. That takes a lot of discipline."
The Aggies’ ground game runs through Reuben Owens II, who has 186 rushing yards on 45 carries and a touchdown. With Terry Bussey out, Mario Craver and Isaiah Horton are set to lead the receiving group.
On the defensive side, Texas A&M is leaning on a handful of active tacklers. Linebackers Noah Mikhail and Ray Coney each have 18 tackles, safety Marcus Racliffe has 15, and defensive end T.J.
Searcy has 14 tackles with a sack. Edge rusher Anto Saka has added eight tackles, 0.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.
Ty Benefield said LSU has moved on from last week and is locked in on the Aggies.
"The locker room is ready to go," said safety Ty Benefield Tuesday. "We put (last week) in the past. We're ready to go for A&M."
The series history tilts toward LSU since Texas A&M entered the SEC in 2012. The Tigers are 9-5 against the Aggies in that span, including 6-1 in Tiger Stadium.
Saturday will also be the first official head-to-head meeting between Kiffin and Texas A&M coach Mike Elko. Kiffin is 3-0 all-time against the Aggies, with all three wins coming at Ole Miss.
The pageantry starts well before kickoff. Parking lots open at 7 a.m. CT, with the rest of the day’s schedule rolling through the afternoon and into the night, capped by the pregame moments in Tiger Stadium and the 6:44 p.m. kickoff.
In Other News...
LSUs Poll Position After That Win Says Plenty About The Tigers
LSUs latest surge still came with a familiar caveat in the polls, even after a convincing 35-6 win over Texas A&M. The Tigers held at No. 11 in the Coaches Poll and slipped one spot to No. 11 in the AP Top 25, a ranking that says as much about the national crowdedness around them as it does about their own performance. Floridas climb to No. 8 after beating Ole Miss was one of the bigger shifts near the top, but LSUs place remained a reminder that one big win does not always bring a corresponding leap.
For LSU, the more interesting part may be how little room there is left for error if the Tigers want the respect that usually comes with a late-season push. The AP list and the coaches version both showed movement elsewhere, with teams dropping out and others collecting votes, but LSU stayed planted just outside the top tier. In a week when some programs rose sharply and others faded from view, the Tigers were left in the middle, good enough to stay in the conversation but still waiting for the kind of change in perception that only comes with another statement win. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs SEC Push Suddenly Depends On How Far These Backups Can Go
After bouncing back with a win over Texas A&M in Week 4, LSU enters the heart of SEC play with a very different kind of test ahead of it. The Tigers are trying to keep momentum going after the loss to Ole Miss, but the bigger issue now is survival depth, with injuries thinning out key spots across the roster and forcing the next wave of players into the spotlight.
That has pushed backups like Landen Clark, Jackson Harris, Davhon Keys and Tamarcus Cooley into more important roles than LSU likely planned this early in the season. With linebacker Whit Weeks, quarterback Sam Leavitt, wide receiver Phillip Wright III, tight end TreyDez Green, linebacker Charles Ross II and safety Dashawn Spears all on the injury list, the Tigers push through the SEC may come down to how steady those reserve pieces can be while the staff waits for help to return. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Texas A&M Grades Revealed One Breakout And One Lingering Concern
Pro Football Focus latest grading from LSUs game against Texas A&M offered a tidy snapshot of where the Tigers found traction and where they still have work to do. Jackson Harris came out as the highest-graded offensive player with a 92.0 mark, while Tamarcus Cooley paced the defense at 87.7, giving LSU a couple of bright spots to point to after a matchup that demanded consistency on both sides of the ball.
The same report also flagged the Tigers rougher edges, with Jayce Brown drawing the lowest offensive grade and Dylan Carpenter landing at the bottom on defense. For LSU, that kind of split matters because it reinforces the difference between isolated standouts and full-game reliability, leaving the staff with clear evidence of who is elevating the group and where the lingering concern still sits. [Read more 🡒]