LSU Routs Texas A&M 35-6; Georgia, Alabama and Oregon Post Week 4 Wins

Texas A&M's playoff hopes took a major hit in a 35-6 loss to LSU, while Georgia beat Oklahoma 41-13, Alabama routed South Carolina and Oregon topped USC 41-27.

LSU overwhelmed Texas A&M 35-6 in Week 4, a defeat that all but removes the Aggies from contention for a second straight College Football Playoff appearance. Coach Mike Elko said afterward that he had no immediate answers for the performance. “We’re not playing football at nearly a good enough level,” Elko said. “Obviously, that’s the understatement of a lifetime.”

Quarterback Marcel Reed’s rough stretch continued after poor outings in late-season losses to Texas and Miami last year and in last week’s defeat against Kentucky. The Aggies generated little offense against an LSU defense that had been unable to contain Mississippi’s Trinidad Chambliss one week earlier. Texas A&M had dominated this same LSU program by a wide margin just 11 months ago.

Last season the Aggies won 11 consecutive games, reached the playoff and then faded late. USA Today columnist Blake Toppmeyer, whose weekly notes column framed the weekend, wrote that Elko’s second-year downturn echoes the short-lived upturns under former coaches Kevin Sumlin and Jimbo Fisher. He also pointed to frustration on the TexAgs message boards, where some fans questioned hiring Mark Stoops instead of Elko, and to a remaining schedule he views as unforgiving.

Georgia beat Oklahoma 41-13, its latest SEC victory by 28 points, and coach Kirby Smart was unhappy that his team eased off after halftime. “Good teams don’t have lulls,” Smart said. “They didn’t stop us. We stopped ourselves.” Toppmeyer called the Bulldogs the SEC’s frontrunner and one of the strongest national championship threats, while criticizing the preseason contract extension Oklahoma gave coach Brent Venables as wasteful spending.

Alabama improved to 4-0 behind freshman quarterback Keelon Russell with a 49-18 rout of South Carolina, though the Crimson Tide schedule gets tougher in October. The Gamecocks have now dropped eight consecutive games against Power Four opponents under coach Shane Beamer. “We got a good football team,” Beamer said after the loss.

Oregon defeated USC 41-27, a result that deepened doubts about whether Lincoln Riley is close to a breakthrough with the Trojans. Ducks quarterback Dante Moore took a blow to the head, lay on the ground in the fencing position and was taken to a hospital. Dylan Raiola played well in relief, leading Toppmeyer to question whether Moore will return to the lineup once healthy.

Wisconsin eased pressure on coach Luke Fickell by beating Penn State, with a game against struggling Michigan State next on the schedule. Maryland lost 54-3 at home to UCLA, and coach Mike Locksley, whose buyout sits at just over $9 million, told reporters, “I still have a lot of confidence in myself and the staff to get this thing fixed.” The column also listed Mike Norvell and Greg Schiano among embattled coaches and noted that Bill Belichick’s tenure survived an internal investigation into his program.

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah has produced a striking stat line through four games: 14 touchdown passes and only 12 incompletions. The weekend also renewed the question of whether Iowa belongs in the playoff conversation. Elsewhere in the SEC, Texas won at Tennessee despite an uneven performance.