SEC INSIDER

No. 2 LSU eager to face Texas A&M

Field Level Media

November 27, 2019 at 4:20 am.

LSU hasn’t lost since an epic, controversial game at Texas A&M on Thanksgiving weekend a year ago.

The Tigers thought they had won when Grant Delpit intercepted Kellen Mond in the final minute, but the interception was overturned on replay.

Then they thought they had won when Mond spiked the ball as time expired, but a second was put back on the clock and the Aggies scored a tying touchdown.

After seven overtimes, the Tigers thought they were headed to an eighth period after a Mond incompletion on a two-point conversion left the score tied at 72. But Greedy Williams was called for defensive pass interference and Mond converted another two-pointer to win the game for the Aggies.

“We thought that we won the game three or four times,” said LSU coach Ed Orgeron, who received a Gatorade bath after the apparent Delpit interception. “It was obviously a little premature.”

No. 2 LSU (11-0, 7-0 in the Southeastern Conference) and the visiting Aggies (7-4, 4-3) meet again Saturday night as the Tigers try to complete an undefeated regular season before playing Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 7 in Atlanta.

Even though LSU has an opportunity to play in the College Football Playoffs for the first time, getting another shot at Texas A&M is still a really big deal for the Tigers.

“We owe those guys a lot from last year,” running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire said. “Everything that we felt last year sitting in that stadium — however many hours we sat in that stadium — to understand that pain as a player, it doesn’t get any worse than that.”

After the Tigers beat Arkansas 56-20 last Saturday, Orgeron already was looking ahead to Texas A&M, saying, “it’s going to be on.”

His comments Monday were a little more tempered.

“It’s going to be an emotional game because of what happened last year, because of where we’re at right now,” Orgeron said. “We’re 11-0, we want to finish the season undefeated. We know what’s ahead of us.”

It was the Aggies who had targeted last year’s game as they were determined to end a seven-game losing streak against the Tigers and beat them for the first time since 1995.

Now they’re trying to beat the country’s second-ranked team having already lost to Clemson (24-10) and Alabama (47-28) when those teams were ranked No. 1.

The Aggies are coming off a 19-13 loss at No. 4 Georgia last week.

“I think we’re making a lot of strides,” Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said. “I think we’re getting there, but there’s no moral victories. We’ve got to get over the hump and find a way to make that one more play. We’ll do a good job of that and coach them hard. The kids will play hard, and they’ll respond.”

Mond said the team’s victory against LSU helps them going into this game.

“It definitely helps with the confidence and motivation going into the game, just knowing that you can play with that caliber of team,” Mond said. “We’re not scared at all and not backing down.”

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