After suffering its fifth SEC loss of the season at No. 21 South Carolina on Saturday, Texas A&M football faces another tall task in Week 11, as it hosts No. 9 Tennessee at Kyle Field.
The offense's production continued its sharp decline against the Gamecocks, with kicker David Olano's securing all nine of the Aggies' points Saturday. Olano has averaged 7.3 points per game against ranked opponents, compared to Texas A&M's offense, which is averaging 3.0 per contest.
Saturday's 17-9 loss to South Carolina marked the first time since 1995 that Texas A&M had 400 or more yards, while scoring fewer than 10 points. With a 4-5 overall record and a 1-5 mark in SEC play, head coach Mike Elko must get his team regrouped and prepared for one of the strongest
defensive units in the conference, amid one of the worst offensive droughts in program history.
Here are Elko's quotes from Monday's press conference, as the Aggies prepare to host a top-10 conference opponent in Week 11:
Elko's thoughts on the 17-9 loss to No. 21 South Carolina in Week 10
"Words don't do anything, but it's all you can say and do. Go back to work and try to correct the things to put yourself in a position to finish," Elko said.
Elko on the upcoming showdown against No. 9 Tennessee
"It's an opportunity for us to get off the mat and prove who we are and what we're about. It'll take a great week of preparation," Elko said.
Elko when asked about continuing to allow offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins to call the plays
"Doing what I believe is the best thing for us to be successful right now. That's how we evaluating things. If I felt there were better opportunities or things we could do within our program, we would do it," Elko said.
Elko on having long-term confidence in Wiggins being the play caller
"That's not for now," Elko said.
Elko's response on the current struggles
"We have a lot of confidence in who we are, what we're about and what we've accomplished here. Given time, we'll get this resolved," Elko said.
Elko's thoughts on Tennessee's explosive offense
"Really talented running back. Really physical offensive line. Two elite tackles. The quarterback is getting better each week," Elko said. "It'll be a big challenge for us."
Elko on what response he's looking for from his team on Saturday
"The response has to be to go out and work. That's the only choice you have. There's no option to it," Elko said. "The only way to respond is to come back to work. They did that today. They'll do that all week."
Elko on the offensive improvements
"I'm not looking for anybody to pat us on the back, but I do think running the ball for over 200 yards against that team and the way we did was the best performance of the year," Elko said.
Elko on updates for Ashton Bethel-Roman and Kelshaun Johnson
"No, no updates on those guys," Elko said.
Elko's response to fixing red zone issues
"I think anytime things aren't going the way you want them to go, you try to create that emphasis. We emphasize inside the 20 a lot. I think last week, it was that stretch between the 30 and the 20 is really where most of it stalled. So we'll do a little bit more of that work this week and try to get our kids in those situations," Elko said. "It's extremely disappointing, because I think we do more situational football than most. I think we spend more time doing situational football than most. So it's disappointing to not see it translate the way we want it to. But again, all you can do is keep working."
Elko on whether the Aggies looked into finding a veteran quarterback out of the portal this offseason
"It's really challenging to find a kid who's capable of playing in the SEC who's willing to come in and be a backup. I don't think that's something that exists. Obviously, would have been nice to add an older, veteran piece. We certainly explored options to do that. I wish it was grocery story shopping. It's just not, unfortuantley. I say this a lot, you can do things to pacify situations, right? We can go get somebody just because he's an older guy and that will make everybody OK with the fact that we went and got an older guy. That doesn't mean that guy's quailified to play SEC football. That's two separate things," Elko said.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: 'Go back to work': Mike Elko talks South Carolina loss, previews Week 11
