Texas A&M Linebacker Taurean York Discouraged After Rivalry Loss

In the words of linebacker Taurean York, he was honest and direct that all of his teammates failed together.

“We’re gonna drive back to College Station for the next two hours, and it’s probably going to be really silent,” York said. “It hurts a lot, but you gotta regroup and get ready for the playoffs.”

Texas A&M’s defense allowed the Texas Longhorns offense to take total command of the second half to send coach Mike Elko’s team home angry and disappointed about not finishing the job out to maintain the perfect season to waltz its way to the SEC Championship Game. Instead, the Aggies now dug themselves a hole, where they will likely find themselves hosting the first-ever playoff game at Kyle Field against an opponent yet to be determined.

“We're still going to the playoffs,” York said. “Probably going to get a good little seed, we've got to go play four games in a row to win the championship. Obviously, this one hurts. You want to win that trophy. You want to have that in-state rivalry bragging rights. It wasn’t our time. We just have to keep pushing forward. Get ready for the playoffs.”

Painful Defense

An unaccustomed performance by the Aggies’ defense shocked a ton of people across the college football world, as the Longhorns posted 397 total yards of offense, 218 on the ground and 179 in the air.

York couldn’t believe how, for a second year in a row, the defense blew a chance to defeat the in-state rivals and felt like it was the same story as last year.

“Same story I told y’all last year happened again,” York said. “ We didn't do our job in the second half; therefore, they won the game. We really just busted way too many things. You can’t bust plays like that against an upper-echelon team like Texas. You can’t bust assignments. You've got to be assigned sound football.”

Longhorns sophomore quarterback Arch Manning was a part of the reason those assignments probably received failing grades, because he was mobile and aware of what the defense was offering, which exposed the Aggies' vulnerabilities that night.

“We were rushing four for the most part. High rushes were getting too high; therefore, it creates a B gap the size of an 18-wheeler, so Arch is a great player. He is a versatile threat with his legs, and we let him get too many yards on the ground tonight.”

On seven carries, Manning ran for 53 yards while junior running back Quintrevion Wisner once again embarrassed the run defense, registering 155 yards on the ground. Tight end Jack Endries also carried the receiver unit with four receptions for 94 yards, which upset the defense for not taking care of business.

“Nobody in that locker room is happy right now, but we’re good now,” York said. “We got a playoff run to go attack. So that’s what we’re gonna go do.”