After a second consecutive season of struggling to protect the quarterback and seeing diminishing results in the running game, offensive line coach Steve Addazio was quickly dismissed and new coach Mike Elko brought Adam Cushing with him from Duke. But offensive tackle Dametrious Crownover believes that the struggles of 2022 and 2023 have helped pave the way for this season's success.

"I think really grew up and we grew up together," he said of the offensive line. "We found out what it means to play offensive linee. Now, we didn't have success those last two years, but it helped us realize what we have to do to get to where we are now."

The change in performance has been clear: in 2023, the Aggies were 90th nationally in rushing yards and 86th in sacks allowed. This season, the No. 14 Aggies are 16th nationally in sacks allowed and 13th in rushing yards, key reasons why A&M sits atop the SEC standings at 4-0 with fellow conference unbeaten No. 8 LSU coming to down Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC).

For Crownover, a redshirt junior, the road to Saturday night has been a long and winding one. He arrived on campus as a tight end, but was moved to tackle before his second season began. He split snaps with Chase Bisontis at right tackle last season as incumbent Deuce Fatheree recovered from knee surgery, and now he rotates with Fatheree at the position.But Crownover has started every game so far this season and took the majority of the snaps against Mississippi State as the Aggies scored 34 points and didn't give up a sack.

"I made myself a promise before this year to do everything in my power to come in and have a starting position, hold my starting position and do the best I can for my team," he said. "It started during spring when coach Cush challenged me. He said, ‘You can be that guy — but I need you to be that guy.’ So I took that as a challenge to step up my game, watch film harder and do the things to get me to where I am."

Usually an offensive line that sees significant success year-over-year returns the same players from the previous season and stays healthy. That hasn't been the case for the Aggies. They've already gone through three centers, with starter Mark Nabou lost for the season in the opener against Notre Dame and TJ Shanahan missing multiple weeks with an injury. With Bisontis, now the left guard, out for this weekend and likely longer, the line will be shuffled yet again.

"Playing offensive line, it's a fight in there every time, and you know people are going to go down. They know that," Crownover said. "It was our goal for us to be like, 'Oh, we lose somebody, like, who's next?' Somebody's got to be able to step up in that position and know the role that they got to play, and know how we want them to play, and match our standards."

Under Cushing's watch and offensive coordinator Collin Klein's new scheme, the running game is now one of the nation's best. Crownover said a solid rapport with backs Le'Veon Moss, Amari Daniels and EJ Smith have with the offensive line has been there since training camp.

"It began before the season. It was like, 'Hey, we're gonna do everything in our power to keep you guys up, keep you going, break the long run. But trust us,' and that's what they always do," he said.

LSU will be the offensive line's biggest test since Notre Dame, as the Tigers are seventh in the nation in sacks per game. It's a challenge Crownover believes the Aggies are ready for.

"Our thing is, 'Empty the clip," he said. "Even if we start with the ball, the first drive, we have to go out and make a statement, let them know that they’re going to have to play with us all four quarters."