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Game #11: No. 3 Texas A&M 48, Samford 0
Records: Texas A&M (11-0, 7-0), Samford (1-11, 1-7)
Box Score
The benevolence of Mike Elko was on full display at Kyle Field.
The Texas A&M football coach gave quarterback Marcel Reed a chance to enhance his Heisman Trophy candidacy. Elko gave overmatched Samford a measure of dignity. He gave backups almost three full quarters of playing time.
And he gave the 104,877 assembled at Kyle Field yet another historic victory.
The No. 3 Aggies (11-0) breezed to a 48-0 victory over FCS opponent Samford (1-11) on Saturday for their seventh home win of 2025. It’s the first time in program history that A&M has won seven home games in a single season.
Winning is always of utmost importance. But on Senior Day, getting more players involved was a close second.
“More than anything, it was about getting people in,” Elko said. “I think we wanted today to be about getting some guys an opportunity.”
Mission(s) accomplished.
Senior running back Amari Daniels rushed for 106 yards and scored a touchdown. Freshman defensive end Marco Jones led the Aggies with seven tackles. Freshman linebacker Noah Mikhal was second with six. Freshman running back Tiger Rider Jr. rushed for a touchdown. Senior Preston Landis rushed for one, too. Nana Boadi-Owusu, the 12th Man, posted the Aggies' only sack of the day.
Elko also needed to ensure Reed had sufficient opportunity to be on track with Heisman-contending quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza of Indiana and Julian Sayin of Ohio State.
Reed threw two touchdown passes to Ashton Bethel-Roman — one on a 58-yard bomb — and another to KC Concepcion. He exited the game just four plays into the second quarter with the Aggies holding a 28-0 lead.
Elko could have left Reed in longer to pad his stats.
After all, earlier this season, Mendoza threw six touchdown passes and rushed for another in a 73-0 beatdown of FCS opponent Indiana State. Also, Sayin threw for 306 yards and four touchdown passes in a 70-0 blowout of Grambling.
Elko chose not to humiliate Samford. He replaced Reed with Miles O’Neill. Then he replaced O’Neill with Brady Hart. Later, he brought in Jacob Zeno.
They combined to throw more passes and accumulate more passing yardage than Reed.
Elko knows Reed’s Heisman candidacy won’t benefit too much from his play vs. Samford. Instead, it campaign depends on how he performs next week vs. Texas and in the SEC Championship Game — if the Aggies get there.
That’s why he prioritized letting other players shine. Players like Daniels, who has selflessly accepted his ever-changing role since arriving from Miami in 2021.
When Le’Veon Moss was lost to injury last season, Daniels stepped in and led the Aggies in rushing. But this season, he only had 32 carries before getting nine attempts for a career-high rushing total vs. Samford.
“It was really important to our staff to get him in the end zone,” Elko said. “It was great to see him go over 100 yards.
“He means a lot to this staff. I know it hasn’t been everything he hoped it would be — his senior year — but he continues to battle. He continues to work. I’m sure, at some point, that his name is going to pop up in a meaningful game because it always seems to.”
In this age of the player movement, Daniels could have entered the transfer portal and found a team on which he could start.
Instead, he admirably chose to stay at A&M and wait for opportunities behind Moss, Rueben Owens II, EJ Smith and Jamarion Morrow.
Daniels indicated he never considered leaving. He had a purpose.
“I came back for my last year for like a revenge tour. We left a lot on the table last year,” he said. “(If) We keep playing our best ball week in and week out and just play to our standard each week, we’ll be alright. We’ll be fine. That’ll take us a long way.”
Maybe even all the way back to Miami, where the national championship game will be played this year.
“I tell the guys all the time — joking around — that I’ve got to go back home,” Daniels said. “I’ve got to go back to Miami.”
The next step to getting there is facing Texas, which defeated A&M last season. A berth in the SEC Championship Game will be on the line for the Aggies. A first-round bye in the College Football Playoff might be, too.
That’s a message Elko figures to hammer home to his players throughout the week.
Except, Elko doesn’t think he’ll need to do any hammering.
“I think the beauty of the next one for us is it kind of hammers itself,” he said. “I think that’s the nice thing about having that rivalry at the end of the season.
“We know what it’s all about. We didn’t get it done last year. We know how important it is for us to go out there and play our best football Friday night.”
