COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M's first availability report of LSU week put numbers on a problem Mike Elko already knew was coming.
Wide receiver Terry Bussey is listed as out for Saturday's 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff at Tiger Stadium, the Wednesday board carried by KBTX showed, matching Elko's earlier confirmation that Bussey's lower-body injury from the Kentucky opener is season-ending. Running back Jamarion Morrow and wide receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman are both questionable. Neither played in last Saturday's 31-21 home loss to Kentucky.
No. 23 Texas A&M visits No. 10 LSU on ABC in a rematch of last year's Aggies win in Baton Rouge. The availability sheet is the first official snapshot of how thin the skill rotation might be when that rematch tips off.
Who is left to catch and carry
KBTX's report noted that with Bussey gone, Bethel-Roman's status matters more than a typical depth question. Against Kentucky, the Aggies leaned on Aaron Gregory (63 snaps), TK Norman (23) and Kelshaun Johnson (13). Mario Craver saw 19 targets in that game; Isaiah Horton had seven and Gregory five, per the same local report citing Pro Football Focus snap and target counts.
Bethel-Roman started the first two games and has two catches for 13 yards on five targets across 56 snaps, KBTX reported. Morrow ranks second on the team in carries through two games with 56 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts, plus four catches for 36 yards.
KJ Edwards got extra work with Morrow out against Kentucky before leaving that game injured; Edwards does not appear on Wednesday's Aggies list.
Sports Illustrated's Week 4 board framed the same trio the same way: Bussey out for the year, Morrow and Bethel-Roman 50/50 under the SEC's questionable designation, with updated reports still to come before kickoff.
LSU's board is not clean either
The Tigers' Wednesday sheet, also summarized by KBTX and SI, lists tight end Trey'Dez Green, safety Dashawn Spears and wide receiver Phillip Wright III as out. Cornerback Ja'Keem Jackson is doubtful; safety Tamarcus Cooley is questionable.
Green's absence removes a matchup piece from Lane Kiffin's offense after Green's lower-body injury in last week's loss to Ole Miss, SI reported. That does not restore Bussey or guarantee Morrow and Bethel-Roman. It does mean both staffs are rewriting personnel packages for a night game that already carried playoff weight before anyone printed a designation.
