Texas A&M's 2025 season ended in the first round of the College Football Playoff, and it was because the Texas A&M defense couldn't bring Miami running back Mark Fletcher Jr. to the ground.
Fletcher went for his season high in rushing with 172, and helped set up Miami in position for the game-winning touchdown. When Le'Veon Moss exited the game with an injury, the run game wasn't great either, but fans know that Fletcher was the main culprit in ending the Aggies' season.
Here's what Mike Elko had to say following an embarrassing display of run defense.
Mike Elko on Fletcher Jr.'s 56-yard run to set up the Miami touchdown:
"He got loose. They found some runs and started getting their wide receivers involved on inside gaps. It created some heavy power football. We just didn't handle it well enough."
Mike Elko on his run defense overall:
"Clearly, that was a weakness of ours. It's hard to make a weakness a strength in the middle of the season. We've got to look at what we're doing it and how we're doing it. We have to figure some things out this offseason."
Mike Elko on what he saw at halftime:
"It felt like the field kept tilting away from us in a defensive struggle. We had the one drive down there and couldn't finish it. We got the field goal blocked. Defensively, we made some stands. There were challenges."
Mike Elko the rapid improvement of Texas A&M football:
"I don't hope it's trending positively. I see it's trending. 8 wins to 11 wins. We're going to finish the season ranked. That hasn't happened here in a while. We've got to continue to elevate. We're battling to become a championship program. We've got work to do to develop this program into what it needs to become."
Mike Elko on turnover margin:
"We finished the season -8 in turnover margin, that's not a great stat. We need to be on the other side of that. We have to control the line of scrimmage better than we did this season, and that's really what it comes down to."