Mike Elko Lays Out "What Has To Be Done" After Texas A&M's Loss To No. 10 LSU

Texas A&M's need for some soul searching increased drastically after a 35-6 loss to the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge Saturday night.

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko walk on the field prior to the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kyle Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Oh, what difference a year can make.

Texas A&M's 2025 trip to Baton Rouge started with a slow start by the team that ultimately turned into a 49-25 win for the Maroon and White and a complete takeover of the stadium by the 12th Man that made the trip out.

Their 2026 visit, however, also started with a slow start, and business never really picked up for the Aggies, only mustering a pair of David Olano field goals for their offensive production as they fell hard to the Tigers, 35-6.

For the second straight week, the Aggies looked muggy on both sides of the line of scrimmage, and now they have their first 0-2 start to SEC play since 2021, the second time it's happened since joining the conference back in 2012.

"I Don't Have Many Words"

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko walks on the field during a time-out during the first quarter against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Right after the loss to Lane Kiffin and the Tigers, Elko addressed the media at nearly a loss for words.

"Yeah, I don't have many words," Elko said to start his presser. "We have to find a way to play better football. We are not playing football at nearly a good enough level, obviously. That's the understatement of a lifetime. I don't have answers right this second, but we gotta find them, and we gotta find them fast."

When asked what he thought it would take to get it turned around, Elko reiterated the solution of "playing better football."

"We have to play better football; I don't know what else to say," said the coach. "We got outgained 506 to 197; we just got our butts whooped. We have to be able to run what we're trying to run. We have to be able to execute what we're trying to execute. I think we've got to look at everything."

Elko did show some positivity in the otherwise somber questioning, saying that he believed the team's first half was great before their total collapse in the second half.

"I thought in the first half that we played well, and I thought they got us on a couple of things," Elko said. "They got us on a pick route where they rubbed us a bit and got open. Not an illegal pick route, but a pick route and got open. I felt like at halftime that we were in a decent spot, and then it just went to total (expletive) in the second half."

The biggest question of the night was the one that many were likely thinking throughout the course of the game, "Will he make the change at quarterback?" to which the head coach had a very simple answer.

"No."

Likely now needing to win out to even have a chance at the College Football Playoff, the Aggies will look to turn the season around and score their first conference win when they host the Arkansas Razorbacks at Kyle Field on Saturday, a team they have bested in 13 of their last 14 meetings.

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