Texas A&M football: Aggies could ease the pain with a victory at LSU
It’s a good thing the Texas A&M defense showed up on Saturday. It kept a cupcake at bay while the offense got cranked up.
The defense kept Abilene Christian’s offense out of the end zone on Saturday in the Aggies’ 38-10 victory over the WAC opponent. That’s the 2nd straight game in which the Aggies have prevented an opposing offense from reaching the end zone, and the 4th time this season, which sounds almost impossible for a team with a record of 7-4.
But in a couple of those losses, the offense didn’t hold up its end of the bargain. Had it done so, this would be a very different season. The Aggies would be staring at 9 wins and a chance at capturing their first SEC West title with a victory Saturday at Tiger Stadium against rival LSU.
Jimbo Fisher would still be the head coach, and Texas A&M would have saved itself 10s of millions of dollars. Instead, the Aggies will be playing on Saturday for pride and little else — maybe a better bowl position.
Aside from that, the Aggies appear to be simply playing out the string. They didn’t show much emotion in the victory over Abilene Christian. The late-game kickoff featuring all walk-ons got the greatest reaction from the Texas A&M sideline.
And speaking of the sidelines, wasn’t it curious that OC Bobby Petrino was on the sidelines for this game, rather than in his usual spot upstairs in the coaches’ box.
Anyway, the regular season finale on Saturday should be interesting. It seemed like every year under Fisher, the Aggies pulled off a huge upset that salvaged what was otherwise a pedestrian season. The Aggies didn’t have that season-saving victory this year to save Fisher’s job. Could Saturday be that game?
Could the Aggies break their long road losing streak in Baton Rouge and enter the bowl season on a high note? The Aggies haven’t won a true road game since Reveille was a puppy. Coming away from the bayou with a “W” would be one of the bigger salvations in recent seasons, even if it is under interim head coach Elijah Robinson and not Fisher.
If they are to pull off the upset, the Aggies must play with a lot more emotion than exhibited against Abilene Christian, and the offensive line will have to play a lot better to open up the running game and keep quarterback Jaylen Henderson upright.
Henderson threw for a career high 260 yards and 2 touchdowns, completing 16 of 23 passes with 1 interception. The Aggies must have more of that if they hope to compete with the No. 15 Tigers. And the way the corners for LSU have performed and the problems they’ve had all year, Henderson could produce those numbers again, or better.
That should give some hope to the Aggies for an upset to finish what has been up to this point pretty much a forgettable regular season. That and the emergence of true freshman RB Reuben Owens, who on Saturday recorded his first 100-yard game, rushing 18 times for 106 yards and a touchdown.
What would a win on Saturday mean? It would give the Aggies yet another 8-win season, their 3rd such season in the last 4 years and 7th in the last 11 seasons. But it would open up the possibility, with a victory in the bowl game, to finish with 9 victories, and that would be quite an accomplishment considering how the season has gone so far.
The Aggies haven’t won 9 games in a season since the Covid year of 2020 when they went 9-1 in the shortened schedule. Texas A&M has won 9 games only 3 times since 2013, so it certainly gives them something to shoot for as another disappointing season winds down.