Sometimes the universe sends out funny signs.

I can’t help but think the universe had a laugh at the expense of Aggie Football on Saturday afternoon at Kyle Field.

It’s not lost on me that in his third year at A&M, Mike Elko lost to a first-year coach who replaced the coach Mike Elko sort of replaced, too.  Of course I’m talking about former sort of Aggie head coach Mark Stoops.

The loss was embarrassing, but I can’t help but laugh at the irony of Mark Stoops’ tie to this.

Beyond that irony, Kentucky’s DC is Jay Bateman, who was Elko’s first DC hire and then ran off after two years.

There’s some really ironic ties between Elko, Stein, and Bateman.

Before I get to anything about the game, I want to shout out to Mario Craver.  He was the lone bright spot in that game.  He was targeted 19 times and caught 11 for 119 yards.  He didn’t find the end zone, but he was the only guy who really showed out for the Aggies.

Wildly enough, on the Aggies’ final possession, Craver beat the defense on the first two plays, but Reed couldn’t get him the ball.  It was likely too late to make a difference if Reed had gotten him the ball, but Mario Craver gave it all he had to the end.

Marcel Reed:

Let me get to Marcel Reed.

I’m shocked people are surprised by what Reed did.  It’s who he is.  I wrote in the off-season that Reed has an interception problem.  He threw two more interceptions, keeping his streak of interceptions against Power 4 opponents alive for five straight games.

Here’s that post if you missed it:

Even more concerning, he’s now thrown interceptions in 14 of the 16 games against P4 opponents since being named the clear starter.  That’s 88% of those games.

He’s also now thrown four touchdowns and three interceptions this season.  That puts his interception-to-touchdown percentage at 75% against P4 opponents this season.  He was 80% last season.

Sure, go ahead and shout, “Reed Sucks!”, but it’s who he is.

I’m not defending Reed at all, but the data coming into this season says this is who he is.  He’s simply doing what he’s always done.  It shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Putting all your ire on Reed ignores the other issues with Aggie football right now.  You’re missing the forest for a single tree.

Who’s To Blame?:

One person is to blame: Mike Elko.

Mike Elko decided to ride with a quarterback who has an interception problem.

Mike Elko hired the offensive staff.  When he hired Wiggins and Lynch, did he ask anything about Reed’s tendency to throw interceptions?  The data was there.

Beyond that, has Mike Elko ever had conversations with Wiggins and Lynch about Reed not being a pocket quarterback?

It’s mind-boggling to me they’re asking Reed to do things he’s clearly not capable of doing because he’s never done it.

That’s what frustrates me most.  You can’t just throw Marcel Reed under the bus without looking at who’s driving the bus.  To me, Elko and his offensive staff are more to blame than Reed himself.  Reed is simply doing what he’s always done.

Go ahead and shout, “Reed Sucks!”, but know there are others complicit in his issues.  The adults that get paid a lot of money are also complicit in this.

They’re asking Reed to do things he’s never done.  He’s not a sit-in-the-pocket guy who makes successful reads.  He benefited from Concepcion and Craver last season.  One of those guys is gone.

To make things worse, Reed’s offensive line is worse than last year.  As we saw in the Texas and Miami game last season, Reed becomes a much worse passer when he’s sped up.

The offensive staff is asking Reed to do things he’s never been successful doing.  Elko isn’t apparently doing anything about it either.

It Ain’t Just Reed:

We have no running game and our offensive line isn’t that great.

I’ve talked about Owens and Morrow not being the guys.  KJ Edwards finally got his chance at some first-half carries, and he gets hurt—just our luck.

I will say we ran the ball really well in the first half, but it faded in the second.  Not sure how much of that was the loss of Edwards, or Kentucky just came out of the half wanting it more.

I know some people think our offensive line isn’t that bad, but they’re not that great either.  According to Pro Football Focus, Reed was pressured 24 times on Saturday.  Reed attempted 49 passes and ran 10 times on Saturday.  So he was pressured on about 40% of his intended passes.  

We got whipped at the line of scrimmage on Saturday.  By Kentucky.  In Elko’s third year as head coach, his offensive line got whipped at the line of scrimmage against a first-year head coach at a basketball school.  That should have never happened, especially by a head coach who consistently preaches about being a program that’s going to win the trench war.

Beyond the running back and the offensive line, the wide receiver room isn’t as deep as people claim.  Sure, losing Bussey on the opening kick hurt.  But Bussey is, at best, the third-best receiver on this team.  If you’ve got depth, you’ve got someone to plug in.

What in the world are our tight ends doing?  I know Micah Riley had a touchdown and a nice fourth down conversion on Saturday.  However, Micah Riley, Kiotti Armstrong, Richie Anderson, and Houston Thomas have six total receptions for 39 yards and one touchdown on the season.

Those guys are regularly in the game and aren’t any offensive threat.  So why keep trotting them out there?  I’m not expecting them to lead the team in receiving, but 39 yards of receiving in 3 games isn’t much production at all.

Kentucky made me jealous with their tight-end usage.

I think Wiggins is doing some good things and Reed is clearly not executing, but there sure seems to be no real clarity on what this offense should be.  I mentioned it earlier, but it feels like Wiggins is calling things Reed can’t execute.

We had 25 rushing attempts by our running backs and 49 pass attempts.  Reed had 10 rushes on his own, but I’m going to classify those as scrambles.  Basically, we had twice as many pass attempts as rushing attempts.  If you count Reed’s scrambles as original pass intentions, it’s even more skewed.

I get that Kentucky scored 21 points in the third quarter, which completely altered our offensive game plan, but I can’t figure out what this offense wants to do.

I know what it shouldn’t be doing, since nothing has changed: having Reed sit in the pocket and hope he’ll pick the defense apart.  Reed was a 53% passer, which isn’t terrible.  He’s usually around 60%, so he wasn’t far off.

Once again, not defending Reed.  Just saying he was basically who he’s always been, while the rest of our offense doesn’t know what its identity is either.

The Main Reason We Lost:

The game was obviously tied at half.  Kentucky came out in the second half and just pushed us around on their first two drives.  Their first drive went for 75 yards, and their second drive went for 83 yards.  Both for touchdowns, making the score 21-7.

Meanwhile, our first offensive possession went for eight yards, and we punted.  Our second possession was the failed fourth down where Marcel failed to convert the pass to Baker.

What most people are missing is that we gained only eight yards on that possession, with the failed Reed pass to Baker on 4th down.

We gained 16 total yards in our first two offensive possessions after the half, and Kentucky gained 158 yards on their first two possessions.  One of those was different from the other.

Sure, Reed should have made that pass on fourth down, but we hadn’t exactly torn it up offensively in our two second-half possessions.

Kentucky then got the ball on a short field and went 33 yards on four plays to basically put the game out of reach.  They would score touchdowns on all three of their offensive possessions in the third quarter.

For a guy who preaches defense and winning the line of scrimmage, Kentucky came out of the locker room at half and punched our teeth in.  On both sides of the ball.  Have I mentioned they were on the road in their third game under a new coach?  And they’re a basketball school?

The 4th and 2 Play:

This is going to be real unpopular with the “Reed Sucks!” crowd.  I know I can’t win the discussion if you want to yell “Reed Sucks!”

I FULLY agree that Reed should have made that pass to Baker.  I don’t deny that.

However, something happened on that play that shows it ain’t just Reed.

The defensive end on the play side fired through the line completely untouched.  He met Reed right where Reed was about to set up for the throw.  Reed had to do everything he could to avoid pressure and create separation to throw.

He still should have made the pass, but most quarterbacks get sacked there because they don’t have Reed’s speed.

Take a look at this photo.  The defensive end has met Reed right at his rollout point.  There’s not one person open and looking for the ball.  Reed is now running for his life.

I get Reed could still make the pass to Baker, but as we’ve seen, when Reed gets sped up, he’s not accurate.

I think the up back was supposed to get a chip on the guy to slow him down, but he was too slow to alter his path.  We’ve seen that a ton of times in Elko’s time in Aggieland where a blocker didn’t get to the defender in time.

You can see the full play on Twitter here:

As I said, I’m not defending Reed here.  A gamer still makes that pass.  I’m just saying either the play design or execution is in question.  No way that defensive end should have been running unabated to where the quarterback is rolling to.

But I know.  “Reed Sucks!” and there’s no one else to blame for our struggles.

Before I get to my thoughts on what to do with Reed going forward, I do want to touch on the defense a little more.

The Defense:

This defense isn’t bad, but it is wildly inconsistent. It’s been that way in Elko’s time in Aggieland.

Go back to 2024 when South Carolina whipped us at the line of scrimmage.  Go back to 2024 when Auburn scored 21 points to open up the game.  I won’t even talk about the 2024 Texas game, where we just got pushed around, or the Las Vegas Bowl, where our defense cratered against a depleted USC offense.

Go back to the 2025 Notre Dame game where they just gashed us on the ground.  Go back to 2025 Arkansas where we couldn’t get a stop when we needed one.  Luckily, the Arkansas defense was worse than ours that day.  Go back to the first half of last year’s South Carolina game or the second half of the Texas game.

Elko’s defense has not been consistent in his games against P4 opponents.

I don’t know what he’s trying to do on defense.  It’s like he wants to play a base-level defense and get pressure with his front four guys.  It’s not working.  We only pressured the Kentucky quarterback on four plays.  Remember, Kentucky pressured us on 24 plays.  Four plays to 24 plays.

We got whipped at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.  Kentucky pushed us around.

In addition to our defensive line providing no pressure, our safeties and cornerbacks, not named Dezz Ricks, are questionable in coverage.

Our linebackers also seem to be routinely out of position.

We’ve seen this at times from Elko’s defenses at A&M. They can dominate, but they can also be sieves.

It’s a small sample set, but Arizona State and Kentucky have been really effective against our defense at Kyle Field.  If we can’t play defense at Kyle Field, how are things going to look on the road?  

I was hoping Arizona State had a really awesome receiver.  That might be true, but it could also have exposed our coverage issues.

I don’t like the trend, but I’m hopeful Elko can make improvements since we hired him for his supposed defensive expertise.

If not, it won’t matter what our quarterback is doing.

Elko will have his work cut out for him on Saturday night in Baton Rouge.  I’m sure Lane Kiffin is licking his chops watching the Arizona State and Kentucky offenses against our defense.

What To Do with Reed:

I don’t think you can give the keys to Brady Hart for a night game in Death Valley.  That seems like a recipe for a complete disaster.

I know the backup quarterback is always the most popular player at A&M. Reed was that guy once, when Weigman struggled.  Weigman was once that guy when King and Calzada were struggling.  People couldn’t wait to get beyond Kellen Mond to King or Calzada.

I can go on and on with this game, but you get the gist.

It’s how Aggie fans think the season can be saved.  Just put in the backup quarterback.

To be fair, it’s pretty much every fan base when their starting quarterback struggles.

From what I’ve seen from Brady Hart in his few snaps at A&M, he’s not ready.  He’s 18 and has no real experience.

I get “Reed Sucks!” and I don’t disagree, but Elko also deserves some heat for not having an adequate backup behind Reed.  This is the second season in a row we’ve been completely exposed if Reed got hurt or never improved.  That’s completely on Elko.

I know it’s a lot to ask, but Elko and Wiggins have to pull Reed out of the pocket.  I get that running him exposes him, but does that really matter at this point?  His greatest asset without a doubt is his legs.

I can’t recall any designed runs for Reed this season.  It’s all been scrambles, and he’s slow to run.  I don’t know if Reed is reluctant to run because he wants to be a pocket passer or if it’s by design.

If it’s because Reed doesn’t want to run, Elko and Wiggins need to explain to him that it’s the only way to save his job.  He’s gonna lose his job if he stays in the pocket and plays surgical passer.  That’s not who he is.

If your first read isn’t there and you see space, just freaking go.  Let your legs do their thing.

It’s time to try a different approach.  The data is crystal clear on what kind of quarterback Reed is.

Is Elko The Guy?

I’ve seen this discussed a lot since the Kentucky loss.  I’m going to sit on this for a few more games.

He’s got his work cut out for him, but it’s too early to decide.

Like Reed, the data is starting to point a certain way.  But like Reed, he can change that direction if he’s willing to change his ways.

We’ll see how Elko wants to handle things going forward.  He’s 100% complicit in where things stand today.

He’s in his third season at Texas A&M.  He shouldn’t be losing games at Kyle Field to a guy head coaching in his third game ever at a basketball school.

Let’s see what he does against a first-year coach with extensive experience as a head coach at a football school, in one of the most hostile venues in the country.

I don’t like the odds, but what do I know?

I’m just a guy who thinks there are bigger issues beyond “Reed Sucks!”

BTHO LSU!

P.S. – There won’t be a write up after the LSU game. I’m headed to Austria and Germany because they ripped off Wurstfest from our fellow Texans in New Braunfels. Something called Oktoberfest. The game starts at 1:30 am so no idea if I’m going to watch it. May just wake up in the morning, check the score, and debate if I want to download the condensed version on YouTube to watch on the train from Salzburg to Munich.

Sponsor:

The 2026 Aggie Football season is once again brought to you by Old Smokey. It’s the lifetime disposable grill that’s been manufactured just North of Downtown Houston since 1950. When you need an affordable and reliable grill, Old Smokey is for you.

I’m not really sure where to begin this analysis.  I’ll also keep it as short as possible.

This game was a total head-scratcher because the score said one thing.  The stat sheet said something completely different.

A 48-20 win seems like a massive beatdown.  Somehow, we outscored Arizona State by 28 points but had 114 fewer yards.  Obviously, turnovers were the big factor in the score difference, but to be outgained by 114 yards is really confusing.

I feel like I’ve seen this game way too many times in the past.  The Aggies have an impressive win, but I walked away with no clue if we’re a good team or not.

Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t a bad football team.  It’s a good team.  I have no clue how good this team is.  I don’t think it’s a great team, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad team.

I think we’re easily a Top 25 football team.  I think we’re a borderline Top 15 team.  I don’t think we’re a Top 10 team based on what I’ve seen.

Our biggest issue without a doubt is the offense.

We have no running game, and we seem to have an OC who’s clearly learning on the job.

In the first half of the ASU game, I was actually wishing for Collin Klein.  It was clear ASU was running a defense that Wiggins couldn’t figure out how to attack.  They ran a zone defense, and nobody was open.

Couple that with virtually no running game, and this offense was stymied in the first half, much like last week.

We had 130 yards in the first half with 75 yards coming in one drive.  We had 55 yards on 5 other possessions.  That’s 11 yards per possession.  Of those five possessions, three were three-and-outs, so we didn’t even muster a first down.

Just a completely inconsistent offense.  I love the 75-yard drive, but I wish we could have gotten more out of the other five drives.

We got 10 points thanks to special teams on a punt return fumble.  Then the coaching staff did a nice job sniffing out a fake punt that gave us great field position,, and we got a field goal.

Same thing in the second half.  We had 152 yards of offense in the second half.  75 yards on one possession with the other 77 yards on the other six possessions.

Two possessions saw more than half of our offensive yards.  The other 11 possessions averaged 12 yards per possession.

At some point, this offense has to wake up if the Aggies are going to make the playoffs.

The ASU defense was daring us to run the ball while running zone coverage.  It makes sense.  We’ve struggled to establish the run, and Marcel tends to struggle against zone defenses.

This is the recipe defenses will use against us for the rest of the season.  The threat of a rushing attack isn’t there, so play black and clog up passing lanes.

We did exploit the zone, with Horton and Craver scoring touchdowns when they got open because of busted coverage.  There is some hope this offense can figure it out.

Offensive Unit Specifics:

I’ve mentioned it, but we have no running game.  Owens and Morrow ain’t the guys.  KJ Edwards showed off his explosiveness yet again.  I don’t know if you can trust him to handle 20 carries as a true freshman in the SEC.

I fully agree he needs more snaps in the first half.  I think it’s a bit much to expect Edwards to all of a sudden be the focus of our rushing attack.

Elko REALLY should have gone portaling for a running back in the offseason.  I think he’s going to regret that decision.

We have a highly inconsistent quarterback in Marcel Reed.  Sometimes he looks magical, and most of the time he looks lost.  His legs are such a saving grace.

He kept his streak alive by throwing an interception against a P4 opponent.  That’s his fourth straight game and 11th in 13 games since being named the starter.  He’s going to turn the ball over through the air.

But he also threw a beautiful touchdown to a tightly covered Isiah Horton.  That pass was perfect.

Until we see differently, Marcel Reed is exactly who he’s always been as an Aggie quarterback.  He’ll win you more games than he loses you, but he’s not going to win you every game.

The offensive line is totally suspect.  The interior is pretty bad.  Our guards struggle to run and pass block.  You’ll see defenses exploit that.  Our center and right tackle are just okay.  The clear bright spot is Tyree Adams pass blocking at left tackle.  That’s a great bright spot, as it helps Reed not worry about his blindside.

The receiving corps is the receiving corps.  It’s Horton and Craver then I have no clue. Bussey looked much better this week.  I’ll touch on that a bit later.  We’re going to need more yards out of this unit, but they’re limited right now due to coaching and quarterback play.

Offensive Coaching Challenges:

The biggest issue right now is Holmon Wiggins finding his way.  I want to think he’s going to evolve rapidly, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.  I think he’s going to spend the better part of the game trying to figure out how to attack what he’s seeing from the defense.

His running game and offensive line aren’t helping him, but for the better part of the game, he had no clue how to attack the Arizona defense.  He had two nice drives, but it really seems like feast or famine with him.

This is where Elko really struggles as a head coach.  He offers nothing to the offense.  I think Wiggins would benefit from having someone help him diagnose what the defense is doing in real time, but I don’t think Elko really helps the offense in real time.  He just works the refs on obvious missed calls.

So that leaves an offensive staff that is a cobbled-together unit.

Wiggins is obviously the OC.  Trooper Taylor is the running backs coach.  Adam Cushing is the O-line coach and running game coordinator.  Joey Lynch is the QB coach.  John Perry is the receivers coach, and Derek Shay is the tight ends coach.

Lynch and Perry have experience calling plays but never at an elite level.  In fact, Lynch was let go from Vanderbilt in his last role as OC.

That means this staff has no elite play-calling experience.  Nobody to help guide Wiggins or give feedback.

In addition, this is Lynch and Perry’s first season as actual position coaches for A&M.  They were previously just on staff in analyst roles.

So three people on this offensive staff are working in roles for the first time.  Not much continuity at all.

Ironically, the guys with the most continuity are coaching the two position groups struggling most at running back and offensive line.

Cushing really needs to get this unit squared away and quickly.  We’ve seen offensive lines improve as the season wears on.  Maybe Cushing can get it done.

It’s not all bad with Wiggins as he does have some wrinkles here and there.

He used Terry Bussey well against ASU.  He wasn’t sending Bussey downfield and was using him around the line of scrimmage and underneath the downfield guys.

His use of Bussey on the 4th and 2 was a wonderful play call.

This offense could keep growing, but we’re getting into SEC play.  Even if the offense grows, it’s not going to show up on paper because the defenses get tougher from here.

Just go ahead and expect a consistently inconsistent offense from here on out.

Defense:

From a defensive standpoint, I don’t know what to make of that defensive performance.

First off, that receiver for Arizona State is really good.  He accounted for half of Arizona State’s offensive yards and all of their touchdowns. The problem is, we’re going to see receivers like him again.

We can’t just chalk it up to an elite receiver we won’t see again.

Arizona State rushed for 115 yards, but they didn’t have a rush over 20 yards and no rushing touchdowns.  29 rushes for an average of 4.0 yards per carry.

Sure, I’d like to see a more dominant rushing defense, but their rushing game didn’t really hurt us.

From a passing standpoint, we did a nice job, except for their leading receiver.  He had nine catches for 189 yards and the two scores.  Their next leading receiver had nine receptions for 29 yards.

The most obvious positive thing from our defense was the two interceptions returned for touchdowns.  That was like a boxer just landing two massive punches, putting the opponent on the ground for good.  They weren’t getting up.

I think our defense has some dudes that need to get used to playing with each other.  I’ve got some high hopes for this defensive line as they get more experience individually and together.

The defense has always been Mike Elko’s calling card, and I know that’s a big reason he was hired.  Other than one guy having his way with us, this defense has looked the part in two games.

But it has been Missouri State and Arizona State.  We’ll face much better offenses in the SEC.  This defense is going to see some much bigger tests.

I have no idea if it’s going to hold up. It’ll be good enough to keep us in most games, but there might be holes we haven’t seen an offense exploit.  My biggest concern is safeties in coverage.  It’s been an issue the past two seasons against better offenses.

We should get Daymion Sanford back this week.  He was excellent last season, and he should be a big boost to our defense.

The best defender right now is Dezz Ricks.  He’s got his receivers flat-out locked down.   He’s really developed into a shutdown corner.

The ends, Jones, Saka, and Searcy, have looked great.  Hicks has looked really good at defensive tackle.  Some guys are playing really well.

This defense is going to have some hiccups along the way, but in two games, they’ve played pretty good football other than letting Reed Harris have his way on Saturday.  It appears Kenny Dillingham got a complete steal getting Harris from Boston College via the portal.

I wish we had him.

I know I’m hedging with my defensive analysis, but I just don’t know if I can trust this defense against better SEC offenses. There are a lot of bright spots, but there are just enough holes to make me cautious. Call me a battered Aggie Football fan.

Special Teams:

Other than the Tyler White muffed snap, the special teams have been damn good this season.  We’re 4/4 on field goal attempts.

Quite a bit of change from last season.

Obviously, our recovery of Arizona State’s muffed punt was outstanding.  The best part of that play was the first man down taking out the punt returner so he couldn’t recover his mistake.  That was a real heads-up play and key to us getting the ball.

Bussey had a great punt return.

I was critical of Elko’s timeout on a 4th-down punt attempt against Missouri State, but he wisely used a timeout on a 4th-down punt against Arizona State.

I assumed they picked up something coming out of the timeout; Arizona State attempted the fake punt and got nowhere.  That created a 17-10 lead at half instead of a likely 14-10 halftime lead.

Anytime you use a timeout for points, it’s well spent.

Two games in, the special teams look really improved from last season.  We don’t have Concepcion returning punts, so that’s the only real negative.  That happens though.  Replacing first-round NFL guys isn’t easy.

Looking Forward:

I still stand by this is an 8-4 to 10-2 team.  Based on the first two weeks, LSU and Texas are losses.  Those games are certainly winnable, but I think their offenses will outpace ours.

Alabama seems like a tough one, but I need to see more from them.

Oklahoma took a massive step back with their loss to Michigan.  Our game against them might look like a 1930s game with both offenses struggling to gain yards.

I still need to see more of Tennessee and South Carolina.

I want to think we can beat the rest of our schedule that isn’t any of those teams, but who knows.

We’ll find out more this weekend against Kentucky.

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