Texas A&M's 2025 season reached historic levels after starting 11-0, including road wins over Notre Dame, LSU, and Missouri, while starting quarterback Marcel Reed ended the season with career highs in passing yards (3,169), touchdowns (25), and interceptions (12), while transfer wide receivers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver combined for 1,836 yards and 13 touchdowns.
However, after the Aggies' epic comeback win over South Carolina, Texas A&M's offense and defense began to decline, resulting in back-to-back losses to Texas at the end of the regular season and Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoff, despite entering the fourth quarter tied 3-3 with several chances to pull out the victory.
Just days after entering the transfer
portal, Texas A&M heavily pursued former Northwestern Edge Anto Saka, who, despite running under the radar among casual college football fans, is nationally regarded as a potential first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
As soon as he took the field in a live setting during the Maroon & White Game, Saka's football IQ, speed to power ability as a pass rusher, and quickness off the snap to pursue running backs in space jumped off the page, as the Baltimore native's elite athleticsm and 6'4", 255-pound frame, and during his recent Q&A with GigEm247 insider Tony Catlina (subscription required), Saka revealed that he and the revamped Aggie roster with enter the 2026 season with an "all or nothing" aproach in pursuit of a national title.
"Are we going to be satisfied with winning 11 games, or are we going to push it and we're going to make it to the championship?" Saka asked in rhetorically. "That's really been on everybody's mind. Championship or nothing. And we have the team to do it."
Marcel Reed struggled through the air, throwing zero touchdowns and four interceptions against Texas and Miami, but it wasn't all the starting signal-caller's fault, knowing that A&M's run defense went from allowing an average of 130 rushing yards per game to giving up 218 and 175 yards against the Longhorns and Miami.
Entering his third season at the helm, coach Mike Elko, who took over as A&M's defensive play-caller, deserves at least half of the blame for the run defense. Replacing unanimous All-American edge Cashius Howell, who led the SEC with 11.5 sacks on the year, became the primary focus in the offseason.
Coupled with beefing up the defensive line depth, the plan is to combine Anto Saka, North Carolina transfer nose tackle CJ Mims, senior DE T.J. Searcy, and, most importantly, senior DT DJ Hicks to shore up the Aggie run defense and provide a more collective pass rush effort this fall.
Per Pro Football Focus, Anto Saka earned an elite 84.1 pass rush grade and produced 30 pressures, including 18 QB hurries. Saka ended his Northwestern career with 41 tackles, 12 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M transfer Edge discusses 'Championship or nothing' mentality
