No. 6 LSU closes out the 2022 regular season with a road game vs. Texas A&M on Saturday. The Tigers hope to clinch a 10-win regular season in Brian Kelly’s first year in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which would be the first since the 2019 national championship team and just the second since 2012. LSU crushed UAB 41-10 in Week 12 behind three rushing touchdowns from Noah Cain.
Texas A&M is having a season to forget in Jimbo Fisher’s fifth year in College Station. The Aggies are 4-7 and hold the worst record in the SEC despite ranking No. 4 in the 247Sports Talent Composite. The season marks the first missed bowl game for the Aggies in nearly 15 years. Last week, Texas A&M narrowly edged UMass — the last-ranked team in the CBS Sports 131 Rankings — 20-3. The 20 points tied Eastern Michigan for the least points scored against UMass by an FBS opponent, trailing UConn, New Mexico State and Temple. Still, the loss snapped a six-game losing streak.
LSU has dominated the rivalry between these two teams, winning the first six matchups after the Aggies joined the SEC. However, Texas A&M snapped the streak in 2018 with a historic 74-72 victory in seven overtimes and followed it up with a 20-7 victory in 2020. An interim-coached Tigers beat Texas A&M 27-24 behind three touchdown passes from quarterback Max Johnson — ironically, now an injured quarterback at Texas A&M.
LSU vs. Texas A&M: Need to know
Offensive facilitator: When quarterback Jayden Daniels took over at LSU to start the season, the Tigers primarily leaned on him as a game manager. But since a loss to Tennessee, Daniels has shouldered a far bigger load of the offense to great success. The junior has rushed for 337 yards and five touchdowns over the last four games, along with five passing scores. Perhaps Daniels’ best skill has been taking care of the ball; he has only thrown two interceptions. His ability keeps LSU on schedule.
Miserable season: Texas A&M is on the shortlist of the most disappointing teams in college football history after reeling in the No. 1 recruiting class of all time in February. The Aggies started the year No. 6 in the preseason AP Top 25, but have gone on to miss a bowl for the first time since 2008. Fisher’s squad posted Texas A&M’s worst losing streak since 1972 before snapping it by beating UMass, but the program will have to ask some very difficult, very expensive questions over the offseason.
Super Harold: LSU freshman linebacker Harold Perkins has quietly emerged as one of the most dominant players in college football over the last month. Perkins has 26 tackles, seven tackles for loss and five sacks in his last four games, along with 22 pressures and 15 hurries. He was unbelievably dominant in a win over Arkansas, sacking multiple quarterbacks three times and forcing two fumbles in a tight 13-10 game. Perkins should feast against Texas A&M’s struggling offensive line. To add insult to injury, Perkins was a Texas A&M commit until the very last moment.
How to watch LSU vs. Texas A&M live
Date: Saturday, Nov. 26 | Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Kyle Field — College Station, Texas
TV: ESPN | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)
LSU vs. Texas A&M prediction, picks
Featured Game | Texas A&M Aggies vs. LSU Tigers
Texas A&M wants its season from hell to end. LSU has College Football Playoff implications on the line. The difference in motivation between these two teams is off the charts, not even counting the skill and coaching gaps between these two programs. A double-digit road line is large, but the Tigers will take care of business. Prediction: LSU -10
Which college football picks can you make with confidence in Week 13, and which top-25 teams will go down hard? Visit SportsLine to see which teams will win and cover the spread — all from a proven computer model that has returned almost $3,000 in profit over the past six-plus seasons — and find out.
