Wait, was that a Freudian slip? Texas A&M HC Mike Elko might be biting off his nails in regret now. Maybe from now on he would be more mindful of his words while addressing the media. Otherwise, it would again hand his rivals the keys to give them a brutal lesson. November 23 turned out to be an ominous day for Elko and Co. as they got defeated in a neck-to-neck fight against Auburn Tigers 43-41. While we don’t know whether to question the HC’s strategies, what we know is Elko’s focus was not in the right direction which backfired his program. 

Now rivals no longer have to keep track of their rival HC’s gameplan. All they need to do is pay attention to the pre-game press conference. On Tuesday, November 19, A&M HC Elko during a press conference was hit with a question about whether their upcoming November 30 match-up against Steve Sarkisian’s Texas Longhorns is robbing off his goodnight’s sleep. Elko being Elko tried to dish out a flawless answer showing that he is not quite interested in the Longhorns. He started with, “I don’t think it’s an issue. I think when you’re in the situation we’re in it’s easy to focus on the task at hand.”

The HC in a way tried to convince others that he lives in the moment. So, then the next game they had in their hand was against Auburn. But maybe his mind and mouth thought of not teaming up as he was deep in his thoughts while he blurted out the wrong word. Elko continued and thereby made a slip, “If we didn’t have at stake what’s at stake, maybe you would worry about it. I think our focus is single-handedly on Texas … er, I mean, on Auburn right now.” And VOILA! The Tigers got their weak point to land an attack on Elko’s tribe.  

This mistake made it obvious that the A&M HC is obsessing over defeating the Longhorns. So it was highly likely that their prepping game against Hugh Freeze’s Tigers was running thin. Even though it took Auburn a lot of time to turn things in their favor, ultimately they pulled off a late stunner.  

How Mike Elko’s targets fell short at the end

That’s how Elko’s world went topsy-turvy within minutes. November 23 game has been no less than having a roller-coaster ride. Right off the bat, A&M allowed three consecutive scoring drives from the Tigers. With this, they landed in a 21-0 hole right at the onset. But Elko’s boys did not give up. They came to life in the second quarter as the Aggies WR Terry Bussey changed the narrative in their favor by running in score.

With this, he had cut Freeze and Co.’s lead to only two scores. Cut two, post halftime, the script flipped totally! Elko’s army gave in their blood, sweat, and tears as they struck with a pair of touchdowns to Noah Thomas. Both the teams had traded a touch and field goal each. But when Auburn signal-caller Payton Thorne paired with his fellow WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Elko could then feel the pressure.

And as expected at the end it was Hugh Freeze who had the chance to boast a happy grin as his Tigers forced overtime with Ian Vachon’s 29-yard field goal with only five seconds left. So no matter how late the turnover was, Mike Elko ultimately was the loser for not setting his targets right!