Aggies want to spoil Orgeron’s sendoff party
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M receiver Jalen Preston’s gut didn’t feel great two days after Thanksgiving two years ago.
“The last time we were in Baton Rouge, we had a bad feeling about it,” Preston admitted.
The unpleasant sensation in the collective pits of the Aggies’ stomachs served as precursors of what was to come: a 50-7 loss at then-No. 1 LSU. The 43-point belly blow tied for the worst loss of Jimbo Fisher’s dozen seasons as a head coach at Florida State and A&M.
“But it’s a new year, a new us, a new team,” Preston pledged of the No. 16 Aggies’ approach to playing in Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday night in the regular-season finale. Plus, LSU’s situation is drastically different.
The Tigers under coach Ed Orgeron in 2019 were undefeated and en route to the program’s fourth national title. How times have changed on the bayous over 700 days. While Fisher has agreed to a raise and contract extension at A&M — in part because of LSU’s overtures starting in the summer — Orgeron will coach his final home game for the Tigers.
“I don’t think it’s going to hit me until the end,” Orgeron said Monday. “I’m appreciative of the time I had here — a lot of great days.”
The Tigers (5-6, 2-5 SEC) need a victory Saturday to even be eligible for a bowl, a year after finishing 5-5 on the heels of the national title. Orgeron said if the Tigers beat the Aggies, he’ll visit with the LSU administration on whether he should coach a bowl or go ahead and exit. Orgeron, 60, added that he’ll take the next year off from football and go from there.
As for the LSU players, linebacker Damone Clark interrupted a question from a reporter that began, “Whether or not you beat Texas A&M …”
“Oh, we’re going to beat Texas A&M,” said an impassioned Clark, adding, “I’m just grateful for the opportunity Coach O gave me. When he came out and recruited me, everything he said came true. I’m just forever grateful for everything he did for me.”
The Aggies (8-3, 4-3 SEC), who are playing for the best possible bowl after being knocked from division contention by Mississippi a little more than a week ago, said they realize they’re strolling into emotional surroundings Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.
“It’s going to be rocking, and it’s going to be loud,” A&M cornerback Jaylon Jones said. “But it’s nothing we haven’t seen at Kyle Field.”
LSU has replaced the Texas Longhorns, whom the Aggies last played a decade ago when both were in the Big 12, as A&M’s primary rival since the Aggies joined the SEC in 2012. Texas and Oklahoma are now set to join the SEC, perhaps as soon as 2022 and likely no later than 2023.
Fisher, in his fourth season at A&M, has never coached against the Longhorns, but he appreciates what A&M versus LSU has blossomed into, especially with both heavily recruiting the Houston area.
“You’re so close in proximity, and we recruit Louisiana, and they recruit Texas, like everybody does,” Fisher said. “They’ve always had great success here (recruiting), and that kind of makes it (a rivalry).”
The Aggies lost their first six games to LSU with Kevin Sumlin as coach after entering the SEC, but Fisher has won two of three against the Tigers, with both wins at Kyle Field (including a sevenovertime thriller in 2018).
Fisher, a former LSU offensive coordinator under Nick Saban and then Les Miles, has been courted by LSU on multiple occasions, including as a replacement for Orgeron this year. Fisher has emphatically stated in the past two weeks he’s not leaving A&M and would be “dumb” to do so after recruiting a potential topranked recruiting class in 2022.
Jones, one of five five-star recruits in Fisher’s first three full recruiting classes at A&M, said he and his teammates were thrilled with Fisher’s recent pledge of staying in College Station.
“That was huge,” Jones said. “The things that were said during recruiting, the promise that we’re going to change this program around together, (his affirmation) was big. But we already expected it.”
Added Preston: “Coach Fisher is building a special place here, with all the guys who are coming in and with all the guys who were already here. You can tell this is going to be a special team.”
Fisher, 56, grinned Monday when it was relayed that his players were happy he was staying at A&M.
“You sure?” Fisher replied. “Ask them after practice.”