LSU coach Brian Kelly didn’t need to be reminded of how tough it is to play at Kyle Field as his eighth-ranked Tigers prepared for Saturday night's visit to No. 14 Texas A&M in a matchup of the last teams unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play.
He only had to think back two years to his first season with the Tigers when they were ranked No. 6 before the unranked Aggies upset them 38-23 in College Station to dash their College Football Playoff hopes.
“Yeah, we learned a lot about the different venues in this league," Kelly said. “I think when you go to A&M, a lot like coming to Tiger Stadium, they kind of separate themselves and you have to prepare for that kind of environment and block out those distractions because if you don’t they will affect the outcome of certain games.”
Both teams have won six straight games after losing their openers and became the only undefeated teams in the SEC after Georgia’s win at Texas last Saturday. LSU is 3-0 in SEC play and Texas A&M is 4-0.
The Aggies, who are in their first season under coach Mike Elko after Jimbo Fisher’s firing, are looking for a statement victory as they chase their first appearance in the SEC championship game.
“It’s going to be an opportunity for us to go out there and show we belong on this stage and take this program where we all thought we wanted it to go,” Elko said. “They’re a great team. We’re a talented team. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The Aggies are expecting a crowd of more than 100,000 as they look for their second straight home win over a top 10 team after a 41-10 rout of then-No. 9 Missouri on Oct. 5.
It will be LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier’s second trip to Kyle Field after visiting as the backup in that 2022 game. He’s trying to focus on his team and how the Tigers can get better this week.
“Obviously we acknowledge it’s going to be a tough environment — a tough place to play,” he said. “It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be exciting ... it’s real easy to get caught up in the extracurriculars of what this game means and all the different things that play into it. We can think about those all week and then lose the football game and it won’t matter.”
Kelly warns against judging Nussmeier by his completion rate of about 55% (69 of 125) during the Tigers’ three SEC games.
Kelly said LSU’s passing scheme this season tends to favor a progression of downfield reads, which can make the Tigers hard to defend even if some of those throws are harder to complete than shorter screen passes or checkdowns.
“You’re not getting some of the cupcake throws that keep the chains moving in some other offenses,” Kelly said. “So, percentages tend to dip a little bit because of that. But we feel like that is a better fit for Garrett in terms of what he does. And it’s worked pretty good for our offense.”
Indeed, Nussmeier’s 317.4 yards passing per game ranks seventh nationally and he leads the SEC with 18 touchdowns passes.
The Aggies, led by Le’Veon Moss, rank 13th in the country by averaging 218.6 yards rushing. The LSU defense ranks 33rd in allowing just 114.9 yards rushing per game.
The Tigers gave up just 38 yards rushing in last week’s win over Arkansas and held UCLA to a season low 14 on Sept. 21. Moss ranks second in the SEC by averaging 96.3 yards a game and has eight rushing touchdowns.
Knowing it will be playing in one of the tougher road venues in college football, LSU’s offense has been examining a slew of pre-snap penalties that occurred at Arkansas last week.
“I don’t know that we have to freak out about it and act like this is some new thing that’s going to kill us,” Nussmeier said. “At the same time, it was unacceptable. So, we’ve got to fix it.”
Freshman Caden Durham, LSU’s leading rusher, is not entirely healthy. He leads the Tigers with 382 yards rushing and eight total touchdowns in six games since not receiving a carry in a season-opening loss to Southern California.
Kelly said Durham is “playing at about 80 to 85%” because of a foot injury during a victory over South Alabama on Sept. 28.
“Injuries are hard to deal with at any position,” Kelly continued. “When you’re a running back and you’ve got an injury and you’re still fighting through it, I think it says a lot about the young man and I’m really proud of him.”