The Preview: LSU Tigers Travel to College Station to Take on the Texas A&M Aggies

Brian Kelly and Co. look to extend their winning streak to seven games, face a dominant Aggies squad.

Courtesy of LSU Football.

BATON ROUGE — Riding a six-game winning streak, the Fighting Tigers of LSU (6-1) travel to College Station for another primetime SEC road test against Texas A&M (6-1) on Saturday night at Kyle Field.

Kickoff is set for 6:44 p.m. CT on ABC and the LSU Sports Radio Network. Chris Fowler (pxp), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline) will be on the call. 

The Tigers are coming off an impressive 34-10 victory over Arkansas in Fayetteville. Sophomore linebacker Whit Weeks posted his best performance in an LSU uniform with nine tackles, one sack, one interception and a pass breakup, leading the team to a big win in a hostile environment.

This Saturday will be no different as over 102,000+ will be cheering for the home Aggies in a sold-out Kyle Field. It will be up to the Tigers, says head coach Brian Kelly, to go into that venue and lay it all on the line with a bye week approaching.

“You have to go into that stadium and take something from them,” Kelly said on Thursday. “They aren’t going to give it to you. That requires an incredible desire and a want-to. You don’t want to sit around all next week, when you don’t have a game, with any regrets.”

LSU, behind a 100-yard rusher in Caden Durham, a defensive standout in Weeks, and an unsung hero in kicker Damian Ramos, started fast and ended strong in one of the most complete performances of the season. It was four quarters of LSU Football.

“The first time we played on the road I thought we were reactive,” Kelly said. “We waited for things to happen. This game we didn’t wait around. That’s how we need to play this weekend against an outstanding A&M team.”

Ramos, who has converted 12 of his 14 field goal attempts and 25-of-25 extra points, has provided the Tigers with confidence to get three points when needed. It’s a position that is thankless, and often does not garner the attention it deserves, but Ramos has been an unsung hero to the success of this team through seven games.

“His mechanics and his routine are so flawless in terms of what he does,” Kelly said. “His ability to repeat his mechanics really separates him, so when it’s time to kick, it’s push play.”

As November approaches, narratives will only continue to swirl. This Saturday will play a big role in determining the SEC race, and ultimately, the College Football Playoff race. For Coach Kelly, the message has been clear: control the controllables.

“This is a week-to-week thing,” Kelly said. “Whatever the narratives are, whatever people are saying, we’ve already covered (as a staff). What’s really important is what you can control. Control the controllables.”

The Aggies are led by sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman, who has accounted by 718 yards passing and three touchdowns. Junior running back Le’Veon Moss has tallied 674 yards on the ground for eight touchdowns, averaging 6.4 yards per touch. Noah Thomas leads the team in receiving with 21 receptions for 289 yards and three touchdowns.

Defensively, A&M is led in tackles by Taurean York, who has totaled 40 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Defensive backs Will Lee III and Dalton Brooks both are second with 28 a piece.

“Mike Elko is doing a great job with this football team in his first year,” Kelly said. “Very similar to what our team has been doing. We lost the opener, they lost the opener, and they’re playing better and better each week. They are very balanced on offense. Conner Weigman is a really good quarterback. He’s got very good weapons.”

To put this matchup into perspective, the home team has won the last seven meetings in the series, which includes a 42-30 LSU win last year in Tiger Stadium. The Aggies have won the last three games against LSU at Kyle Field, including a 38-23 victory in the 2022 regular-season finale. LSU’s last win at Kyle Field came in 2016 by a 54-39 count.

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