BATON ROUGE, La. – When the pundits publish their College Football Playoff predictions each Sunday, most of the prospective entrants are written in pencil. After all, college football is as unpredictable as it’s been in decades thanks to the transfer portal and revenue sharing. The only two teams that were written into the 12-team field with a Sharpie entering Week 9 were Ohio State and Indiana. Texas A&M is now in that category. 

The Aggies moved to 8-0 with a dominant 49-25 win over LSU in Death Valley on Saturday night, beating the Tigers in Baton Rouge for the first time since 1994. Texas A&M is essentially 9-0 because one of the games remaining is at home against FCS Stamford. The other three games are at home against South Carolina and on the road against Missouri and Texas. 

A 10-2 record with a win at Notre Dame and LSU is a guaranteed Golden Ticket into the CFP for the Aggies. That means they only need to win one of their remaining three SEC games to reach the postseason tournament. Win two of those three and they’re likely headed to Atlanta to play in the SEC Championship game. Finish 11-1, 11-2, or 12-0 and Mike Elko’s squad won’t just reach the CFP, they’ll get a first-round bye into the quarterfinals. 

Texas A&M was in a similar position last season after beating LSU. The win over the Tigers was Marcel Reed’s coming out party and it improved the record to 7-1. They had an inside track to the SEC Championship game and the CFP. But it was a mirage. They folded down the stretch and lost the last four against FBS opponents, including the last three to SEC foes. 

This team is different. There is no letdown on the horizon. The Aggies might not run the table, win the SEC, or claim a national title, but this team won’t trigger Battered Aggie Syndrome. Elko’s squad is too well-rounded and mature. They allowed LSU to lead 18-14 at halftime because of their own mistakes. The Tigers scored nine of those 18 points off turnovers and two more off a blocked punt that rolled out of the back of the endzone for a safety. But instead of letting those mistakes snowball, Texas A&M regrouped at halftime and outscored LSU, 35-7, in the second half.  

The offense scores points and Reed is evolving into one of the top quarterbacks in the country. He could play his way into a Heisman invite with a strong finish to the season. He threw for 202 yards, ran for 108 more, and accounted for four total touchdowns. As a team, the Aggies rushed for 224 yards on 40 carries. Mario Craver caught four passes for 42 yards. KC Concepcion added three catches for 45 yards and a score. 

The defense put together a solid performance on the road. The unit isn’t dominant, but they play well in high-leverage moments and adjust as the game wears on. LSU was 2-of-12 on third downs and only managed 60 rushing yards on 27 carries. Tiger quarterback Garrett Nussmeier finished with 168 yards passing on 35 attempts. The Wrecking Crew registered seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss. 

And the special teams are also impactful. Concepcion returned a punt 79 yards in the third quarter to steal back momentum and give the Aggies a double-digit lead that it never relinquished. Terry Bussey had a 43-yard kickoff return to start the third quarter to set up Texas A&M’s opening touchdown drive of the second half. The blocked punt was the lone blemish. It was one of only two punts in the game, the other was booted 51 yards by Tyler White. 

Texas A&M can win in multiple ways, which is a sign of a great team. The Aggies have won shootouts on the road against Notre Dame and Arkansas. They’ve won rock fights at home against Auburn and Mississippi State. The offense has scored at least 30 points in seven of the eight games and over 40 five times. The defense held opponents under 20 points in three of five SEC games. It would’ve been four out of five but the Tigers scored a garbage-time touchdown against the backups. 

The Aggies are one of the most complete teams in the country and one of the top three teams in FBS. They’re also one of the three teams that are rubber-stamped to play in the 12-team College Football Playoff and the only SEC program that can currently say that. Elko was hired to turn potential into proof of concept. He’s ahead of schedule in College Station. His Aggies are on their way to winning double digit games for the first time since 2012 and only the second time this century. 

This isn’t the same old Aggies. They’ve shed their skin, unpacked their trauma, and are finally ready to live up to the program’s promise. All it took was competent coaching. Imagine that.