Where, when, weather and TV
Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
When: 6:30 p.m. central time, Saturday, Oct. 26
Weather: Temperatures in the 80s, dropping into the 70s during the game. Clear skies.
TV: ABC (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe)
No. 8 LSU (6-1, 4-0 SEC) depth chart
No. 14 Texas A&M (6-1, 4-0 SEC) depth chart
Injury update
LSU: WR Kyle Parker, RB John Emory Jr., RB Trey Holly and OL Thomas Crawford, Kobe Roberts and Tyree Adams are all out.
WR Chris Hilton is questionable.
WR CJ Daniels, OL Miles Frazier and RB Caden Durham are probable.
Texas A&M: Nickel Tyreek Chappell (ACL) is out for the season.
S Jordan Pride is out.
LSU statistical leaders
Passing: Nussmeier, 183-283 (64.6%), 2,222 yards, 18 TD, 6 INT
Collins, 5-5, 35 yards
Rushing: Durham, 62 carries, 382 yards (6.2 YPC), 6 TD
Williams, 55 carries, 218 yards (4 YPC), 3 TD
Kaleb Jackson, 40 carries, 145 yards (3.6 YPC)
Receiving: Lacy, 36 catches, 512 yards (14.2 YPC), 6 TD
Anderson, 33 catches, 488 yards (14.8 YPC), 3 TD
Taylor, 36 catches, 348 yards (9.7 YPC), 1 TD
Texas A&M statistical leaders
Tackles: York, 40
Brooks and Lee, 28
Tackles for loss: Scourton, 11
Turner, 5.5
Brooks and Williams, 4.5
Sacks: Scourton, 4.5
Howell and Turner, 2
Stewart and York, 1.5
Interceptions: Ratcliffe, 3
Five players with 1
Forced fumbles: Five players with 1
Fumble recoveries: Hill and Williams, 1
What LSU wants to do
While running the ball would be nice, let's not kid ourselves: they want to do what they've been doing all year, keeping Nussmeier clean and giving him time to light up opponents through the air.
LSU's offensive line is average to below when it comes to run blocking, but there's nobody better in the nation when it comes to protecting the passer. South Carolina got to Nussemeier a couple of times, and that's been it. Otherwise, he's largely gotten to do what he pleases in the pocket.
Lacy and Anderson are the key targets, and both can stretch the field. When they need a first down on third and medium, they go to Taylor, who has been a big threat in the middle of the field. Six different players have 10 or more catches on the year, so Nussmeier can spread things out.
The tackle bookends of Campbell and Jones are outstanding and will be the toughest test for Nic Scourton and Shemar Stewart to date. Durham gave them 100 yards on the ground against Arkansas, and he's taken over as the lead back.
LSU will throw a lot of short stuff, then try to get you deep if you start to anticipate. They really love the deep crossers, and used them to great effect against Ole Miss. They're pretty one-dimensional in most cases, but it's one heck of a dimension.
How A&M may counter
Bring the heat and mix it up. While LSU hasn't given up a sack in a while, they do give up pressure and Nussemeier does not handle it well when someone is in his face. He threw a really bad interception against Ole Miss when he was pressured, and also had the ball stripped right out of his hand.
I don't think this is a situation where you'll see the JACK out there as much as last weekend; this is going to be Stewart and Scourton against Campbell and Jones. But the interior of the line isn't as good, so that may be an opportunity for Shemar Turner -- and maybe some twists and stunts to get Scourton or Stewart on one of the interior linemen. That's an advantage of having a player like Turner who has a history of going against tackles.
If the Aggies do blitz, they need to bring it from different places. Sometimes, they need to show the looks and back off. Don't let Nussmeier get comfortable. But that will put some pressure on the corners and safeties, who will have to operate in man coverage.
The Aggie defense played great against Arkansas and Missouri and shut down Mississippi State after halftime. This will be their biggest challenge yet.
