Minimizing penalties is paramount as No. 6 A&M focuses on Week 6

Click HERE to view Texas A&M’s Monday press conference.

A penchant to draw yellow flags is raising red flags for Texas A&M.

The Aggies are among the most penalized teams in college football. A glut of infractions could mean the difference between a championship season and another mediocre finish.

Coach Mike Elko isn’t waving a white flag, though. At his weekly press conference on Monday, he revealed the Elko-to-Cabo plan to reduce A&M’s penalties.

“I’ve tried all kinds of things,” Elko said. “So, today, what we started was the Texas A&M football coaches’ Cabo fund. What’s gonna happen now is every time one of our players gets a penalty, they’re going to contribute to the coaches’ Cabo fund. We’ll see if that works.”

Elko was joking. Right? Yeah, he was joking.

But the penalties issue is no joke.

The Aggies are ranked 125th in the nation with an average of 77.3 penalty yards per game. In the 16-10 victory over Auburn last week, the Aggies were penalized 13 times for 119 yards in losses. Penalties, perhaps more than anything else, turned what could’ve been a lopsided Aggies victory into a close game.

A&M also had 13 penalties for 86 yards in losses in a 41-40 victory over Notre Dame.

Penalties happen. They’re an accepted part of football, but a double-digit number of penalties is unacceptable.

Mental mistakes that cause penalties are especially frustrating.

“I think the pre-snap and post-snap ones drive you crazy as a coach. You should have zero of them,” Elko said. “We should never have false starts. We certainly shouldn’t have things happening after the whistle.

“Those are all discipline things. I take those very personally. Those are on me. Those are the result of a really poorly-coached football team. So, that’s how I feel about those.”

Pump the brakes. No one is suggesting the Aggies under Elko are poorly coached. Indeed, they’re 4-0 for the first time since 2016.

And to be fair, some of the penalties called by the Southeastern Conference officiating crew last week were debatable. A holding call on Mark Nabou Jr. that squashed a 19-yard run was questionable. A running into the punter call was curious. A second-quarter personal foul was bogus.

Elko isn’t making excuses, though.

“The 13 that we had on Saturday, I would probably say I was OK with two of them. That’s not good,” he said. “That’s not where we need to be, and that’s not something that I’m comfortable with.

“I can sit up here and talk bout it, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to get it fixed on the field. That’s my job. And so we’ll try to get that done.”

Either that or book an extended trip to Cabo.

Above-average leverage

A&M’s run defense was a point of concern, especially after UTSA’s Robert Henry Jr. broke off a 75-yard run on the first play of the second half in the season-opener.

Since then, the A&M run defense has been exceptional.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

Texas A&M DL DJ Hicks was one of several Aggies named player of the week by Mike Elko following Saturday’s game against Auburn.

In the roughly three-and-a-half games since Henry’s long run, the Aggies have allowed 292 rushing yards on 114 carries. That’s a 2.3-yard per attempt average.

That’s even more impressive considering one of A&M’s opponents in that stretch is Notre Dame, which has exceeded 200 rushing yards in each of its last two games.

How did A&M so abruptly fix its run defense? Without revealing any secrets, Elko said it’s a matter of leverage.

“I think, you know, the standard reaction to poor rush defense is always the defensive line isn’t good enough,” he said. “Sometimes that’s the case, but for us, that hasn’t been. We are firm. We are strong against the run. We hold the point well.

“What we’ve had troubles with, really, since I’ve been here, has been leveraging the football. That has presented itself in a lot of different ways.”

Those ways usually led to breakdowns on the edges, which enabled opponents to break off big runs down the sidelines.

Constant conversation, emphasis, drills and practice are paying off.

“If we can keep the ball inside of us, we have a shot,” Elko said. “I think when we do that, the run averages are what they should be.”

Third down dominance

The Aggies did not allow Auburn to convert on 13 third-down situations. That’s an amazing statistic that was arguably the primary reason A&M won.

Consequently, A&M is ranked 10th in the nation in third-down defense. Opponents have converted on only 14 of 57 third downs for a mere 24.56 percent success rate.

Elko’s defenses have typically been successful on third downs.

“I just think it’s always a down that we’ve put a real premium on,” he said. “Everybody says that, but we emphasize it a lot.

“We spend a lot of time on it. I enjoy it, probably more than I do any other part of the game. So, maybe, just personally, I get a little bit more excited when it’s time to come up with a third-down game plan.”

Will Huffman, TexAgs

Taurean York was Texas A&M’s defensive player of the week for a seven-tackle performance vs. Auburn that included a sack, two TFLs, three QB hurries and a pass breakup.

No extra motivation

Coaches often seek ways to draw the best out of players for an upcoming game.

But Elko isn’t playing any mind games with receiver Mario Craver, who’ll be facing old teammates when the Aggies play Mississippi State on Saturday.

“I try not to make a big deal about that, you know,” Elko said. “It’s just another game for him.”

Craver transferred from Mississippi State after last season. Craver had 17 catches for 368 yards and three touchdowns for the Bulldogs last season.

He has already exceeded those numbers at A&M. Craver has 24 receptions for 477 yards and four touchdowns. He leads the SEC with an average of 119.3 receiving yards per game.

NOTES

• Elko wore a long-sleeve black t-shirt to his press conference to set the tone for Saturday’s “Operation Blackout” game. The team will wear black uniforms, and fans are encouraged to dress in black.

• Elko said the playing status of linebacker Scooby Williams, who sat out the game against Auburn with an undisclosed injury, is “day-to-day.”

• Elko announced players of the week for the Auburn game included running back Le’Veon Moss (offense), linebacker Taurean York (defense), Jarred Kerr (special teams), Dametrious Crownover (offensive line), DJ Hicks (defensive line), Luke Braden (scout team offense), Tommy Collegian (scout team defense) and Jesse Chukwu (scout team special teams).

• Elko opened his press conference expressing condolences for the passing of former mascot Reveille IX, who served as the active mascot from 2015 to 2021. Reveille IX passed away on Saturday due to complications from pneumonia.

• The Southeastern Conference announced kickoff for A&M’s game against Florida on Oct. 11 at Kyle Field will be 6, 6:30 or 6:45 p.m. A final designation will be determined after the conclusion of games on Oct. 4.