Texas A&M football leads SEC with win over LSU

Picture this: Texas and Texas A&M play each other in College Station on Nov. 30, then meet three weeks later in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. If you thought George Strait sold out that crib, imagine the uproar in Austin and College Station? Better yet, how would Metroplex fans feel about the good football actually being played in this stadium?

There aren’t many giveaways in the SEC, and the coolest thing about this prime-time matchup is that the loser didn’t lose anything. Talk of an expanded 12-team playoff takes some of the pressure off the teams, but that doesn’t take away from the allure of an epic meeting of conference rivals.

“When it was a four-team playoff, you basically came into the season kind of prepared to be knocked out of the playoff race early and you had to keep going,” A&M coach Mike Elko said. “So you’ve never talked about it because you’ve been so far away from being in the four-team competition. Now that you’re 12 years old, you’re talking about 24, 26, 28 teams still alive to be… 12 “.

Having to contend with LSU’s explosive offense

The focus shifts to A&M’s offense: The Aggies win games, but aside from a 41-10 blowout of Missouri, they did so without going four straight quarters. Quarterback Conner Weigman was 15-for-25 for 217 yards and a touchdown at Starkville, but he also had two interceptions and several other throws that could have been picked off.

The Longhorns has learned in his experience that it’s hard to win when your quarterback is on the board bus, so Weigman will obviously have to overcome an LSU team that has had no problem putting the ball in the end zone. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is the nation’s seventh-leading pass rusher, and while wideouts Kyren Lacy and Aaron Anderson round out a trio that won’t remind anyone of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, the Tigers are good enough to score. most defenses. And let’s not forget tight end Mason Taylor, who leads the team with 36 catches.

That’s where Elko and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman have to find a way to limit this offense, but also make a fourth-quarter play and not put Weigman in a position where he has to drop back if the Aggies fall behind. If the Aggies win, it will be because running back Le’Veon Moss has a big game, Weigman plays the ball without a turnover and the defense holds water.

It’s a lot to digest, but it can be done.

Elko leads the team with faith, and the stakes will rise.

“I told them we were trying to speed up the process for ourselves,” he said. – We are in a really good place and we want to take advantage of where we are. Many times you find that when you climb, you have to learn from failure. We try not to do that.”

The Aggies look like a program on the rise. LSU could be the game where they put it all together.

Texas has turned its attention to Vanderbilt linebacker Diego Pavia

Trap game in Nashville?: Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and his players are saying the right things before Saturday’s trip to Vanderbilt, because respecting the opposition means not ignoring it.

And it all starts with the defender on the other side of the field.

INTELLIGENCE REPORT: Texas vs. Vanderbilt football prediction

With wins over Alabama and Kentucky, Vanderbilt (5-2, 2-1) is no longer the underdog in the conference, and a big part of its success has to be defensive end Diego Pavia, who is one of those do-it-all winning types. , which every coach loves to have.

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The College Football Hall of Famer joins Cedric Golden for the On Second Thought podcast.

Most of us got to know Pavia at the national level when he and defensive field partner Sedrik Oleksandr — legend LBJ, who is AISD’s all-time leading rusher — starred in an epic 40-35 win over Alabama that snapped the program’s 0-60 skid against top-five teams.

Pavia is ranked No. 94 in the nation, but that same offense has only committed two losses all season. The guard kept the ball Commodores in games, while it killed Texas’ chances of beating Georgia.

This will be an interesting chess matchup, especially if the Dores can work the clock with their ball control heavy offense. Vanderbilt is averaging 33 minutes of possession, which is 11th best in the nation and best in the SEC, while Pavia, a graduate transfer who became the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year at New Mexico State in 2023, is known as the head of the snake for that crime.

RELATED: What Steve Sarkisian can learn from his team’s approach against Vanderbilt

“He’s a ball player,” UT safety Michael Taaffe said. “The offense runs through him and he shows his grit and toughness every play, whether he’s giving the ball away and then going to step up and be a lead blocker, whether he’s throwing for a touchdown or running for a touchdown. It goes through him.”

The Horns won’t have to look for it. He will be the one with the ball. The question is, what will they do once they find him?

Derrick Johnson donates to another AISD library

Another DJ win: Young students at Zavala Elementary School hung on every word from former Texans and NFL star Derrick Johnson, whose Protect the Dream Foundation donated a renovated wing and 1,000 new books to its library and celebrated with a ribbon cutting Thursday.

This was the 21st DJ’s Discovery Den giveaway since he started the non-profit organization as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012. Johnson, a 2004 Lombardi and Nagurski winner, read to a dozen first- and second-graders at a morning assembly that included Principal Samantha Gill, faculty and supporters.

“It’s my passion,” Johnson said on the “Thinking” podcast this week. “And when you are within your passion, your purpose is achieved. I am a teacher’s child. Being able to help inner-city kids through education is an extension of me.”

The United States ranks 125th in the world in terms of literacy, which is unacceptable for a country with such vast resources.

$60,000 is needed to build a discovery den with furniture and new books for these underserved schools. Johnson and his wife, Britney, are passionate about their ministry, and as far as the community is concerned, it takes very little to make a lasting impact on the lives of young readers.

For just $25, a book can be purchased for a city elementary school library, and the book will be looked at by countless people for years to come. Imagine the impact this will have on a young person who can use the power of education to overcome their current circumstances.

The foundation is planning its next opening in the spring at Perez Elementary, as well as a gala event to be announced later this year. To learn more about Defend the Dream, including how to donate, visit the site DerrickJohnsonfoundation.org.

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