Mike Elko is standing firmly behind Marcel Reed as No. 23 Texas A&M heads to Baton Rouge, looking to rebound from a brutal loss to Kentucky.
Texas A&M’s season reached its first real crisis point against Kentucky. Now Mike Elko wants to see how his team responds.
The No. 23 Aggies head to Baton Rouge on Saturday to face No. 10 LSU after falling 31-21 at home to Kentucky, a loss that dropped Texas A&M to 2-1 and 0-1 in SEC play.
LSU enters with the same record after a 32-24 loss at Ole Miss.
Elko isn’t trying to soften what happened.
“There’s nothing else you can say, there’s nothing else you can do — you have to own it,” Elko said. “We got kicked in the face, and now we’ve got to get up and go to Baton Rouge.”
Much of the criticism has centered on quarterback Marcel Reed, but Elko made it clear he isn’t wavering.
“Let’s be careful that we don’t lose faith in the guy who has led us to an awful lot of victories,” Elko said. “He’s been a really, really successful quarterback at Texas A&M. People better not forget that.”
The numbers support Elko’s confidence.
Reed entered the season with 5,407 career passing yards, 41 touchdown passes and 1,085 rushing yards, along with 14 rushing touchdowns.
He also has a history of hurting LSU, including a three-rushing-touchdown performance against the Tigers in 2024 and 108 rushing yards against them in 2025.
Texas A&M’s problems extend beyond quarterback, though.
Elko said the Aggies are still searching for a clear identity and emphasized that he wants his team to become more physical at the line of scrimmage.
“We want to be a physical team,” he said. “We want to be a team that can control the line of scrimmage.”
That challenge becomes especially important against LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt. Elko said containing and pressuring Leavitt will be one of the defining factors Saturday night.
“Our ability to impact him and affect him, pressure him will play such a big role,” Elko said.
Both teams enter Tiger Stadium needing a response.
For Texas A&M, that means proving the Kentucky loss was an aberration rather than the beginning of something bigger.
