Texas A&M just got absolutely manhandled for the second straight week, dropping a brutal 35-6 loss to LSU, and Head Coach Mike Elko isn’t sugarcoating it one bit. After what everyone called a historic 2025 season, the Aggies are now an embarrassing 0-2 in SEC play. Forget about a College Football Playoff run, right now they just look like the team other SEC opponents play to get back on track.
The Coach Has No Answers
Elko’s post-game comments hit hard, man. “I don’t have many words. We have to find a way to play better football,” he said. “We’re not playing good football. That’s the understatement of a lifetime. I don’t have answers at this time, but we have to find them.” Yikes. When asked if the issues were the same as last week? Elko’s blunt response: “The issues appear to be worse.” That’s rough, especially when he admits he’s “clearly surprised” by the secondary’s performance, believing they’re “capable of doing way better.” The offense was a total mess, with poor play-calling and Marcel Reed clearly regressing. The defense barely managed to hold up against the run, but struggled big time with pressure or covering receivers. Elko even confessed, “We got our butts whooped.” It doesn’t get much clearer than that, does it?
Practice Isn’t Translating, Recruits Are Watching
It’s not just the coaching staff feeling the heat; players are echoing similar struggles. Safety Dalton Brooks chimed in, saying, “We have to finish plays. That’s what it is. We have to finish the plays that come to us.” And the classic, “We came into practice and practiced well. It’s just got to translate to the game.” Quarterback Marcel Reed took some blame for the passing struggles, admitting, “We had trouble up front and some of that is on me. We couldn’t get it going, it’s as simple as that.” He also mentioned executing stuff in practice that just didn’t translate. Reed noted LSU’s “different coach” and “couple players from the portal,” admitting, “They played better than us this year. That was obvious.” You gotta respect the honesty, but the results speak volumes louder. Offseason concerns about not bringing in a veteran quarterback to compete with Reed, and Elko handing both coordinator jobs to first-time playcallers, are screaming loud. Discipline Elko preached is nowhere to be seen, and with the staff locked into new contracts, a shakeup isn’t happening. The talent is there, but they just aren’t putting it together. And here’s the kicker: this disastrous 0-2 start puts A&M’s current top recruiting rankings, and all those recruiting gains, seriously at risk.
Plenty of football remains, but the pressure is squarely on Elko and this group to make serious changes to the lineup and game plan *right now*. If these losses keep piling up, holding that top recruiting class together is going to become another challenge they just might not be ready for. They have to figure it out, and fast, before this season completely slips away.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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