A&M's season ends with microcosmic second-half collapse in Las Vegas

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LAS VEGAS — Sleep probably won’t come easy for Texas A&M’s frustrated football faithful.

The recurring nightmare that is A&M’s pass defense likely will have them tossing, turning and losing covers.

Coverage was a colossal problem as the Aggies (8-5) suffered a 35-31 Las Vegas Bowl loss to USC (7-6) at Allegiant Stadium.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava exploited A&M’s sieve-like secondary on a game-winning drive that culminated with a game-winning seven-yard touchdown to receiver Kyle Ford with eight seconds remaining.

Maiava, who threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns, completed nine passes on the clinching 10-play drive, including one to himself (really).

That dreadful finish by the A&M defense surely left Aggies everywhere insanely frustrated.

If it’s any consolation, Aggie coach Mike Elko was just as frustrated.

“The story of the game is the story of our season,” Elko said. “We can’t cover the forward pass well enough to be a good football team.”

For that reason, there was a feeling of dread even when A&M quarterback Marcel Reed ran 19 yards for a touchdown to give A&M a 31-28 lead.

When he scored, 1:49 remained on the clock. Earlier, USC scored a touchdown on a drive that took just 1:26.

So despite having the lead, there was apprehension on the A&M sideline.

“I have a lot of apprehension when the other team is going to drop back and throw the ball,” Elko said. “I’ve had apprehension all season starting with Florida. We got lucky. Starting against Missouri. We got lucky. LSU threw for 400 yards. It’s been a problem all season.

“We can’t play zone coverage. Every time we play zone coverage we give up big plays. We have no concept of space. We have no concept of zone coverage. No concept of what we’re doing, so we have to play man-to-man all the time.”

Complicating matters, All-SEC cornerback Will Lee III was sidelined with a sore hamstring. Therefore, nickelback BJ Mayes shifted to corner, which he had not played since early in the season.

But that wasn’t the only issue in A&M’s fourth consecutive loss to a Power 4 opponent.

There were too many missed opportunities. Too many mistakes. Too many missed passes. Too many missed tackles.

TexAgs

Texas A&M dropped four of its final five games of the 2024 season to end 8-5 overall. 

A&M seemingly had a chance to take control in the first half. The Aggies began with an impressive 16-play drive for a Reed touchdown pass to Noah Thomas. It was the first of three touchdown passes Reed threw, two of them to Thomas.

But then came reminders of why A&M fell from Southeastern Conference Championship contender to obscure secondary bowl game participant in December.

After the opening touchdown, the Aggies’ next two series ended with interceptions. Reed made a poor decision on the first one. Thomas deflected the ball into the hands of an USC defensive back in the end zone on the other.

Rather than leading by 14 points or more at halftime, the Aggies were locked in a 7-7 tie.

Then, A&M appeared to take command in the second half. Reed threw another touchdown pass to Thomas. Randy Bond kicked a short field goal. Defensive end Cashius Howell made a spectacular interception to set Reed for a five-yard touchdown pass to Jabre Barber.

That staked A&M to a 24-7 lead midway through the third quarter.

But the Aggies then managed only 32 yards and one first down and missed a field goal attempt on their next three possessions.

Meanwhile, USC scored three unanswered touchdowns to take a 28-24 lead.

Reed then ran for 34 yards and passed for 41 yards on a 75-yard touchdown march as the Aggies regained the lead.

But then their coverage failed again as it has so many times since November.

“We’ve got to play ball,” Howell said. “We can’t keep talking about it and when it comes down to it just shrivel up and shy away from it. As an overall team we just have to play football better. It’s that simple.”

Unfortunately, the solution isn’t simple.

Upgrading defense in general and the secondary in particular will be a major task in the offseason.

The Aggies cannot challenge for championships until gaping holes in the secondary are closed.

Elko all but vowed he’d find a way to close them.

“I won’t watch a defense play like this ever again,” he said.

Maybe that proclamation will be sufficient to help give rest to all those frustrated Aggies.