Despite early struggles, LSU ’emerging as a contender’ as Tigers face Texas A&M in battle of SEC unbeatens

The road is wide open, and as the SEC’s usual contenders steer erratically between lanes, two dark horses are on a collision course.

A five-team pileup of one-loss teams clogs the standings, but above them with unblemished SEC records are No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 8 LSU. They face off Saturday in College Station, Texas, on six-game winning streaks apiece with intent on stealing the spotlight in a sport that had been obsessed with Georgia, Alabama and Texas as contenders; those three enter Week 9 with one loss in the SEC. 

The parity prompts the query: Why can’t Texas A&M win the SEC? And why not LSU?

“I think that’s pretty clear, that this group kind of understands that now,” LSU coach Brian Kelly told CBS Sports after a 34-10 demolition of Arkansas. 

LSU (6-1, 3-0 SEC) was relegated to the back of the list of contenders after opening the season with a loss to USC. The Trojans have struggled since then, but it was clear after Week 1 that LSU has improved defensively after a historically bad group flopped in 2023. The turnaround has been re-tooled by defensive coordinato, Blake Baker, who LSU successfully lured away from Missouri with the richest contract for an assistant coach ($2.5 million) in college football.

LSU is better in every category defensively, particularly against the run (No. 33 nationally) and with its back against the wall. It’s top-20 in touchdowns allowed from the red zone, a more than 100-spot improvement from a year ago.

And at Arkansas, the Tigers never trailed against a team who beat Tennessee in that very stadium two weeks prior. The Razorbacks have been otherwise competitive in the SEC this year, but were held to under 300 yards of offense. As Georgia smothered Texas and garnered most of the sport’s eyes on national television, LSU quietly pieced together its most complete performance. 

 “I thought we had four quarters of LSU football for the first time,” Kelly said. 

The defense smothered the Hogs. Linebacker Whit Weeks tipped and picked off a pass in the backfield, setting up a 2-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. The offense sat on the ball, possessing it for all but 1:57 in the fourth quarter while scoring 10 points. The dagger was a 14-play, 80-yard drive that burned 8:22 off the clock.

“Those are things that you look for in a football team that is emerging as a contender,” Kelly said.

LSU solidified itself as a player in the SEC with its dramatic 29-26 overtime win against Ole Miss in Baton Rouge. It maintained that against the Hogs. The question is whether the Tigers can keep it up at Texas A&M (6-1, 4-0) in a game that has been won by the home team seven straight times.

How LSU has responded since losing its two best players on defense, too, has proven to be a sizeable development. After losing top-tier defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory (Achilles tear) for the season in Week 2, draft prospect Harold Perkins (ACL tear) was lost for the year in late September. 

“Obviously, I have a lot of respect for Harold, and Harold is a great player, so I don’t mean this in a bad way, but they have obviously taken huge strides forward the last two weeks,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “I don’t think it’s indicative of him not being in there. Sometimes when your best player or most talented player goes down, everyone else elevates themselves around it. They’re playing really good football. Whit Weeks has taken on the challenge of stepping into that role. He’s been about as productive as a linebacker could be.”

Weeks, whose interception Saturday helped cushion LSU’s lead at Arkansas, leads the SEC with 68 tackles.

Meanwhile,  receiver Chris Hilton, arguably LSU’s best vertical threat, has yet to play this season with an apparent bone bruise.

“It just seems these guys just keep playing through, and the next man is stepping up,” Kelly said. “Nothing seems to faze this group; whether they’re down 17-0 on the road or struggling to put together a great drive, they just keep playing. And it’s to their credit. Now they’re playing cleaner, and I think that’s a sign of a team that’s really coming together.”

For Kelly, the year-to-year improvement should have been expected. He leads the country with seven straight 10-win seasons, and his teams often deliver breakthrough performances in his third year leading a program. “Year 3 is a level of accountability in every program that I’ve taken over, that is heightened,” Kelly told CBS Sports at SEC Media Days in July. “There’s a trust factor and an accountability level within our process that pops, if you will, and that’s this year.”

Kelly won a MAC title at Central Michigan in Year 3. At Cincinnati, he went undefeated. At Notre Dame, he went undefeated in the regular season before losing to Alabama in the BCS Championship Game.

At LSU, the story has yet to be written, but extending his streak of 10-win seasons is plausible. The SEC title is also up for grabs with the unblemished SEC record.

“We know who we are,” Weeks said. “At the end of the season, everybody will know who we are, for sure.”