Rece Davis declares Texas A&M game a 'last stand' for LSU

It’s been a disappointing season for Brian Kelly‘s LSU program, which opened the season in the Top 10 and immediately shot up to No. 3 in the country following its season-opening win over No. 4 Clemson. Since then, however, the Tigers are 4-2 and have fallen to No. 20 in the AP Poll Rankings prior to their home matchup against No. 3 Texas A&M this weekend.

Through seven games, LSU does not own a victory over a team currently ranked and is 0-2 against teams in the Top 25 (No. 8 Ole Miss and No. 10 Vanderbilt). This has tanked the Tigers’ resume, which is holding on by an absolute thread. With matchups against No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma remaining over the final five weeks, it might take winning out for the program to reach the College Football Playoff.

Ahead of that matchup, ESPN‘s Rece Davis deemed the game a ‘last stand’ for LSU when it comes to still having a shot at the CFP. Under Brian Kelly, the Tigers are 5-10 against ranked opponents.

“This is a last stand for LSU,” Davis said on the ‘College GameDay Podcast‘. “It doesn’t mean that they won’t win another game if they don’t win that. But it’s a last stand in terms of relevance. It started the season top five, had a guy that many assumed would be in contention to be the first overall pick in the NFL Draft at quarterback and had year two of a defense that has been good. (Diego) Pavia made them look less good on Saturday than they had been. Everything was in line, but now they’ve lost two games.”

Davis says he hasn’t seen any indication that LSU can turn season around

“But, we’ve talked about how you have to get used to the new dynamic in college football,” Davis continued. “Ohio State is a prime example last year. Lost a couple of games last year and all seemed lost, but it ripped through and won a National Championship. We haven’t seen any indication from LSU that it could happen, but mathematically and skill-wise they’re still really good. This is a last stand type game.”

As Davis alluded to, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier hasn’t quite lived up to his preseason expectations (much like a crop of other SEC quarterbacks haven’t). After passing for at least 300 yards in eight games last year, Nussmeier has yet to hit that mark in a game this season. He’s passed for just 1,638 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

LSU‘s defense has been strong, as it ranks fifth in the SEC in yards allowed per game (311.6) and has allowed 30 points just once this season (Vanderbilt). With the lack of offensive execution, however, it’s been a rough go-around. They are averaging just 366.6 yards per game (12th in SEC).

Kickoff for this weekend’s Top 25 matchup in Baton Rouge is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ABC.