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Mike Elko roasts Texas A&M pass defense after bowl loss: 'We have no concept of what we're doing'

Matt Connollyby:Matt Connolly•12/28/24•

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Mike Elko
(© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

Texas A&M blew a 24-7 lead to USC Friday night in the Las Vegas Bowl and ended up falling to the Trojans 35-31. Aggies head coach Mike Elko pointed to Texas A&M’s inability to stop USC’s passing attack as the biggest issue in the loss.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Trojans to a victory. Two of his touchdowns came in the final five minutes, including the game-winner with 8 seconds remaining.

Elko was clearly frustrated with the Texas A&M pass defense after the game, and he didn’t hold back on the struggles.

“I think the story of the game is the story of our season, you know,” Elko said. “We can’t cover the forward pass well enough to be a good football team, and so that’s my fault.”

Indeed, Texas A&M has struggled in pass defense for much of the year. The Aggies end the year allowing 232.2 yards through the air per game, which ranks No. 91 nationally.

Texas A&M scored with 1:49 remaining to take a 31-28 lead on USC Friday night, but Elko was immediately worried that the Trojans had too much time to respond. USC did, going on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in 1:41 to win the game.

“Yea, I mean, I have a lot of apprehension when the other team’s going to drop back and throw the ball,” Elko said. “I’ve had apprehension all season, starting with Florida, we got lucky. Starting with Missouri, we got lucky. LSU threw for 400 yards. It’s been a problem all season. So it’s on me and I’ve got to fix it.”

As for what specifically Texas A&M needs to do to fix its pass defense before 2025, Elko said there is a long list of issues. However, he is committed to making sure that they all get fixed.

“So many things. Fundamentally. … We can’t play zone coverage,” Elko said. “Every time we play zone coverage we give up big plays. So we have no concept of space. We have no concept of zone coverage. We have no concept of what we’re doing.

“So we have to play man-to-man all the time. And we had some guys in there filling in some roles today that got caught in a lot of man-to-man situations and that was hard for them.”