“Fayetteville’s going to be a really challenging place to play.”
That was Texas A&M’s Mike Elko’s tone-setter as the Aggies turn the page from Florida to Arkansas. The head coach spoke calmly at his press conference, but firmly about what’s ahead, a dangerous road test, an emotional opponent, and a critical stretch in the Aggies’ pursuit of the playoffs.
“They’re averaging over 500 yards a game,” Elko said. “They’re averaging just under 40 points a game. They have the second fewest punts in the conference. They score. They score a lot. Obviously, Coach Petrino has done a phenomenal job calling offenses for a really long time. Now, as the interim head coach, returning to Fayetteville, you can imagine probably the emotion that will be into that game for him and for that team. So we will get their best.”
The Aggies arrive with momentum after what Elko called their most complete performance since his arrival, a 34–17 win over Florida that showed both balance and maturity.
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“I thought we played a complete balanced game,” he said. “It was the first time where we went from good to bad to good, and those things are good signs. When you can have some adversity on defense and then straighten it out and finish the right way, when you can start well on offense, have some adversity, and then find a way to put the game away, I think those things are all good signs of growth and kind of where we’re headed.”
But the victory came with a setback. “Lev’s going to be out probably for a significant period of time,” Elko said of running back Le’Veon Moss. “It’s an isolated injury that happened on that tackle. It’s an ankle, not a knee, which is a really positive sign. It certainly will not end his season, but it’s going to be a significant amount of time.”
Elko turned quickly to the next man up, Rueben Owens, a player he believes is finally finding his rhythm. “Rueben’s starting to hit his stride,” Elko said. “It’s good for him that now he’s kind of hitting his groove and it’s going to be really big for him to go out there and shoulder the load.”
As he spoke, Elko’s voice carried its usual mix of precision and perspective, the kind that’s helped reshape the Aggies’ mindset “There’s humility and there’s confidence,” he said. “And those two things can coexist. We’ll be very humble and very confident. That’s the program we would like to be.”