What Was Learned After Texas A&M vs Kentucky

Work still to do.

At times, the Aggies gave the 12th Man glimpses of hope; at other times, there was no rhythm at all. According to head coach Mike Elko, he didn’t see any positives after his team's poor performance.

“There were no positives,” Elko said. “There is not an ounce of positive.”

That is one thing that Texas A&M definitely learned after the home loss at Kyle Field to Kentucky. It wasn’t the smoothest game offensively, and it wasn't smooth defensively either.

Something wasn’t clicking, and it all fell apart after halftime.

Lessons Learned

The Maroon and White found out what happened when it played loose. Ask one of the captains, Marcus Ratcliffe, who mentioned it in his postgame press conference.

“In practice, things were loose,” Ratcliffe said. “We weren’t keyed in on the small details of football. That’s what I mean by loose.”

That's going to be addressed in practice this week, with a lot of unhappy campers who aren't pleased with the outcome.

The Chula Vista native took responsibility for some of the miscues that occurred at times the defense could have used him to step up. Ratcliffe wrapped up his afternoon with seven total tackles and four assists and has his mind set on the upcoming week of preparation.

“This is 100 percent on us. It starts with me, Ratcliffe mentioned. “I didn’t play the best game I could. We had a really loose week. There is a lot of season and football ahead of us. Monday, we will tighten things up and attack next week.”

Turnovers were another reason why the 7-0 lead evaporated quickly and never came back. Quarterback Marcel Reed threw two interceptions and addressed the offense's poor start in front of the media after the game.

“I think we didn’t finish,” Reed noted. “We moved the ball well early. We got in the red zone and didn’t capitalize. That gave them that momentum shift, and they held on to it.”

Taking care of the football was one of the lessons the Aggies learned after the Wildcats' defense made them pay for their mistakes. Another was executing better on fourth down.

The Aggies finished 3-of-6 on fourth down, and that isn’t ideally a statistic to be proud of. Arguably, one of the turning points of this contest came when Elko & Co. decided to go for it in their own territory, and Reed missed freshman running back Carsyn Baker on an easy pass that should’ve been a first down. Instead, the Wildcats scored a touchdown to go up three possessions.

“I think we didn’t finish,” Reed acknowledged. “We moved the ball well early. We got in the red zone and didn’t capitalize. They gave them that momentum shift, and they held onto it.”

Now, the focus turns to how those mistakes can be corrected.

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