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Most Important College Football Game for Each Top 25 Team During 2016 Season

By Zach Bigalke

Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough (9) moves past Mississippi Rebels linebacker DeMarquis Gates (3) during the fourth quarter of the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough (9) moves past Mississippi Rebels linebacker DeMarquis Gates (3) during the fourth quarter of the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 24, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; LSU Tigers running back Derrius Guice (5) points to the crowd after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 24, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; LSU Tigers running back Derrius Guice (5) points to the crowd after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

20. LSU Finishes Short Season with 54-39 Win over Texas A&M (Nov. 24)

It was finally the year where time ran out on Les Miles in Baton Rouge, but LSU still managed to pull things together over the second half of a weather-shortened season. Under interim head coach Ed Orgeron, the Bayou Bengals entered the final game of the season with a bowl game in their future and had a chance to finish third in the SEC West. Of course, they had to travel to Kyle Field to take on a Texas A&M team that also could finish third in the division with a victory.

In hostile territory, the Tigers put up more than 600 yards of offense for their most balanced performance of the entire season. Danny Etling, the Purdue transfer who took over for Brandon Harris at quarterback, threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns while completing more than 70 percent of his passes. Derrius Guice, who had emerged as a stud running back due to injuries to Leonard Fournette, broke the LSU single-game rushing record with 285 yards and four scores. The defense forced a fumble late in the first half, and the Aggies never could pull back into the contest.

The win pushed LSU back into the penultimate College Football Playoff Top 25, and they consolidated that position even while sitting idle over championship weekend in early December. The 5-2 turnaround under Orgeron resulted in the school removing the interim label and giving him the full-time gig, and in a year where LSU could have fallen dramatically the A&M game represented their ceiling.

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