Texas A&M must respond in a big way after back-to-back losses in SEC play, including Saturday's 35-6 road blowout loss to LSU, as starting quarterback Marcel Reed has looked like a shadow of his former self compared to his career-high 3,169 passing yards and 25 touchdowns last season.
While most of the Aggie fan base would like to see a change at quarterback, backup Brady Hart simply isn't ready to take on the starting role, especially if the goal is to go undefeated the rest of the way and have a shot at making the College Football Playoff. Yes, that may sound comical to some, given what we witnessed over the last two weeks, but it's still too early to completely count the Aggies out of contention.
Still, after Marcel Reed passed for a career-low
106 yards and zero touchdowns against LSU, it's more than fair to worry that drastic improvement on his end likely won't come to fruition, but third-year coach Mike Elko, who is under pressure to improve, has continually backed his quarterback, similar to the rest of the roster, before Texas A&M hosts Arkansas on Saturday night.
For the third time since the post-game presser on Saturday night, Mike Elko spoke to the media during his weekly Aggie Football Hour appearance and had plenty to say regarding his roster's mindset before hosting the Razorbacks in a must-win game, not just to stay in contention, but to give the fan base what they deserve after watching Kentucky demolish the Aggies in the second half before winning 31-21.
Here is everything Mike Elko said during Wednesday's Aggie Football Hour.
Texas A&M, like most teams, is beat up through four games
"We had some guys out there banged up this week pushing through some injuries that maybe on other weeks they might not have even, in the 7-0, 8-0 stretch (last season) may have been like, 'I don't know if I can go today.' Everybody understands that it's all hands on deck right now. So you've got guys out there trying to push through some things, and that's what you want to see from a culture standpoint. That will give us a chance to go fix this thing."
Mike Elko on switching up the offensive line vs. LSU
"Lamont Rogers (was) playing at a level that warranted him getting on the field. … We just felt like Lamont being the younger guy, the inexperienced guy, the guy making his first start, we wanted to keep Lamont at the position he had been working the longest. So credit to Wilkin, who was willing and wanting to kind of move inside, and do what the team needed and what the team required.
"So we felt like that was the best configuration to give us a chance, and I do think we ran the ball better against a team that wasn't giving up very many rushing yards."
Mike Elko on junior LB Daymion Sanford's progress after returning
"I wish we could see him more. … He's another one who is obviously champing at the bit, because he knows he could be a very helpful, productive player. Still trying to get him to full strength where he can go out there and play a sustained amount of plays. We're still not quite where we want to be with him in that regard."
Mike Elko with an interesting response to a fan about Texas A&M's porous pass rush
“I think we’ve got to be better. I think we’re capable of being better. I think there were opportunities for us to win that we didn’t. There was also a big desire, a need, to keep a kid who had scrambled and won games with his legs in the pocket. So there’s a balance to it for sure. We didn’t strike the balance the way we wanted to Saturday night. But let’s see what we can get done Saturday."
Mike Elko once again goes to bat for his starting quarterback
“When you go into battle with somebody, we’re not building a team, we’re not building a culture, we’re not building men who just turn their back on people the first sign of adversity. So I’m not sure that I’d be a good leader, we’d be a good team, we’d be a good program if the first time our quarterback started to struggle, my immediate reaction was to turn my back on him. …
“He’s our quarterback. We believe in him. We know what he’s capable of. We also are aware of how it’s going. We’re not blind. But we believe that there’s a path to him playing better football, and our job as coaches is to find it.”
Sophomore running back Jamarion Morrow will return vs. Arkansas
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Everything HC Mike Elko said during Aggie Football Hour before Week 5
