The Good, Bad and Ugly of Texas A&M's Loss to Miami

No matter the accomplishments and accolades collected through the year, all seasons must come to end in some form or fashion. Unfortunately for Texas A&M football, the form of its first defeat in the College Football Playoff was in a tight 10-3 matchup with the Miami Hurricanes.

Despite of their best defensive outing of the 2025 campaign, the Aggies inability to get the offense churning until the very end of the game was among the factors that doomed their chances of advancing deeper into the national title race.

All things considered, it was a terrific season for the Maroon and White, who rattled off 11 straight wins to start the season as well as reaching the CFP for the first time in school history, which is a huge leap seeing that it was only head coach Mike Elko's second season at the helm of the program. With that said, let's take a look at the good, bad and ugly of the final A&M game of the year.

The Good: A precedent was set

Head coach Mike Elko promised a competitive, blue-collar mentality at Texas A& — Sep 27, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts against the Auburn Tigers during the fourth quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Though the sting of a loss, especially a season-ending one, is a hard feeling to turn the page over with, an 11-2 run in Elko's second year is a quite the feat. A&M, which hadn't achieved 10 wins in a season in over a decade, is poised to build a long-standing prescence in the national title race.

Though a small sample size, Elko has progressed his time in each of the last two years, which can lead folks to assume that next year will have a similar outcome as far as overall success. While difficult to grasp in the moment, championship programs are not so quickly built in today's Southeastern Conference.

The Bad: Offensive struggles spoil courageous defensive effort

Texas A&M safety Dalton Brooks forced the only Miami Hurricanes turnove — Dec 20, 2025; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies safety Dalton Brooks (25) strips the ball from Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Malachi Toney (10) during the second half of the first round game of the CFP National Playoff at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

In most normal circumstances, holding a team to just 10 points typically results in a victory. But that was not the case for the Aggies on Saturday. Through the better part of a three-and-a-half quarters, the A&M defense held Miami to just three points until in the final two minutes when a touchdown was conceded.

The Aggies had no answer to their defense's heroics and came up short in the final seconds of the game when there was a chance in the end zone to tie the ballgame. A new offensive coordinator in Holmon Wiggins is due up next season, so the jury is still out on how next year will pan out.

The Ugly: Kicking the ball

Texas A&M kicker Jared Zirkel missed the Aggies second kick within the 30-yard line this year — Sep 7, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies place kicker Jared Zirkel (99) kicks during the second quarter against the McNeese State Cowboys at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

Sometimes, things can be so bad that they are simply comical. That would certainly be the case in College Station on Saturday afternoon, where a windy day helped a total of four field goal attempts to be missed across both squads.

However, the Aggie faithful would be the first to say that even without wind, field goal kicking seemed virtually impossible this season. Kicker Jared Zirkel seemingly kicked the ball straight in the Hurricanes line within the 30-yard line and the Aggies only scored off a short boot from kicker Randy Bond.