‘Does this look confident to you?' Mike Elko sticks with Marcel Reed after Missouri misery

Texas A&M football entered its road matchup against No. 14 Missouri at 3-2 and in desperate need of answers as to how head coach Mike Elko and his staff could turn the season around.

If anything, the 27-6 loss to the Tigers only gave the Aggies more questions.

“Does this look confident to you?” Elko said in response to a question about if A&M could solve its offensive issues this season.

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When asked about his message to Aggie fans who are losing faith in the team, Elko said he believes what’s said on social media isn’t always grounded in reality. The third-year Aggies coach took aim at fans who use a popular Aggies message board. He even mentioned the forum’s executive editor by name.

“There’s a difference to me between the fanbase and social media,” Elko said. “So there’s one group that I really don’t care much about. Billy (Liucci)’s cesspool (TexAgs) can go be Billy’s cesspool. Our fanbase: stay with us, be behind us. We’re going to build something that’s what we told you we were going to build. So we’re in a really bad spot right now, but we’ll work our way out of it.”

Mike Elko: Sticking with Marcel Reed despite struggles

Last week against Arkansas, senior quarterback Marcel Reed and freshman running back KJ Edwards each led the Aggies with 66 yards on the ground and combined for three rushing scores during the Aggies’ 34-7 rout of the Razorbacks.

Despite Edwards earning the first start of his career against Missouri, the Tigers dominated the Aggies’ backfield. A&M rushed for a mere 29 yards, and was outgained 399-216 in terms of total yardage.

Edwards led the way with 20 yards on the ground, while Reed – who was sacked three times – ended the day with minus-18 yards.

“We’ve got to exhaust everything,” Elko said when asked about what can be done to fix the Aggies’ offense. “It’s a challenge because new isn’t always better. New doesn’t get executed at the level it needs to in the SEC to be successful. You can try some new things or some different things and tweak some things, but the mental strain that that creates conflicts kids.”

Reed entered halftime with just 47 passing yards and two interceptions — both of which came on tip-drill plays – after going 5-for-15 to begin the game.

He finished 19-of-39 passing for 187 yards and scoreless after the Aggies put together several fourth-quarter drives in an attempt to spark a rally.

“It’s us making mistakes,” Reed said. “We’ve got to fix our mistakes. Like I said, it takes 11 people to complete a football play. It only takes 6 seconds. The average football play is 6 seconds. If we can do that, play about five-to-seven minutes (of) just executing what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be the best team in the country.”

When asked about if he’d consider turning to sophomore QB Brady Hart, who saw limited action against Missouri State and LSU this season, Elko said he did not believe that the decision to bench Reed would spark a meaningful change.

“It just doesn’t feel like that’s the move that would help us,” Elko said. “I will do whatever I believe is the right thing for this team to do, for sure. Everything’s competitive. We’re trying to figure out what the right thing to do is, that just doesn’t feel like the right thing at the moment.”

Jamal Roberts runs roughshod over the Aggies’ defense

Although A&M’s defense started the game off strong with an interception by senior linebacker Daymion Sanford – Missouri senior QB Austin Simmons’ first of the season – the Aggies squandered their chance when Reed responded with his first interception of the day in the end zone.

Despite the offense’s woeful performance (just two first downs in the entire first half) the Aggies’ defense managed to keep them in the game, holding a Tiger offense that averaged over 37 points per game to just a single first-half touchdown.

But in the second half as A&M’s defense was worn down, senior RB Jamal Roberts took over the game.

Roberts, who ranked second in the SEC in rushing yards entering the weekend, ran for 65 yards on 15 attempts in the first half, and was held out of the end zone.

He finished the day with 222 yards on 32 carries and two touchdowns, including a 54-yard score in the fourth quarter that effectively ended all hope of an A&M rally.

“The problem we have on defense is our inability to consistently do it,” Elko, who revealed that he gave up defensive play-calling duties in order to dedicate more time to his “CEO” role, said. “We can call the same play against the same play and not get the same play too often. And that has to improve.”

Overall improvement was a consistent theme for Elko postgame. That’s something needed from not just players, but himself and the entire coaching staff, he said.

“We have to find ways to get better,” Elko said. “I said that to them, I said that to our coaches, I said that to myself. Our job is to put a better product on the field. And that’s what I’m here for, that’s what our coaches are here for, that’s what our players are here for. … Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. They’re not gonna cancel the season because we’re struggling. You’ve got to dig your heels in, and you have to get better.”

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This article originally published at ‘Does this look confident to you?’ Mike Elko sticks with Marcel Reed after Missouri misery.