Ole Miss and LSU not only lived up to the hype, but delivered a thrilling finish the folks in Oxford will not soon forget. The Tigers clawed back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game early in the fourth quarter before Trinidad Chambliss used his feet to give Hotty Toddy the lead for good. The defense then got a stop when it absolutely had to.
Elsewhere in the SEC, Will Stein’s Kentucky Wildcats won a true road game against a top 10 opponent for the sixth time in program history after going 5-61 in such matchups. More importantly, a week after allowing a 17-13 halftime lead against visiting Alabama dissolve into a 45-17 mess, the Wildcats took the second half kick and marched down the field for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead in College Station. Not only did they not relinquish the lead, but they built on it in a 31-21 decision over what were the No. 9 Aggies in front of 105,186 at Kyle Field.
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Speaking of Kyle Field, Mike Elko’s team will leave the friendly confines for the first time this season and travel to Baton Rouge to meet LSU on Saturday. The timing of the matchup is rather intriguing from the standpoint the Tigers are, of course, coming off an emotional defeat with Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford. Not to mention the encounter with Ole Miss was of the top 10 variety. LSU, by the way, remains in the AP top 10 at No. 10. Not so with Texas A&M which plummeted 14 spots to No. 23 after losing to unranked Kentucky, which is second in line among those receiving votes outside the top 25.
Because of what transpired in Oxford and College Station, LSU and Texas A&M have to quickly turn the page and prepare for what is suddenly a critical matchup in its own right.
What’s ahead for LSU and Texas A&M
The loser of Saturday’s game between the Tigers and Aggies will be saddled with two SEC losses before October. That may leave no margin for error the rest of the way for the team that comes up short.
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A three-loss SEC team could still make the College Football Playoff, though neither would care to find out, but it could very well come to that. The Crimson Tide did so last season, though their third defeat was in the SEC championship game versus Georgia. Clemson made the cut in 2024 with three regular season losses, only one of which was in conference play. Dabo Swinney’s team defeated SMU in the ACC title game on Nolan Hauser‘s 56-yard field goal as time expired to earn a playoff spot in the first year of the 12-team field.
Defeat the Aggies on Saturday and Kiffin’s team can breathe a bit. The Tigers open October against FCS opponent McNeese State, which last had a winning season in 2019. (McNeese State will receive $750,000 for its roughly 125-mile trip from Lake Charles.)
Lose to A&M and LSU may have to run the table, which would mean defeating current No. 8 Alabama and top-ranked Texas at home and No. 14 Tennessee on the road the first three weeks of November. Nothing before that gauntlet shall be overlooked as LSU plays at Kentucky on October 10, which suddenly has a different look to it as well.
The Aggies host Arkansas next week and at are at No. 19 Mizzou on October 10. Their final three games of the regular season are against the Vols at home, unranked Oklahoma in Norman and the showdown with Texas at home on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Again, the loser of Saturday’s matchup in Baton Rouge could still make the 12-team playoff, but it would likely – not definitely – mean having to run the table.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
