LSU @ Texas A&M preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 23, 2013 ) Texas A&M 10, Louisiana State 34

Conference expansion and realignment has forced the end of many traditions, and LSU’s annual regular-season closer with Arkansas is the latest to go. The SEC still has plenty of intriguing matchups to offer, and the Tigers will start a new tradition when they kick off a Thanksgiving game at Texas A&M on Thursday. The Aggies, like LSU, are bowl-eligible but are picking up the pieces of a once-promising campaign that once had them in the top 10.

Both teams are outside the Top 25 and coming off tough losses. Texas A&M throws the ball more than any team in the SEC and freshman quarterback Kyle Allen has seven touchdown passes in the last two weeks but will be going up against an LSU defense that is unquestionably the strength of the team. The Tigers are one of the worst offensive passing teams in FBS, but are fifth in the nation in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 16.4 points, and have surrendered an average of 11.8 in the last four weeks.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: LSU -2.5

ABOUT LSU (7-4, 3-4 SEC): The Tigers got Arkansas a couple weeks early this season and watched the offense hit new lows in a 17-0 road loss. Quarterback Anthony Jennings has been held to 20-of-48 for 163 yards combined in back-to-back losses and has not even hit 150 yards in a game since a loss to Mississippi State on Sept. 20. “Offensively, we struggled yet again,” LSU coach Les Miles told reporters after the loss to the Razorbacks. “We were unable to get anything going on that side of the ball ... We simply have to do a better job on offense.”

ABOUT TEXAS A&M (7-4, 3-4): The Aggies are 10th in the nation in passing yards at an average of 321.2 and Allen, who took over Nov. 1 after Kenny Hill led a three-game losing streak, is drawing muted praise from coach Kevin Sumlin. “I would categorize (Allen’s) performance in three games as solid,” Sumlin told reporters. “It hasn’t been over the top, but he has had his moments. It hasn’t been disastrous.” Allen absorbed his first loss 34-27 against Missouri on Nov. 15 but is forming a strong connection with wide receiver Josh Reynolds, who has 213 yards and four TDs in the last two games.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Tigers need one win to extend the longest current streak of seasons with at least eight wins in the country to 15.

2. LSU is the only team in the SEC West the Aggies have not beaten since joining the division in 2012, dropping three straight.

3. Tigers starting CB Rashad Robinson has missed the last two games on indefinitely suspension and is not expected to play.

PREDICTION: Texas A&M 24, LSU 17