Rival joy boomed through the walls, and Mike Elko snapped. After Texas shattered A&M's perfect season, the Aggies' frustration finally boiled over in Austin.
What should’ve been a coronation turned into a gut punch for Texas A&M.
The Aggies walked into Austin with an 11-0 record, a shot at their first SEC Championship appearance and the chance to finally rip the Longhorn off their back.
Instead, they walked out stunned, with a 27-17 loss to Texas, no trip to Atlanta and the sound of Longhorns celebrating pounding through the walls of their own postgame.
That noise became the soundtrack to Mike Elko’s most visibly frustrated moment as Texas A&M’s head coach.
As Elko sat down for his post-game press conference, the roar of the Texas locker room bled into the room. The Longhorns had just ruined the Aggies' perfect season and SEC title hopes, and they were making sure everyone in the building knew it.
Elko tried to focus, but the victory noise kept hammering through.
"Can we close the door?" he snapped, his voice rising before he slammed his hand on the table. "And run a professional press conference, please? My Gosh."
For a brief second, the normally composed Elko wore every bit of the frustration Aggies fans were feeling ... 11-1 instead of 12-0, 5,482 days since their last win over Texas, and the same rival celebrating at their expense yet again.
He shook his head, looked down at the table and then apologized for the outburst, but the moment said everything.
Texas A&M had come into the night hunting history. A win would’ve meant their first 12-win regular season since 1992 and that elusive SEC Championship Game berth that's evaded them since joining the league in 2012.
Instead, a second-half collapse flipped the script. After scoring 30 or more in six of seven SEC games, the Aggies managed just 17 points, surrendered 24 in the second half and watched their undefeated run vanish.
Now, instead of game-planning for Atlanta, A&M will be in wait-and-see mode until Sunday, Dec. 7, when the College Football Playoff committee reveals seeding.
The Aggies still have a strong shot at the playoff and possibly a coveted first-round bye.
But no matter where they land, the image from Austin will linger ... Texas whooping it up through the walls, and Mike Elko pounding the table as the sound of someone else's celebration crashed his.