Mike Elko Reveals What Texas A&M Must Fix Before LSU

After a harrowing loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in their SEC opener, Mike Elko now knows what needs to be done as Texas A&M heads to Baton Rouge this weekend.

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

There have only been three games played in the 2026 season for the No. 23 Texas A&M Aggies, and it is already vastly different from their historical 2025 season.

For the first time since the 2021 season, the Maroon and White dropped their conference-opening game in the form of a 31-21 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats, already putting the team in a stressful situation with the College Football Playoff still three months out.

And to make matters even more stressful for the team, they travel to the Louisiana state capital of Baton Rouge to take on the No. 10 LSU Tigers, who are also looking to avenge a loss suffered much earlier in the season than anticipated.

Luckily for the Aggies, head coach Mike Elko knows exactly what needs to be adjusted ahead of their marquee matchup in "Death Valley."

Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko watches warm ups prior to the game against Arizona State Sun Devils at Kyle Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

During his weekly press conference on Monday afternoon, Coach Elko highlighted the key area that he said his team was working on to improve after the loss and also talked about the harder parts of working on the areas so early on in the season.

"I think one of the challenges in the early part of the season, and I think you see this across the country, I'm not trying to make any excuses or turn away from what happened, but you spend so much time going against your own offense, and then every offense has a different layer and different multiplicity to it that creates stress and dilemmas," Elko said. "And I think that early in the years that defenses are a little bit behind. Again, that's not meant to be an excuse, but I do think there's a little bit to that and so we've got to catch up, and we've got to catch up quick."

Elko also pressed on the issue of having eyes in the wrong position, a struggle that he made evident in Saturday's postgame press conference following the loss to Kentucky, and how he planned on using the film and walkthroughs in practice to shrink the frequency of the issue.

"I think you're doing it (fixing it) on every level," the head coach said. "I think you're doing it in film study, you're doing it in walkthroughs, you're doing it in practice. We have a lot of pride in how we play defense here, and I think we will rise to the challenge."

Texas A&M and LSU kick off in primetime from Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge this Saturday.

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