Texas A&M (8-4, 5-3 SEC) and first-year head coach Mike Elko ended the 2024 season on a low note, losing to rival Texas 17-7 in a game where the offense failed to find the endzone and didn’t take advantage of several late turnovers outside of cornerback Will Lee’s pick-six.
Texas A&M finished 8-4, which is now being mocked by the Longhorn fanbase as the best record the Aggies can accomplish or something around those trollish lines, but, hey, Elko and his staff can only blame themselves for the lack of adjustments after finishing 1-3, and 0-3 in SEC play.
On Monday, as the dust settled after the loss, USA TODAY’s Dan Wolken included the Aggies in his latest edition of the “Misery Index,” noting that Texas A&M is miserable, but not miserable enough after missing out on another conference championship appearance.
“After a 13-year pause in the Aggies’ rivalry with Texas, they had it all teed up for a clash with massive implications. Despite already having three losses, Texas A&M could have gotten to the SEC title game with a win and potentially made the playoff.
Instead, Texas overcame an incredibly juiced-up crowd at Kyle Field and controlled the game from start to finish in a 17-7 victory. The sad part for Aggies fans is that they had a really nice 8-4 season and showed a lot more toughness and substance than any team Jimbo Fisher put on the field over the previous six seasons.
But when you lose it all at the hands of your most-hated rival, especially under these circumstances, that’s all anyone will remember. For a dozen years, Texas A&M held its SEC membership over the Longhorns’ heads. Now, they’re conference mates again — and Texas is clearly the better program already.”
Yes, Texas is the better overall program from a development perspective, but it’s fair to note that Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is in his fourth year, after finishing 5-7 and 8-5 in his first two seasons.
Texas A&M Mike Elko has laid the groundwork to improve year after year, especially from a culture perspective.
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