This time, Mike Elko’s Texas A&M hosted Auburn in Week 5 with a mission: To avoid upset for the second year in a row. The 2024 heartbreak is still raw in Elko’s heart when Hugh Freeze’s boys defeated Texas A&M 43-41 in four overtimes last season, putting a big dent in the Aggies’ College Football Playoff hopes. As Texas A&M opened the Kyle Field gates to the fans, maybe the fans, too, were up for the revenge-taking narrative. And how can we claim so? The turnout figure says it all. 

Elko’s home ground since 1905, Kyle Field, is regarded as one of the nation’s most intimidating road venues. With this, Texas A&M boasted one of the nation’s best home records at 55–4–1, including 31 straight wins at Kyle Field from 1990 to 1995 and 22 straight from 1996 to 2000. Their highest attendance at Kyle Field was made a decade back, during their face-off against Ole Miss on October 11, 2014. The footfall was 110,633. Now, what about this time when Elko planned to give Freeze and Co. a hard time?

On September 27, Texas A&M Football tweeted, “108,449 strong 💪 5th largest Kyle Field attendance EVER.” In just two years, Kyle Field went from legendary to next level. Elko’s home ground underwent a $485 million renovation and turned Kyle Field into a towering fortress of 102,733 seats, ranking among the five largest stadiums in college football. However, Elko’s Texas A&M proved size was no issue, drawing over 100,000 fans to every home game in 2014.

Going by the Kyle Field’s attendance records, Elko’s program has hit the second largest on November 6, 2021, against Auburn, when 109,835 fans made it to the fields. At No.3 is the November 30, 2024, game against in-state rivals Texas, where Texas A&M hit an attendance record of 109,028. The October 26, 2024, game against LSU had an attendance of 108,852. In 2025, under Elko, the Aggies hit the attendance record for the third time. After September 27, the 108,449 record made against Auburn replaces 108,101 against Alabama from October 7, 2023.

Now, the Auburn vs Texas A&M game was bound to draw a crowd. Elko’s boys jumped seven spots over the last two AP top 25 rankings after bringing home a signature 40-41 victory against Notre Dame. Right now, Texas A&M sits at No.9 entering its SEC opener at home in front of The 12th Man on September 27. Cut to Freeze’s Tigers, they slid out of the polls after a seven-point loss at Oklahoma. 

The ghosts of the past repeated as Jackson Arnold was sacked 10 times, falling to 0-1 in SEC play. While it’s a historic night for Elko’s squad, it turns into a cursed day that Freeze would definitely want to erase from their memory.

Mike Elko’s Texas A&M deepens Hugh Freeze’s curse

Right after the game, Justin Hokanson came up with a heartbreaking insight. He tweeted, “Auburn finishes with 176 yards of offense. That’s the lowest total in the Freeze Era.” That’s how Elko’s boys handed the Tigers a parting gift. Since Freeze became Auburn’s head coach, the team had never put up such a small number offensively. It marks their worst offensive output of his tenure. The SEC standard is averaging 350–450 yards per game, and here, Elko and Co. throttled them at 176.

Is that enough pain that Texas A&M inflicted on Freeze’s program? Nope. As Hokanson addressed the elephant in the room, “Auburn starts 0-2 in SEC play for the third-straight season. It’s the first time in program history that’s happened, per the broadcast. Goodness.” So, Year 2 luck did not favor Freeze to get rid of the curse. But no matter what, Elko still held Auburn at the pedestal, showing respect towards Freeze’s squad. 

“They’ll be a team that’s got their backs against the wall. I’m sure they’ll put their best foot forward,” said the Texas A&M head coach about Auburn last week. On the other hand, Freeze lost cool about his own boys. During their face-off against Oklahoma, Freeze’s boys got crushed under the burden of 22 penalties. 

Jackson Arnold uncorked a 40-yard rocket to Cam Coleman to spark Auburn’s second-quarter hopes, but the drive unraveled in a storm of yellow, two false starts, a hold, and a delay of the game. Later, with just over seven minutes remaining, Courtland Guillory’s costly pass interference on fourth-and-6 handed over fresh life at the goal line. And the Auburn head coach’s reaction? “Undisciplined, bad decisions….man, that was disappointing and certainly undisciplined,” said the head coach. And that’s how Mike Elko turned Hugh Freeze’s mood from sour to downright bitter.