Texas A&M heads to Baton Rouge with both teams trying to steady themselves after taking their first loss of the season last weekend. The Aggies fell 31-21 at home to Kentucky, while LSU dropped a 32-24 decision at Ole Miss.
The stakes are pretty clear: the loser will go into October at 2-2 overall and 0-2 in SEC play, and almost certainly outside the rankings. Neither team is sitting in the national top 25 in scoring offense or scoring defense right now, which only adds to the sense that this one needs to produce a response.
LSU comes in as the home team in Baton Rouge, LA, where the school was established in 1860 and lists an enrollment of 41,705. The Tigers wear purple and “gold,” compete in the SEC, and have a long list of notable alumni that includes Shaq, Joe Burrow, Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman, ESPN’s Booger McFarland, Livvy Dunne, her pitcher husband, rock band Better Than Ezra and “Old School” star James Carville.
Oddsmakers have made Texas A&M a 9.5-point underdog, with the over/under set at 52.5.
The series history leans LSU’s way at 32-25-3, but Texas A&M has had some recent success, winning five of the last eight meetings and the last two in a row. Marcel Reed has been especially effective against the Tigers, piling up seven total touchdowns in the last two matchups, with five of those coming on the ground.
There’s also the Lane Kiffin factor, even if it’s been tied to the Ole Miss sideline. Texas A&M is 0-3 all-time against him, though all three came against Ole Miss during the Jimbo Fisher era.
One encouraging note for Mike Elko’s group: he has won his first road game of the season in each of the past two years, at Florida in 2024 and at Notre Dame in 2025.
What Texas A&M has to find, first and foremost, is competent quarterback play. Marcel Reed was nowhere near good enough last week, and that hasn’t been a one-off issue. The hope is that LSU has brought out the best in him over the past two seasons, and the Aggies need that version to show up again.
The other issue is physicality. Kentucky controlled that last week, especially on defense, and Texas A&M was on the wrong end of it. Fixing that against LSU is a tough ask, but it’s exactly what the coaching staff is demanding this week.
And then there’s Lane Kiffin shenanigans. He always seems to find a way to make things about himself, and there’s every reason to think this week will be no different.
In Other News...
Alabama Gets An Early SEC Reality Check In New AP Poll
The latest AP top 25 brought a fresh shakeup across the SEC entering Week 4, with Ole Miss win over LSU helping alter the leagues early pecking order and Florida sliding into the rankings after a win at Auburn. The movement reflected how quickly the conference landscape can change in September, especially with so many ranked teams already testing each other in pivotal matchups.
For Texas A&M, the update came with a cost after the loss to Kentucky, a result that pushed the Aggies down and renewed attention on their inconsistency on both sides of the ball. With several other teams lingering just outside the poll on votes received, the margin for error is already shrinking, and A&M will spend the next stretch trying to show it belongs back in the mix. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Suddenly Has Two Problems Fans Cant Ignore
Texas A&Ms SEC opener against Kentucky was supposed to be a chance to settle in and build early momentum, but instead it left the Aggies with a familiar-looking reminder of how thin the margin can be in this league. Favored to win before kickoff, they fell 31-21 and spent much of the night chasing a game that kept slipping further away, especially after Kentucky found room to move in the third quarter and widened the gap.
There were a few encouraging signs on offense, with Mario Craver and KJ Edwards each providing some positive moments, but they were overshadowed by the bigger issues that kept showing up. Marcel Reeds interceptions added to the pressure, and the defensive performance was the kind of problem that tends to linger unless it gets fixed quickly, which makes the conversation around this team feel a lot more urgent after one conference loss. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Suddenly Has A Backfield Problem Fans Feared
Texas A&Ms backfield took another hit late in the second quarter against Kentucky, when freshman running back KJ Edwards went down and did not return. Edwards had been part of the game plan before the injury, and his absence was immediate enough to be felt in a room that was already working through depth questions.
Mike Elko confirmed the injury after the game, and the bigger concern is what it means for the Aggies running back rotation moving forward. With multiple scholarship backs already injured, Texas A&M is left trying to piece together a position group that was supposed to provide stability, but now feels increasingly fragile just as the season pushes on. [Read more 🡒]