This loss for Texas A&M was gut-wrenching in every way you can imagine— from the stakes down to the style— and the Aggies' season is now over.
Texas A&M will now move into the offseason with some problems to address as well as a strong foundation to build on. Here's what the Aggies need to take away from this game— and this season— as they move forward.
Explosives problem still has not been solved
This was a big point of discussion the entire offseason for Texas A&M: can the Aggies solve the explosives problem that their defense was showing late in 2024? While it wasn't as present in the pass game, we saw it far too much in the run game over the course of 2025.
There were elite traits on this defense that we saw flash often. But at the end of the day, the ability to control the line of scrimmage consistently wasn't where it needed to be— something that Mike Elko didn't hesitate to point out in his postgame comments.
Whether it was Ahmad Hardy breaking off a few late runs to give Mizzou some life, Tre Wisner gutting the Aggies late down in Austin, or Mark Fletcher breaking free late in this last game against Miami, the ability of A&M opponents to pick up those highlight yards was troubling.
It bears mentioning that this has something to do with the extremely aggressive style of defense that the Aggies were forced to play this year. Their personnel up front was a bit light for SEC standards, with guys like Taurean York and Tyler Onyedim deservedly wearing the "undersized" moniker despite their at-times excellent play, so that will shift as the personnel does.
For now, though, the stretch run in this season showed that a problem many thought to be solved early on was in fact only lurking in the background.