Saturday features two teams that are coming off of tough losses and in desperate need to get back on track. LSU lost a top-10 matchup in Oxford to Ole Miss, seeing their second half rally come up just short. As for Texas A&M, they suffered the third biggest upset of the young 2026 season, losing at home to Kentucky, despite being 17 point favorites. Not only did they lose, but they got dominated throughout the second half after entering halftime with a tied score. The Wildcats won by double digits
with a final score of 31-21.
It’s hard to sell a late-September game as a must-win, but the loser of this game will suffer their second loss and likely need to win out for a chance to make the College Football Playoff. With both teams having grinders of SEC schedules, it would be hard to fathom that happening.
So, with a game of such importance, certainly there are positional matchups that stand out. There area a lot of parrellels between these two teams, which makes this game even more intriguing. One team is going to come out feeling better about their week 3 loss, while the other will be licking their wounds with their backs firmly against the wall.
With that being said, let’s get in to some of the matchups that could be most impactful for the flow of the game.
LSU secondary vs. Texas A&M wide receivers
A week ago, we watched the LSU secondary surrender quite a bit of big plays to Ole Miss receivers. Even tight end Caleb Odom had a great night. Trinidad Chambliss being the one throwing the passes certainly matters, but whether it be scheme or individual play, it was a struggle in the first half.
Averaging just 222.7 yards per game, the Texas A&M offense is ranked 14th in the SEC in passing. They’ve had a severe lack of big plays, most notably from their top two receivers. Mario Craver and Isaiah Horton are the top two receivers for the Aggies and while they’ve both been reliable, the explosive plays have been limited. Craver and Horton’s longest receptions of the season are 33 and 36 yards, respectively.
The best way for Marcel Reed to break out of his throwing slump would be from chunk plays to either of those two or even guys like Ashton Bethel-Roman or Aaron Gregory. With the threat of Reed’s legs, LSU’s secondary has it’s work cut out for trying to lock down the receivers. Baker’s unit has to make them earn it.
LSU offensive line vs. Texas A&M defensive line
This is a matchup of struggle-on-struggle. Coming off of a brutal week 3, where the LSU offensive line got dominated by Will Echoles and the Rebels, they now move on to a Texas A&M defensive front that has been very underwhelming.
In the running game, the Aggies are allowing 102.7 yards per game, which is 8th in the SEC. While not bad, we’ve come to expect better from Mike Elko defenses. What’s even more surprising is the lack of a pass rush. Texas A&M only has 3 sacks as a team through three games. It’s surprising, considering some of the studs that they have. Billy Liucci told us on Geaux Deep Dive on Wednesday that as per everyone in the A&M program, Marco Jones is expected to eventually become a 1st round pick in the NFL draft.
So, what gives? Can Eric Wolford’s offensive line finally start to gel? It’s likely that we see a shakeup at left guard following Bo Borderlon’s struggles. Weston Davis was replaced Sean Thompkins for a period against Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin said this week that he could be pushing for more playing time. As they look to improve, so does the Texas A&M defensive line. They watched film and saw how uncomfortable the Rebels made Sam Leavitt with early pressure, so they’ll certainly look to replicate.
This game very much could be decided with this matchup.
LSU linebackers vs. Marcel Reed running
Marcel Reed’s success against the Tigers has been talked about a lot and understandably so. He took over in the second half against LSU in 2024 and single-handily took over with 3 rushing touchdowns. Last year, he ran for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Simply put, that can’t happen if the Tigers hope to avoid a three game losing streak to the Aggies. The difference this season is personnel. In 2024, Blake Baker was in his first season as LSU’s defensive coordinator and trying to rebuild a defense that was the worst in program history under Matt House in 2023. Last season, Whit Weeks did not play with his ankle injury.
This time, Baker has both Weeks and TJ Dottery. As one of the most formidable linebacker duos in the country, they present a tougher challenge for Reed. He’s incredibly athletic and will most certainly break away a few times, but if they can limit him, they can make Reed’s dominance over LSU come to a screeching halt.
