Hogs Looking To Finally Give Elko Another Bad Memory Of Southwest Classic

Mike Elko has only lost to Arkansas once at Texas A&M and can't afford to do so again

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko walks onto the field against Arizona State Sun Devils at Kyle Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

FAYETTEVILLE — Rounded up, the of the six games between Arkansas and Texas A&M that Mike Elko has coached in is Texas A&M 29, Arkansas 26.

Texas A&M is 5-1 in those games, with its only loss coming in 2021. Elko, now in his second year as the head coach at TAMU, went 3-1 in the Southwest Classic as Texas A&M's defensive coordinator and is 2-0 against Arkansas as the Aggies' head coach.

"The first one (2018) I played in was Donovan Wilson intercepting a ball to end the game on the two-minute drive," Elko said. "To last year, the shootout back and forth, to my first year (2024) as head coach Nick Scourton getting the sack — that to me is how this game has consistently played out."

Sep 26, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Ryan Silverfield during the third quarter against the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In three of those six games, Elko and the Aggies have faced an Arkansas team that wound up going 2-10. In 2018 and 2019, it took a final defensive stand from Elko's defense in order for Texas A&M to escape with a win.

Arkansas kept pace with Marcel Reed and the TAMU offense for most of last year's game before falling behind by 10 late in the fourth quarter and ultimately losing by three.

Arkansas' only victory over Elko was a 20-10 decision in 2021, a game the Razorbacks dominated from start to finish. The only game of the six the Hogs have played at Kyle Field saw an opposite result, as Texas A&M won 42-31 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.

"I don't know that you project what Saturday will look like or play like," Elko said. "Certainly, that's been my history with this series; an extremely competitive game.

"They're a really good program. They have gotten up for this game and always played really well against us. Certainly don't anticipate that being any different on Saturday. "

Both teams would obviously love a win over a rival on Saturday night, though you could argue that Texas A&M needs a victory more.

The Aggies are 2-2 and 0-2 in the SEC after a pair of losses to Kentucky and LSU, both of which saw Texas A&M be thoroughly outplayed.

A home loss to Arkansas would only make the noise surrounding Elko and his status louder.

"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," Elko said. "Again, those are words. We have to go do it."

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