Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko has pulled the offensive starters against Samford after the first quarter, with the Aggies up 28-0. The game was already well in hand by the time the Aggies even scored one touchdown, with the Samford offense completely unable to move the ball at all against this Texas A&M defense, but fans hoped for a little more.
The reason they were hoping for more was for the sake of Marcel Reed's Heisman campaign. The Aggie signal caller is one of the top contenders for the most illustrious individual award in the sport, and there was some thought from the Aggie faithful that the coaches may allow him to match some of the numbers put up by a guy like Fernando Mendoza against Indiana State.
However, Mike Elko elected not to do so— and in the process, he once again showed exactly what his priorities are for this Texas A&M football team and program.
Mike Elko shows his team-first attitude after pulling Marcel Reed and first-team offense in second quarter
The Texas A&M coach views these games less as an opportunity to rack up as much as points as possible and more as an opportunity to try things out as far as personnel and strategy. That's a team-first mentality, which the head man for the Aggies shows time and time again whenever he's given the chance.
Though I called for him to give Marcel some opportunities to pad his stats given what Mendoza and others have done, I think this is a good call by Mike Elko. This is a senior-heavy team for the Aggies, so many of the players who went in the game when the starters went out are players that will be the future of the A&M offense.
Giving those players real-game snaps is an important thing, and Elko clearly recognizes that. Instead of stumping for individual awards, he's focused on building this program— and that's refreshing to see.