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The finish at Notre Dame was a good start.
That seemed to be the message Texas A&M football coach Mike Elko delivered on Monday at his weekly press conference.
Of course, the finish he referenced was A&M’s clutch drive for a game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining in the Aggies’ 41-40 victory over Notre Dame.
An open date last Saturday provided Elko a week to ponder what those last-minute heroics might mean to the A&M program moving forward.
“That was a huge step for our program,” Elko said. “I think the biggest thing is, you know, when you get in those moments, you’ve got to ultimately find a way to get the job done in order to move the program forward.
“We had an opportunity to do that at Auburn last year. We had an opportunity to do that in the bowl game last year. We weren’t able to finish it the right way.”
Last season, A&M gave up a late scoring drive, which enabled Auburn to force overtime. The Tigers eventually prevailed.
Then they gave up a touchdown with eight seconds remaining to fall to USC in the Las Vegas Bowl.
But in the win over Notre Dame, the Aggies drove 74 yards in 13 plays for quarterback Marcel Reed’s triumphant 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nate Boerkircher.
“It was good to get into a game and finish it,” Elko said.
However, Elko reminded that the Aggies just finished a game. The job is not finished. Rather, it’s just getting started.
Southeastern Conference play begins on Saturday with the Aggies (3-0) facing Auburn (3-1) at Kyle Field, kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT
“Three weeks does not make a finish,” Elko said. “We have a lot of football left and a lot of things that we’ve got to do in order to accomplish what we want to accomplish.
“We have zero SEC wins right now. We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to do still.”
Psychology 101
Auburn has allowed 16 sacks, which is the most in the SEC. The Tigers gave up nine sacks last weekend in a loss to Oklahoma. They even allowed five in a lopsided win over Ball State.
Therefore, it stands to reason that A&M can expect to put relentless pressure on Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold, right?
Wrong, says Elko.
He expects to face the absolute best version of Auburn’s offensive line in pass protection.
“I think they’re extremely talented up front,” Elko said. “I think it was a little bit of an anomaly on Saturday (vs. Oklahoma). We’ve got a ton of respect for them.
“I think human psychology says absolutely, without doubt, the best unit on the field Saturday will be the Auburn offensive line.
“I can promise you that.”
Injury report
Elko said safety Bryce Anderson is not available to play against Auburn.
Anderson was taken from the field on a stretcher after a collision with Notre Dame tight end Eli Raridon. He avoided a “catastrophic injury,” but Elko said he’s still recovering.
Elko said linebacker Scooby Williams, who sustained an undisclosed injury, is “day-to-day and better.”
Tackle Reuben Fatheree II, who hasn’t played this season, could possibly be available this week.
“He was able to go out there and practice today,” Elko said. “Hopeful we’ll have him in some capacity on Saturday, but he’s kind of right at that spot. If I had to guess, he’ll be listed as questionable or probable on Wednesday.”
The SEC requires its teams to report injuries and playing status on Wednesdays.
Getting mental
A few mental lapses have cost the Aggies, especially on defense.
Elko said they keep working hard to iron out those problems.
“I think just (we’re) continuing to do the best of our ability to point things out in hopes that at some point you click with a little bit higher level of consistency of performance,” he said. “Obviously, if I had a better answer, we would have solved it already. That’s not an excuse. It’s just reality.
“But still extremely diligent at it. Still working hard. Still trying to find creative ways to get it with how we teach, how we call things, what we call, what we do, what they’re comfortable doing.
“Just trying to find that recipe to get that right.”
Triple threats
Next season, the SEC will move from an eight-game conference schedule to nine games. Each team will have three annual conference opponents that it will play for the next four years.
On Monday, Chris Lowe of on3sports.com, citing sources, revealed the three annual opponents of each SEC team.
A&M’s are Texas, LSU and Missouri.
Elko, with priorities focused on this season, didn’t have much reaction to who he will face in the future.
“Obviously, we’re playing the state-state rivalry (Texas),” he said. “You’re always good to play LSU. You know, I guess Missouri… I’m not sure how that fit. But it is what it is, so however they did that would be fine.”
