'Understatement of a lifetime': Mike Elko seeks answers after Texas A&M's hideous LSU loss
Mike Elko said he had few words to describe Saturday night’s 35-6 blowout loss for Texas A&M football against No. 10 LSU in Baton Rouge, La.
“We have to find a way to play better football,” the Aggies head coach said postgame. “We’re not playing football at nearly a good enough level, obviously. It’s the understatement of a lifetime. I don’t have answers right now at this second, but we got to find them and find them fast.”
The No. 23-ranked Aggies (2-2, 0-2 SEC) were outgained in total yards 506-197 and their only points came from a pair of David Olano field goals. A&M has lost its first two conference games and hosts Arkansas next Saturday.
Here are takeaways from Saturday night’s loss:
QB Marcel Reed’s woes are real
Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed drew the ire many fans after then-No. 9 A&M’s 31-21 upset loss to unranked Kentucky, including a doxxing incident in which the Nashville native’s phone number was leaked publicly. There was hope that Kentucky loss would serve as a wake-up call for Reed and the Aggies. It didn’t.
At halftime Saturday night, Reed was sitting on a 7-for-15 passing performance for 75 yards. Reed’s ability to run has been a strength at times – he rushed for 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns in last year’s win over LSU – but had a mere 13 yards on six runs at the break. Things didn’t improve in the second half; Reed finished 10 of 26 for 106 passing yards and an interception.
“I’m just trying to figure out what’s the issue, and that’s that’s the biggest thing,” Reed said afterward. “I think that’s what we’re trying to figure out as an offense right now: What’s the issue? And we’re going to come back tomorrow and have some talks and figure it out and try to get this thing rolling.”
Elko, who after the Kentucky loss compared Reed to a baseball pitcher who can’t throw a strike, responded “No” Saturday night when he was asked if there would be a change at quarterback. Brady Hart, Reed’s backup, got into the game in the fourth quarter and threw an interception on his only pass of the night.
Reed, who had agreed with Elko’s pitcher analogy during the week, said his struggles in Baton Rouge were different than his struggles against Kentucky.
“I don’t think they were similar to the Kentucky game,” Reed said. “Kentucky was just me more missing throws and, you know, not making throws that I could make today. I think for the most part I tried my best to put the ball where it needed to be.”
Reed was an effective runner against Kentucky, when he led the Aggies with 80 yards on 10 carries, including a 40-yard scramble. But against LSU he was sacked four times and finished with minus-13 rushing yards on 10 runs. It was only the second time in his career that he’s been held to negative rushing yards.
“I’m sure they knew and understood that I was effective running the ball the past two years, so you know they had people around for me whenever I did run the ball,” he said. “Things didn’t open up like it did last year, so you know I had to play the game with what they showed me.”
Injuries played a factor for Texas A&M
A&M’s wide receiver room has already been hit by the injury bug this season. Junior WR Terry Bussey suffered a season-ending injury against Kentucky last week, and junior WR Ashton Bethel-Roman did not record a catch after being listed as a game-time decision for Week 4.
Junior WR Mario Craver visited the injury tent twice in the first half during the Aggies’ game against the LSU Tigers. Craver appeared to be injured on a punt return in the first half.
Craver – who set a season high with 119 receiving yards on 11 receptions for A&M against Kentucky last week in a game he also briefly exited due to injury – recorded three catches for 31 yards in the first half against LSU. He also added one rushing attempt for six yards.
Craver did not record a catch in the second half despite returning to action, while graduate student WR Isaiah Horton led the way with 41 yards on three catches.
“It certainly hindered things, not having (Craver),” Elko said. “He’s a big part of what we want to do. But 10-for-26 for 106 is certainly not just because Mario is out.”
Sam Leavitt, Tigers doom Aggies’ defense
Perhaps no play set the tone for LSU’s win more than Tiger redshirt junior QB Sam Leavitt’s pass to redshirt junior WR Jackson Harris for a 57-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-1 with 10 minutes, 57 seconds left in the third quarter to make things 21-3.
“Fourth-and-short, you always anticipate something, but you can’t ever guess what’s going to happen,” senior safety Dalton Brooks said when asked about the play. “If you guess, most of the time in football, you’re going to guess run.”
Leavitt, who outdueled Reed by going 17-for-23 for 312 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, gouged the Aggies, including the aforementioned touchdown pass to Harris.
“It’s on all of us back there,” Brooks said. ” … It’s a communication issue. Everyone has to communicate, and everyone has to do their job.”
Harris led the way for the hosts with six catches for 167 yards and a pair of scores on eight targets. But he wasn’t the only Tiger with explosive plays.
LSU redshirt sophomore running back Jones led all rushers with 63 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, including a long of 36 yards that was more than double A&M’s longest run of the evening.
And in the second half, LSU backup redshirt sophomore QB Landen Clark added his own flair with a pair of rushing touchdowns on nine carries for 41 yards.
Brooks said that there is only one thing A&M’s defense can do at this point.
“Go back to work,” Brooks said. “You can’t dwell on what’s already happened. … You gotta get back to work and fix what you can fix.”
This article originally published at ‘Understatement of a lifetime’: Mike Elko seeks answers after Texas A&M’s hideous LSU loss.
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