Texas A&M finished Year One of the Mike Elko era with an 8-4 regular season record. Elko inherited an interesting situation after Jimbo Fisher was fired, just looking to find some sort of success. For most of the 2024 season, the Aggies had it. But, as Josh Pate points out, many would still view their […]
Texas A&M finished Year One of the Mike Elko era with an 8-4 regular season record. Elko inherited an interesting situation after Jimbo Fisher was fired, just looking to find some sort of success. For most of the 2024 season, the Aggies had it. But, as Josh Pate points out, many would still view their year in a negative light.
“I think a lot of people would say failure,” Pate said via Josh Pate’s College Football Show. “I don’t know why. They went into their last game of the season with a trip to the SEC Championship on the line. Do you remember that? Yeah, Texas game. They win it, they’re in Atlanta playing Georgia. They lost it and then they lost a bowl game, so no one really remembers. But it was true, I was there, it really happened.”
Pate mentioned two of the losses Texas A&M suffered down the stretch. Texas got a massive win to renew the rivalry, sending them to Atlanta. USC took care of business against them in a bowl game as well, ending with sour grapes.
But Auburn and South Carolina beat Elko’s bunch in November too. Both on the road, the Auburn game was a 4OT thriller, one where Texas A&M was actually down by three scores at one point. In total, the Aggies dropped four of their final five, with the lone win being against New Mexico State.
Even so, the program was on the doorstep of success it’s never seen since joining the SEC. Making it to the SEC Championship game would be a major plus for them, especially early in Elko’s tenure. The goal will certainly be to get there in 2025.
Pate believes the opportunity could be there. Given the style of program run in College Station, where Mike Elko is going to grind through a season with toughness, Pate sees a path. Everything must come together down the stretch to avoid those previous poor results.
“I think they’re going to ask them to play a style of football that is a little throwback in nature,” Pate said. “If they do it effectively, they’ll go play for the conference championship. If they do it effectively.”
Texas A&M will have a couple of games to really get into the swing of things, facing UTSA and Utah State. Week 3 is when it becomes serious, heading up to South Bend for a nonconference showdown against Notre Dame. A tough SEC schedule will follow, where they will once again play two key road games in the month of November — at Missouri and at Texas.
Category: General Sports
