COLLEGE STATION, TX – Mike Elko hopes the 12th Man and his football players can juggle two conflicting truths heading into the offseason after a 10-3 loss to Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoffs ended the Aggies’ 2025 campaign. 

On one hand, the 11-0 start and first-ever berth into the CFP in only Year 2 of his tenure proves that the trajectory in Aggieland is trending upwards. On the other, losing to Texas in the regular season finale, which cost Texas A&M a trip to the SEC Championship game and a bye into the quarterfinals, and the home defeat to Miami illustrates just how far they still need to go. 

“I don’t hope it’s trending positively; I see it’s trending (positively). Eight wins to 11 wins,” Elko said about the state of the Aggie program after Year 2. “We’re going to finish the season ranked and that hasn’t happened here in a while. We’ve got to continue to elevate. We’re battling to become a championship program and we’ve got to work to develop this program into what it needs to become.” 

Both offenses struggled throughout the first half, but it was the Aggies that had chances early to build a lead. Texas A&M entered Miami territory on three of its four offensive drives but came away with zero points because of a Marcel Reed fumble and a missed field goal by Jared Zirkel. Reed was 12-of-18 for 113 yards in the first half while he also paced a run game that gained 62 yards on 16 attempts. 

But while the Texas A&M offense struggled to find points, the Wrecking Crew made it even tougher on the Hurricanes and quarterback Carson Beck. Miami managed only 69 total yards in the first half. The Canes punted four times and missed a field goal in their first five drives, gaining 45 yards and registering only three first downs on 19 plays. They did reach A&M territory twice to end the first half but missed both field goal attempts as the game entered halftime deadlocked in a scoreless tie. 

The offensive struggles continued into the second half, especially for the home team. Reed threw his first of two second half interceptions on the opening drive of the third quarter. His other interception occurred with 24 seconds left in the game when the Aggies were on the doorstep of scoring a touchdown and forcing overtime. Reed’s three turnovers hurt the Aggies, but it was their inability to run the ball that Elko harped on after the loss. Reed ran the ball 15 times for 27 yards. The rest of the Aggies combined for 20 carries for 62 yards. 

“When you can’t establish the run, it makes it hard on Marcel, and we haven’t been able to establish the run the last two games,” Elko said. “It starts with our inability to run the football. We’ve got to go into the offseason and figure some things out.” 

Conversely, the Hurricanes did start to find success on the ground even though offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson didn’t seem to want to rely on it too much. Mark Fletcher Jr. ran the ball for 172 yards on 17 carries. As a team, the Canes averaged 6.3 yards a carry but only ran the ball 28 times. The game-winning touchdown by Malachi Nelson was counted as an 11-yard pass, but it was essentially a rush around the edge. 

The run defense was a major problem for the Aggies this season. They entered the game ranked 38thnationally in run defense while allowing 127.08 yards per game. The 4.03 yards per carry allowed was 58th in the FBS. The Longhorns ran the ball for 218 yards in the win last month in Austin. 

Elko left last season frustrated with the pass defense and determined to fix it heading into 2025. He’ll need to do the same with the run defense heading into 2026. Big time college football games are won and lost in the trenches and the Aggies were beaten on both sides of the ball in the two losses to end the season. 

“Clearly, that was a weakness of ours,” Elko said about the run defense this year. “It’s hard to make a weakness a strength in the middle of the season. We’ve got to look at what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. We have to figure some things out this offseason.” 

The way the season ended will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of Texas A&M players and fans, but it shouldn’t override the strides made by this program. This was the best season for the Aggies since the 1990s and it’ll end with the highest AP ranking for a season outside of the 2020 pandemic year since 2012. 

Championships are rarely won in a silo. Programs rarely jump from outside of contention to hoisting trophies in one season. The journey requires the stairs, not an elevator. Elko knows that, and he hopes the fan base does, too. Winning games like the one in Austin three weeks ago or the one in Kyle Field on Saturday require experience. Experience that the Aggie program didn’t have before this season. The belief is that these wounds become the scars that propel Texas A&M even further up the college football mountain in years to come. 

“In order to complete the playoff quest, you have to first get in and learn what it’s all about,” Elko said. “And then you have to get good enough to win games in the playoff.”