Texas A&M's 31-21 loss to Kentucky in Week 3 was absolutely devastating for a program that entered the 2026 season with high hopes of making it back to the College Football Playoff, but thanks to poor defense and starting quarterback Marcel Reed's worst performance of the season, and possibly his career, the Aggies are now facing an SEC schedule that could result in six or seven wins.
Not to spew hyperbole, but if A&M continues to play undisciplined football, a 7-5 or 6-6 finish is highly possible; it's still early, though, as the Aggies will head back to Baton Rouge to face LSU after defeating the Tigers 49-25 last season. On Monday, coach Mike Elko spoke to the local media for the first time since Saturday's loss, including his thoughts on how
the revamped offensive line has fared through three weeks.
Against Kentucky, A&M's O-line gave up 18 pressures, but zero sacks, giving Marcel Reed plenty of time in the pocket to scan the field. In the run game, before the Aggies were down 28-7 in the second half, open running lanes, especially in zone looks, provided running backs Rueben Owens, freshman KJ Edwards, and Carsyn Baker plenty of room to produce chunk gains on the ground.
While OC Holmon Wiggins can be criticized for not sticking with the run when the Aggies were down 14-7, it's evident that this group is slowly but surely improving week to week. Elko agreed with this notion on Monday:
“It's hard to, you know, you don't want to say things are moving in a good direction coming off of Saturday, but I do think that we have seen progress from that group week one to week two to week three.”
This week, LSU's pass rush, led by Ole Miss transfer Princewill Umanmielen, will challenge this group from the jump, meaning establishing the run to open up play-action looks for starting quarterback Marcel Reed is the key to having a legitimate shot at pulling off the upset.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Mike Elko sees progress in the Texas A&M offensive line
