Mike Elko had a sharp, funny read on the SEC’s LSU mess, and he didn’t need many words to make the point.
During his weekly appearance on The Aggie Football Hour, the Texas A&M coach was asked by a fan about the controversy surrounding LSU, Lane Kiffin’s program, and the conference. Elko answered with a comparison that landed cleanly.
“This is a little bit like the son figuring out where the limits are until Dad comes home and raises his voice, and then the son goes, ‘I was just kidding; I didn’t mean any of that.,’" Elko said during this week's edition of The Aggie Football Hour. "I think that’s what you’re seeing.
LSU will be in the SEC. LSU will be fired up when we go to Baton Rouge in a couple of weeks.
All of those things are going to happen. This is just a little bit of parenting going on right now.”
The comment came as LSU has been at the center of a major dispute with the SEC over its attempt to add two former NFL players, Dae'Quan Weight and Zxavian Harris, to its roster. Both players received injunctions from the state of Louisiana to play, and both spent last season with the Ole Miss Rebels under Kiffin.
That connection added another layer to the scrutiny, while Kiffin, Louisiana lawyers, and other decision-makers kept pressing the issue and testing the SEC’s patience. The league eventually responded by filing a federal suit against the school and Kiffin, and it called a meeting to discuss the possibility of expelling LSU from the conference.
LSU ultimately backed off and chose not to add the players to its roster, but the SEC is still not finished with the matter.
For Texas A&M, the timing matters. The Aggies are set to play LSU later this month in Baton Rouge, and by then the potential punishments could already be in place. The conference’s expulsion talk appears to have cooled, but sanctions from the league are still possible.
That leaves the door open for a very different kind of atmosphere when the Aggies visit Tiger Stadium on September 26. Until then, Texas A&M has Arizona State coming to Kyle Field this Saturday.
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Saints Backfield Suddenly Has Trade Buzz Fans Can't Ignore
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That is where the trade buzz starts to get interesting for Saints fans, because Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller have both been mentioned in the speculation. Nothing has been confirmed, and there is still a wide gap between rumor and reality, but the possibility alone is enough to make New Orleans backfield worth watching a little more closely as the market shifts around it. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Fans May Feel Vindicated Watching Paulson Adebo In New York
Paulson Adebos move to New York gave Saints fans a fresh way to judge one of their former draft picks, and the early returns have been uneven. The cornerback, drafted by New Orleans before signing a three-year contract with the Giants, arrived with the kind of pedigree that usually brings expectations with it, but his first season there was rocky in coverage and raised questions about how quickly hed settle in.
John Harbaugh has already made it clear the Giants will sort out playing time by performance, not by salary, and that leaves Adebo in a familiar prove-it spot. He was not listed as a starter on the Week 1 depth chart in his second season, which only adds to the uncertainty around how prominent a role hell have as New York tries to sort out its secondary. [Read more 🡒]