COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Kyle Field provided the ideal setting for the launch of the Mike Elko era at Texas A&M on Saturday night.
The crowd of 107,315 represented the stadium’s fourth-largest. ESPN’s “College GameDay” was in town. So were several A&M legends, from Johnny Manziel to Myles Garrett. When Kanye West’s “Power” blared over the stadium speakers five minutes before kickoff — the first time since the school discontinued it in 2022 — the stadium felt as if it could explode, with the sound level blowing well past 100 decibels as white towels waved furiously and fans chanted along.
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That turned out to be the peak of Elko’s debut, a 23-13 loss to No. 7 Notre Dame. Any optimism of a surprise run to the College Football Playoff entering the season must be tempered. It’s clear that the Aggies are a work in progress under their new boss.
“You deserve better,” Elko said while thanking the fans for creating the raucous atmosphere. “We didn’t give it to you.”
The No. 20 Aggies weren’t a disaster, by any means. But they were underwhelming in multiple areas. The offense, led by third-year quarterback Conner Weigman and new coordinator Collin Klein, sputtered for much of the night. Weigman looked uncomfortable. The Aggies generated no real explosive plays — none gained more than 18 yards. The run game never truly got into a rhythm. The offensive line had its lapses too.
Texas A&M ranks seventh in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite, but it didn’t have the look of a team with a talent advantage on Saturday night. Offensive tackle Trey Zuhn attributed it to self-inflicted wounds.
“The scoreboard showed they were the better team,” Zuhn said. “But I don’t think they were the better team. I think we beat ourselves.”
The Aggies definitely stubbed their toe a few times, but Notre Dame deserves credit. The Irish blanketed A&M’s receivers, making it difficult for Weigman to find open ones. In the second half, Notre Dame gained control of the line of scrimmage and popped four run plays of 10-plus yards, including touchdown runs of 47 and 21.
There’s a reason Notre Dame is a top-10 team and a popular pick to make the College Football Playoff. Marcus Freeman has been building this for the past two years and has the Irish on track to peak in Year 3 of his leadership.
Elko, who’s in Year 1, knows intimately how challenging it is to develop the solid foundation for long-term success while winning right away. Seven of his last eight jobs have been in the first year of a coaching regime.
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In the pre-transfer portal era, when Elko was cutting his teeth at lower levels and the Group of 5, patience was afforded to the head coaches he worked under. But when he got to Notre Dame and Texas A&M, he learned the sense of urgency that comes with working at a name-brand program and the importance of “winning now,” which is why Saturday’s loss will sting even more. He knows it was a winnable game.
He’ll pore over the film and grow frustrated at missed tackles and gaps that weren’t fit properly in the run game. His uber-talented defensive front getting controlled down the stretch will be a source of irritation.
Mike Elko and Marcus Freeman are both former Notre Dame defensive coordinators. (Jack Gorman / Getty Images)
But the defense will be fine. That unit played well enough for the Aggies to win, holding Notre Dame to six points and 65 rushing yards in the first half. Notre Dame’s final 10 points came in the last two minutes. The Aggies did a respectable job defensively, despite the nearly 200 rushing yards allowed in total. The immense speed, athleticism and talent of that unit combined with Elko and coordinator Jay Bateman’s experience should make that one of the SEC’s better defenses this season.
It’s the offense that will need a lot of time and patience as Weigman gets comfortable in the scheme, receivers find ways to get open and the running game establishes some type of rhythm. Those are not problems fixed overnight. And Texas A&M has only a little bit of time before SEC play begins with a trip to Florida on Sept. 14.
Some problems aren’t easily fixed. There are dynamic offensive skill position players from the 2023 squad who aren’t around, like receiver Evan Stewart (transferred to Oregon) and running back Rueben Owens (out for most of this season with an injury). There’s nothing the Aggies can do about that.
Being more disciplined and avoiding drive-killing penalties? That can be taken care of. Adjusting the scheme and play calls to better suit Weigman? That’s doable, though not necessarily a simple fix.
“We’ve got to figure out how to put him in better situations to get him comfortable,” Elko said.
Sure, the Aggies were a trendy pick to rise in the SEC and maybe be a dark horse Playoff contender because of Elko’s quick turnaround job at Duke and his familiarity with what he inherited after spending four years at A&M before Duke. But the fact is, under former coach Jimbo Fisher, this was a sub-.500 team over the past two years. Despite the talent on the roster, Saturday night showed that making a jump won’t be an overnight process.
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The loss to Notre Dame was both a missed opportunity on a grand stage and a sign of patience needed. Now the Aggies hope it’s just a blip in an otherwise successful first season under Elko.
“Everybody around the world was probably watching this game tonight,” linebacker Taurean York said. “You hate to lose it, but if our season goes how we think it’ll go, we’ll be back on this stage and I have all the faith in the world in the Texas A&M Aggies to be back on this stage.”
(Top photo of Conner Weigman: Maria Lysaker / USA Today)
Sam Khan Jr. is a senior writer for The Athletic covering college football and recruiting primarily in Texas. Previously, he spent eight years covering college sports at ESPN.com and seven years as a sports reporter at the Houston Chronicle. A native Houstonian, Sam graduated from the University of Houston. Follow Sam on Twitter @skhanjr
