Ask someone outside the state about the national perception of Texas A&M football and it is something akin to college football’s Charlie Brown.

Brown, of course, is a lesson in perseverance in the face of repeated setbacks. Despite decades of evidence to the contrary, Aggieland approaches every football season with vigor and unbridled optimism. This time, Lucy won’t pull the ball away at the last second.  

And why not Texas A&M? Proximity to recruits still matters and no team in college football is better situated to attract local talent from East Texas and the Houston area. In an era where resources for facilities and revenue sharing dominate the landscape, no one is making the Aggies feel poor. Traditions…check. Passion…you betcha. The only thing left is the winning. 

The 2012 season felt like a dawn of a new era for Texas A&M football. Johnny Manziel led the Aggies an 11-2 record in the first year as SEC members as the program stepped out of the Longhorn shadow and forged a new future as the main character. They went 6-0 on the road, knocking off No. 1-ranked Alabama along the way. The trajectory felt like what Clemson was undergoing at roughly the same time. 

Then it stalled. While the Tigers kept winning 10-plus games and eventually broke through to become national championships and members of the blue blood conversations, the Aggies won between seven and nine games in every season from 2013-2021. They’ve failed to win 10 or more games since that 2012 season. It hasn’t been a disaster in Aggieland - the program has only missed a bowl game once as SEC members. But it hasn’t felt satisfying to a starving fan base either. 

The reason that the Aggies hasn’t evolved from solid to great is the lack of road success. They are 20-29 in true road games since 2013. Take away a 4-1 road record during the Covid-altered 2020 campaign where capacity was often limited and the road record over the past 12 seasons is 16-18. None of those 16 wins were over teams that finished the year with nine or more wins. And only one of those wins – 2016 Auburn – was against an SEC team that finished with a winning record in conference play. 

That’s why the Week 3 clash on the road against Notre Dame is so important for the team in maroon. Head coach Mike Elko can flip the narrative and establish the Aggies as a new program, one that can walk into an established programs house and leave with a W. Not a moral victory. A real win. A win that convinces the fan base, and the locker room, that this isn’t the same ole Texas A&M. Like Charlie Brown hitting the walk-off home run in 1993. 

Paper suggests that the Aggies are SEC contenders. The offensive line returned the top seven blockers. The running back room is loaded with four proven commodities. The wide receiver and tight end room were bolstered through the transfer portal. Elko is a defensive wizard that will assuredly improve the Wrecking Crew with each passing game as he takes a more active role in playing calling on that side of the ball. Quarterback Marcel Reed is off to a hot start. 

Football isn’t played on paper, of course. At least other than in the Peanuts comic strips. And if the games were only played at Kyle Field, the Aggies would’ve entered the upper echelon of college football long ago. But it is not. Evolving from dark horse contender to perennial favorite requires winning big games in hostile environments. It is a sign of a healthy program. The Aggies lost 10-straight road games from the end of 2021 through the end of the 2023 season. A win over Florida last year in Elko’s first season as head coach snapped the streak. 

Beating Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday night would represent the biggest road win for Texas A&M since knocking off Alabama in 2021. That was also done with a redshirt freshman quarterback known more for his scrambling and running ability than his arm. Manziel made himself a Heisman contender and put Texas A&M on the national radar in that game. It was the catalyst to one of the best seasons in program history. Reed can do the same with a big performance in a win against the Fighting Irish. 

To contend in 2025, the Aggies need to win games like these. They also travel to LSU and Texas this season.

Everyone associated with Aggie football wants to be known as more than Texas Eight-And-Four. Everything the program needs to overcome that tag and become a consistent player in the expanded playoff is readily available. Just go kick the ball.