'We have to go do it': Will Texas A&M fix its issues against Arkansas?

Texas A&M’s 2026 season is falling apart after the Aggies suffered their second straight loss to LSU, falling 35-6 in Baton Rouge and looking lifeless on both sides of the ball except for a handful of drives. This has been the case since A&M’s 31-21 loss to Kentucky in Week 3, which told us a lot about this team, and not in a good way.

Right now, Texas A&M is not a good football team in the slightest, and third-year coach Mike Elko, who stated that the need to improve was the “understatement of a lifetime” after losing to LSU, still believes that the roster is talented enough to fix these issues and rebound, starting on Saturday night vs. Arkansas in Kyle Field.

On Monday, Elko continued to defend starting quarterback Marcel Reed, who threw for a career-low 106 yards and zero touchdowns against the Tigers, while revealing that his team has responded well after suffering consecutive double-digit losses, but words are words, and actions always speak louder.

“We have a team that showed up on time for the the team meeting this morning, wanting to figure out what it’s going to take to fix this thing, change this thing, and move in a different direction. Again, those are words, right? We have to go do it.”

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“We have a team that showed up on time for the the team meeting this morning, wanting to figure out what it’s going to take to fix this thing, change this thing, and move in a different direction. Again, those are words, right? We have to go do it.”

Elko further defended his roster’s effort, saying the issue hasn’t been effort but a consistent lack of execution that starts at the top and trickles down through the staff in practice. For more context, KBTX reporter Travis Brown provided the entire quote from Monday’s presser regarding the Aggies’ enhanced focus:

“Yeah, I think for sure, like to the concept you’re asking, I think for sure – angry about the things that are gone. I don’t think when you go in the meeting room, you don’t have a broken team that you’re trying to piece back together. I think how they get performance and how they get results. I think some of that is a lot of different things. I think you have some kids that are pressing and wanting it so bad that it’s not coming the way they want. You have some kids that need to learn a little bit more what it takes to strain to the level you need to strain to. I think you have some kids that you need to practice better. Like it’s there’s a lot of layers to each kid as to where performance needs to improve to get the result that they want on Saturday. But if you’re asking like big picture, we have a team that showed up on time for the team meeting this morning, wanting to figure out what it’s going to take to fix this thing, change this thing, and move it in a different direction. Again, those are words, right? We have to go do it.”

“Yeah, I think for sure, like to the concept you’re asking, I think for sure – angry about the things that are gone. I don’t think when you go in the meeting room, you don’t have a broken team that you’re trying to piece back together. I think how they get performance and how they get results. I think some of that is a lot of different things. I think you have some kids that are pressing and wanting it so bad that it’s not coming the way they want. You have some kids that need to learn a little bit more what it takes to strain to the level you need to strain to. I think you have some kids that you need to practice better. Like it’s there’s a lot of layers to each kid as to where performance needs to improve to get the result that they want on Saturday. But if you’re asking like big picture, we have a team that showed up on time for the team meeting this morning, wanting to figure out what it’s going to take to fix this thing, change this thing, and move it in a different direction. Again, those are words, right? We have to go do it.”

It’s clearly a balance between players not being prepared enough, resulting in poor play, and a scheme that, on paper, should work but has produced poor results outside of the season-opening 50-0 win over Missouri State. Mike Elko must fix these issues, while the veteran leaders on offense and defense have to do their part by setting an example on the field, especially Marcel Reed.

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