After Miami’s 10–3 win, Mike Elko stepped to the podium already sounding like a coach living inside the offseason.
The loss ended the Texas A&M Aggies’ first College Football Playoff appearance and sealed an 11-win season that came down to five unforgiving yards. Elko didn’t soften it or search for cover. He stated it plainly.
“We came up five yards short,” he said. “That’s something we’ll have to live with throughout the off-season.”
The words carried weight because they were final. Texas A&M had defended, strained, and survived for four quarters, only to watch its season stall at the edge of continuing. The night narrowed until nothing was left.
MORE: Miami superfan Abella Danger teases ‘quite informative’ reason for cheering on Canes in CFP
Elko’s most emotional moments surfaced when the conversation shifted from schemes to people. Specifically, the seniors who played their final snaps under playoff lights.
“I told the seniors who just played their last game that they left a mark on elevating this program that will never go away,” Elko said. “From where this program was two years ago to where it is now, that can’t be lost on people.”
When asked how much it hurt after months spent near the top of the rankings, Elko redirected the focus away from himself.
“It’s not about me,” he said. “I’m a grown man. I can handle it. You hurt for those kids because you know how hard they work, you know what they put into this thing.”
MORE: Warren Sapp trends for all the wrong reasons as Colorado’s defensive line erodes amid mass exodus
There was no attempt to disguise why the season ended here. Elko returned again and again to the same truth.
“You can’t play playoff football and not win the line of scrimmage,” he said. “We lost it.”
Miami controlled the trenches in the second half, turning pressure into inevitability. Texas A&M couldn’t establish the run. The margin shrank. The final opportunity never fully opened.
Still, Elko refused to let the ending overwrite the meaning of the season.
“People will try to knock what they did,” he said. “That won’t be fair to them.”
More college football news:
- Kane Wommack says Alabama’s culture showed itself when the punches came
- Three Clemson defenders projected as first round picks in latest CBS Sports NFL mock draft
- Brian Hartline sends a message to Chris Henry Jr. After choosing Ohio State