HOUSTON (AP) – When No. 25 LSU and No. 22 Texas A&M meet in the only college football game on Thanksgiving day, both teams will be looking to cap the regular-season on a positive note after disappointing and inconsistent years.
With eight wins, a victory by the Aggies could help them nab a prestigious New Year’s Day bowl game.
“Our guys are aware of it,” coach Kevin Sumlin said. “Without a doubt we still have opportunity to win double-digit games. Very few teams have that. That’s what most important. In order to do that can’t look past Thursday’s and say that. Focus still remains on Thursday and trying to be 1-0 this week.”
A win by the Tigers (6-4) could help interim coach Ed Orgeron keep the job full time. LSU’s players have been clear about their support for Orgeron, who took over when Les Miles was fired in September.
“This Thursday, obviously there will be a lot of different motivations and I don’t think it’ll be hard to be motivated for this game because you want to get the bitter taste of a loss out of your mouth,” fullback J.D. Moore said. “You want to play for coach O who’s willing to take the whole blame of an entire team on his shoulders even when it may not be entirely his fault. So it’s easy to play for a guy like that.”