COLLEGE STATION, Texas– It hasn’t been quite the season the LSU football team hoped it would be, but getting a win Thursday would help settle the taste of defeat the Tigers have felt for nearly a month.
The Tigers (7-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) have lost two straight to SEC rivals Alabama and Arkansas, getting shutout on the road in Fayetteville, Arkansas during the two game skid. LSU’s last win dates back to Oct. 25 when it defeated Ole Miss 10-7 in a late game thriller.
LSU hasn’t been treated well in SEC play this season, going .500 or under in the conference for the first time since 2009.
“We don’t like to lose, and that puts a real bad taste in our mouth,” said LSU junior linebacker Deion Jones. “We have to get that morale back up in the locker room, and we’ll have to get after it this week.”
The Tigers head to College Station, Texas in hopes of capping off an up and down season that has spanned from Tiger fans rushing the field to death threats toward sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings.
After two straight SEC losses that saw the Tigers get outscored by their opponents 75-36, they came into their own winning three straight SEC games, including the late game victory against then-No.3 Ole Miss that saw Tiger fans rush the field.
The Ole Miss victory set up a highly anticipated SEC West battle against Alabama, where the Tigers watched its fortunes slip away for the fourth time in a row against the Crimson Tide in overtime.
The Tigers took a huge hit to their morale after the loss, which showed when the team took the field against Arkansas on Nov. 15.
LSU got shutout by Arkansas, the first time the Tigers were blanked on the scoreboard since the 2012 BCS National Championship Game against Alabama.
It was the first time LSU had been shutout by Arkansas in a loss since 1929, which saw the Razorbacks defeat the Tigers by a score of 32-0.
LSU’s two-game skid, mixed with its two bye weeks heading into A&M, has kept the Tigers out of the win column for a little more than a month and has gone a long way in erasing the feeling of pure ecstasy that the Tigers felt against Ole Miss in October.
LSU senior fullback Connor Neighbors said it can be tough at times to handle a season like the Tigers have had, but he said a win Thursday will show the true nature of this team.
“It would be great. It would just show that we can bounce back from a couple setbacks,” Neighbors said. “Football, it doesn’t build character it reveals it, so just the fact that we could go on the road in someone elses house and get the win would show a lot of character and the leadership of this team.
“You don’t like to get your ass kicked. No one likes to get their ass kicked, but there’s a paddle for every ass. Sorry for cussing, that’s just how I was raised. So like I said you just got to bounce back and come to work everyday.”
One rule the Tigers’ coaching staff hammers into its players each week is the one game season approach. The approach preaches to the players to treat every game like it’s a one game season, with the ultimate goal to finish 1-0.
LSU coach Les Miles said while the Tigers have taken a blow to their morale, he said he believes his players are taking the one game season approach in full stride.
“I can tell you that there is some wearing on the program certainly, but I can also tell you that everybody is handling it in a very straightforward manner,” Miles said. “They’re working hard at it. They’re enjoying practice. We have lost a game, and I think our guys understand the things they need to do to get that feeling back.”
Defeating the Aggies (7-4, 3-4 SEC), however, won’t be an easy task for the Tigers. Texas A&M has been sparked by its new play-caller in freshman quarterback Kyle Allen, winning two of its last three games, including an upset over then-No. 3 Auburn.
The Aggies come into the Thanksgiving showdown in much of the same predicament as LSU, hoping to cap off an up and down season that started with a blowout win against then-No. 9 South Carolina in Columbia with a win.
Both the Aggies and the Tigers are hungry to end their seasons on top, but only one has the opportunity at victory as their seasons come to an end.
“We’re both 7-4, we want a win and it’s just going to come down to who wants it more,” Neighbors said. “And if we have anything to do with it, we’re going to come out with a win.”