LSU football vs. Texas A&M: Score prediction, scouting report from regular season finale

BATON ROUGE - The No. 5 LSU football team will look to finish its regular season slate with a sixth-consecutive win as the Tigers travel to College Station and face Texas A&M on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN).

LSU (9-2, 6-1 SEC) is coming off a 41-10 win over UAB on Saturday. The Tigers (No. 6 AFCA Coaches/No. 6 AP) clinched the SEC West title and a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game last week after their win over Arkansas and Ole Miss' loss to Alabama.

Texas A&M (4-7, 1-6) defeated UMass on Saturday, 20-3.

Here's a closer look at LSU's matchup with the Aggies and a score prediction for the game.

LSU's defense should terrorize Connor Weigman

The Tigers have had one of the best pass rushes in the SEC this season led by freshman sensation Harold Perkins and BJ Ojulari. According to Pro Football Focus, Perkins has 36 pressures and nine sacks despite only having 121 snaps as a pass rusher. Ojulari leads LSU in pressures with 44.

Beyond those two, LSU has also consistently flummoxed quarterbacks with well-timed blitzes and a malleable scheme, thanks to defensive coordinator Matt House. LSU's defense has applied 200 pressures this season, 40 more than Texas A&M.

House's defense should torch Weigman, the Aggies' freshman quarterback, on Saturday.

Weigman's lack of experience combined with Texas A&M's subpar scheme makes this a terrible matchup for him especially. Despite their talent and Coach Jimbo Fisher's background as an offensive-minded coach, the Aggies haven't scored more than 28 points against an FBS opponent this year.

Former LSU quarterback Max Johnson hasn't returned from a hand injury and redshirt sophomore Haynes King hasn't inspired any confidence when he's played. So Weigman, despite his 53.5% completion percentage, is Texas A&M's best option. He is a former five-star talent, but asking him to overcome LSU's talented pass rush will be too much for him.

The Aggies' run defense has struggled

Much has been made about Texas A&M's struggles on offense, but its run defense has also suffered this season.

Despite the number of former five-star recruits they have on that side of the ball, the Aggies are surrendering 4.8 yards per carry this season. They've allowed 951 rushing yards and over 5.6 yards per rush attempt in their last three SEC games against Ole Miss, Florida and Auburn.

LSU has a good enough running game to exploit this. Josh Williams and Noah Cain are averaging over five yards per rush attempt and Jayden Daniels is one of the best running quarterbacks in the country, he already has 740 rushing yards.

The Tigers also have a big and physical offensive line that's only gotten bigger and more physical with the recent return of Garrett Dellinger.

However, LSU will need a healthy Williams to execute this plan. The former walk-on and lead-back was out last week with a knee sprain. The Tigers only have two scholarship running backs (Cain and John Emery Jr.) behind him with Armoni Goodwin out for the year with a knee injury.

LSU IN THE CFPDid USC jump LSU football in latest College Football Playoff rankings? Find out here

KELLY TALKS TRANSFER PORTALWhy LSU football coach Brian Kelly was talking transfer portal with SEC Championship just ahead

KELLY ON JIMBO'S STRUGGLESLSU football coach Brian Kelly on why Texas A&M, Jimbo Fisher has struggled this year

Player to watch: Evan Stewart

Texas A&M running back Devon Achane is the Aggies' most proven threat, but Stewart may be its most dangerous.

The freshman and former five-star signee leads the Aggies in catches and receiving yards. Even if his talent has been wasted too often by the Aggies' bad quarterback play, it's obvious that Stewart is already good enough to be the No. 1 wide receiver on a vast majority of teams around the country.

Score prediction: LSU 31, Texas A&M 10

There's a path for Texas A&M defensively. As explosive as the Tigers' offense has been in the second half of the year, the unit still has some warts. The biggest problem for the Aggies is how they're going to score points. Outside of defensive or special teams scores, it's hard to find a realistic path for Texas A&M to even get to 20 points.

Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football, score prediction and scouting report for Texas A&M game