Texas A&M @ LSU preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 24, 2016 ) Louisiana State 54, Texas A&M 39

No. 18 LSU has won five of its last six games and has a chance to conclude its regular season in strong fashion Saturday against visiting Texas A&M. The Aggies have won two in a row and gave the Tigers all they could handle in a wild 54-39 defeat a season ago.

"This is going to be a tremendous challenge for us," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said earlier this week. "And they played us pretty tight last year. Made some big plays on us last year in the second half. So there's a lot of things that we have to get done this week." The Tigers knocked off Tennessee 30-10 last week and have only lost to No. 1 Alabama in the last 1 1/2 months. Meanwhile, Texas A&M registered a seven-point win at Ole Miss last week, but it might not be enough to save Kevin Sumlin's job. "I came here to Texas A&M to win football games," the embattled coach said this week. "What we do and how we've done it has been the right way. It will continue to be the right way."

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network. LINE: LSU -10.

ABOUT TEXAS A&M (7-4, 4-3 SEC): The magic number for the Texas A&M defense is 27, as the team is 6-0 when allowing fewer than 27 points and 1-4 when giving up 24 or more. The defense blanked Ole Miss in the second half last week as the Rebels totaled 66 yards after intermission. Damion Ratley notched 111 receiving yards and a touchdown - his fifth score in the last three games - to help make up for another poor outing by running back Trayveon Williams.

ABOUT LSU (8-3, 5-2): LSU has allowed 10 points in each of its last two games and really did a strong job on John Kelly last week, holding the Tennessee running back to 47 yards on 25 carries. Derrius Guice, on the other hand, led the Tigers with 97 rushing yards and a score against the Volunteers and has five TDs in his last four outings. Guice likely will be playing his final home game, as will fellow junior Arden Key, a linebacker who is regarded as one of the best pass rushers in the SEC.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Williams, who ran for 1,057 yards on 6.8 yards per carry last season, is at 678 yards this year with an average of 4.6 yards per carry.

2. In its last six games, LSU has allowed a total of 11 fourth-quarter points.

3. The Tigers have won 72 straight games in which they have rushed for 100 yards and held their opponent under 100 yards.

PREDICTION: LSU 31, Texas A&M 21