COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — Texas A&M football dropped its first game of the season Saturday, falling to Kentucky 31-21 in its SEC opener at Kyle Field in College Station.
The Aggies turned the ball over 5 times and failed to capitalize on early scoring opportunities, allowing Kentucky to seize momentum and pull away in the second half.
Head coach Mike Elko did not mince words after the loss.
"Hats off to Kentucky. They came in here, and they beat our ass, um, not good enough from us on any level: coaching, playing, performing, physicality, anything. And so it's on me. I own it. It's my program. I'm in charge of it, and we have to get it fixed."
The two teams went into halftime tied at 7. The Aggies' defense fell apart after the break, surrendering 3 straight touchdown drives that put Kentucky firmly in control. Texas A&M trailed 28-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
Elko said the team came out of halftime expecting things to go their way rather than earning it.
"I think when you expect things to happen, you can get in a lot of trouble in this game. At 7-7, obviously we didn't feel great about how we had performed or where we were, um, you know, expected us to come out in the second half as we have traditionally done, um, and I, it kind of felt like we came out in the second half without the energy that we needed."
Kentucky's passing game found consistent success through the second half, with Elko pointing to eye discipline as a major factor.
"I think we, we got, um, had a lot of eye violation issues, um, did a really, really poor job of putting our eyes where they needed to go. Um, you know, obviously they hit a couple for sure where they just got, they beat us, um, but felt like, felt like, um, most of the ones in the second half it felt like we were gimmes and you can't have gimmes in this conference."
Safety Marcus Ratcliffe echoed that assessment, saying Kentucky's scheme exploited the Aggies' eyes all afternoon.
"They do a good job of, um, making the defense use their eyes. Um, they do a lot of post-snap motion, pre-snap motion, get condensed to try to expand you, and, um, it was just on starting with me and the defense in general just we our eyes were really bad today."
Kentucky's run game also gave the Aggies trouble. Ratcliffe said missed tackles and misfits allowed short gains to turn into explosive plays.
"I think we kind of went back to the problems that we had in the past where we missed tackles, misfits, um, stuff like that, like, as you can see, they, they get explosive yards because of it. One play turns into 20, 30 yards even though we stuffed the two before that."
Elko said the run defense was simply poor across the board and noted that defensive lineman KJ Edwards went down with an injury and was unavailable for much of the game. Edwards had been expected to play a significant role, particularly with another player already sidelined heading into the week.
Ratcliffe said the message at halftime was straightforward, but the team couldn't execute it.
"The message was just, just to be ourselves, play our game. Uh, I, I thought that they came out and they were playing harder than we were, and so we obviously wanted to play harder than they were in the second half, um, and then our eyes just got us again in the second half."
Ratcliffe also said a loose week of practice contributed to the performance.
"Uh, I just think in practice things were loose. Um, we weren't, weren't really key, keyed in on the small details of football. So I think that's what I mean by loose. Uh, yeah, like you just said, it starts with me. Obviously I gotta be better. I gotta tighten things up, um, make sure we focus on the small little things, and, uh, we'll do that going into next week."
On offense, quarterback Marcel Reed and the Aggies moved the ball early but repeatedly stalled in scoring situations. Reed said the inability to finish drives in the red zone was the biggest issue.
"I think we just didn't finish, you know, we, we, we moved the ball, um, pretty well early. Uh, we got in the red zone and didn't capitalize, so that was the biggest thing, and, um, you know, that gave them some momentum swing early in the game, and, uh, they held on to it."
Reed also lost two receivers to injury during the game. Wide receiver Terry went down on the first play of the game, compounding the absence of Ashton, who was already out heading into the contest. Reed said the losses were difficult but credited the depth behind them.
"Obviously, uh, it hurts to see that, um, you know, knowing Ashton was already out of the game and then, uh, Terry goes down first play, um, you know, it's not ideal, but, um, we got some uh athletic guys, great receivers behind us, and, um, you know, they're, they're ready to come in and work. So, um, it's always been a next man up thing for, uh, Texas A&M football."
Elko said Terry's status is not encouraging and that more information would come Monday.
"That's probably gonna be a long one. We'll, we'll hold a little bit on until Monday, but that, that doesn't, there's no signs that indicate that's good right now."
Reed struggled with his mechanics throughout the afternoon, including a pair of underthrown passes on critical downs. He acknowledged the misses and said the fixes are straightforward.
"I just gotta, I gotta get my foot down, my back foot down, keep my knee bent and, uh, make the throw. I missed a lot and, um, you know, those are the ones I wish I had back. Um, you know, I just got to get back and kind of make sure I get those throws down, so, uh, they're layups for me, but, you know, those should, those should be throws that I make easily, and, uh, I didn't make them, and, uh, they were costly, so I got to fix it."
Elko said Reed is pressing, and that the mental side of the game is the primary obstacle right now.
"I think it's a, it's a plethora of things. I, I think probably more than anything it's a kid who's pressing, um, you know, there's a lot of noise. He's feeling like he feels like he's got to defend himself a lot. Um, that's not an excuse, but that's a reality. Um, you know, you can see him pressing. You can see the stress in him when he's trying to throw because he's trying to be perfect. Um, I think that's why he plays better in 2 minutes because he can, you know, the back-against-the-wall type mentality and he can just relax. Um, but I've got to get him mentally to a place where he can really cut it loose and feel free and play."
Reed agreed with the assessment and said the solution starts with his own mindset.
"It definitely felt like that. Uh, that was a good analogy, and I think, you know, the, the way for me to get out of that is just kind of calm myself down and, you know, obviously tell myself I can make those throws because I know I can make those throws and just do it. Um, you know, I, it's, I got out of rhythm, um, uh, you know, I think my base was bad and, um, I gotta fix that."
Reed added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Aggies some life, but the comeback fell short. A fourth-quarter interception, which Reed said came from trying to force a big play while down two scores, helped seal the outcome.
"Tried to force the ball, um, yeah, I think, you know, we were down 2 scores at the time and, um, try to make a big play that probably didn't need to make in the moment but I tried to make so, um, you know, I can't force it next time."
Reed said the mental side is what he needs to address most urgently.
"Right now it definitely feels, uh, more mental and, and I can control that, so, um. I gotta fix that immediately and, um, you know, just, just, you know, build my confidence back up. Um, it's not like I lost it or anything, but um, you know, this one definitely hurt; it's not fun losing, and uh it's a conference game, but you know I can make those throws and I will make those throws down the stretch."
Reed said he wants to be the standard-bearer for accountability heading into next week.
"Yeah, I just got to be a leader. I gotta be vocal, and I got to make sure everybody Is doing what they're supposed to do, including me, and it starts with me, so I gotta, I gotta do my part. I got to be the one who's accountable, dependable, uh, so that everybody else is doing the same thing."
When asked about positives from the game, Elko was blunt.
"There's no positives, not an ounce of a positive anywhere. So there's a, there's a, there's a product that's not good enough that starts with me. I did not do a good enough job of coaching this team, preparing this team, and getting this team ready to play this week, so I don't take any positives from this game."
Elko also made a point to give Kentucky full credit.
"I hate when coaches get on the podium and don't give respect to the team that beat them. Kentucky came in here, and they whooped us, and so that should be the story of the game."
Elko delivered a pointed message about how the program needs to respond in the days ahead.
"Everybody will quit on us. That's how this thing works. Uh, it's never been about everybody. It's only been about the people inside that locker room, and the people inside that locker room got to make a decision about how they want to come together and how they want to move forward. And so, um, it'll be a pivotal 7 days for us, uh, in terms of how we respond, how we come back, how we prepare, and how we get ourselves ready to go down to Baton Rouge and play a really good football team."
Ratcliffe said the team's message to Aggie fans is simple.
"It's 100% on us. It starts with me. Um, I didn't play the best game that I could have played. Um, we had a really loose week, and so, um, there's a lot of season, there's a lot of football ahead of us. Um, our season didn't end today and, um, so Monday we're gonna tighten things up and attack next week."
Texas A&M will look to bounce back next week when it travels to Baton Rouge for its first road game of the season against LSU.
