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Texas A&M’s 44-20 loss to South Carolina last Saturday got worse on Monday when coach Mike Elko revealed star running back Le’Veon Moss will miss the remainder of the season.
Moss, the Aggies’ leading rusher, suffered an apparent knee injury at the end of a 20-yard gain on a reception in the first quarter.
His season ends with him as the third-ranked rusher in the Southeastern Conference with 765 rushing yards. He scored 10 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 10 passes for 141 yards.
“It’s extremely unfortunate for him because obviously he was having such a good year,” Elko said. “He was in such a good place. You hate to see a kid like that have to go through the adversity he’s going to have to go through to get back.”
Backup running back Amari Daniels elevates to the starting lineup. EJ Smith will be the primary backup.
Daniels has led A&M in rushing in each of the past two games. Last week, he rushed for 83 yards and scored on a 56-yard run.
Overall, he’s rushed for 466 yards and has scored six touchdowns.
There could be position changes to boost the depth at running back.
“It’s extremely unfortunate for him because obviously he was having such a good year. He was in such a good place. You hate to see a kid like that have to go through the adversity he’s going to have to go through to get back.”
- Mike Elko on Le’Veon Moss
Freshman receiver Terry Bussey has carried the football on sweeps, but Elko didn’t appear too committed to that notion.
“Obviously, Terry is talented,” Elko said. “Even when you look around the country at the freshmen that are making big highlights, if you really study their 50-play body of work, every freshman who steps into college football has development that’s needed.
“Terry certainly is no different. What we’re trying to do is continue to grow him as a wide receiver. Continue to make him more and more comfortable in what we’re trying to do. Continue to find ways to get the football in his hands as best we can. Continue to try to do it in ways that the whole world doesn’t know it’s coming, which is a challenge, too.”
Offensive coordinator Collin Klein acknowledged that play calling may have to be adjusted. He said there are specific plays designed for certain guys that might have to be changed.
But Klein suggested that Daniels and Smith can adequately replace Moss’ production.
“It’ll be a shared effort through the room,” Klein said. “I think there’s different ways we can spread the ball and get it into different people’s hands to help take that load.
“Not taking anything away from Lev and what he’s been able to do for our offense and the player that he is, but I have great faith in the guys around him and in the room to step up and make those plays.
“I think that’s been a testament to our unit all year is guys being able to step up when their number is called.”
Moss is the second running back A&M has lost for the season to a “lower leg” injury. Rueben Owens was lost in August camp.
Though there was hope Owens might be able to return, Elko indicated that’s unlikely unless it’s in postseason play.
“Probably not realistic,” Elko said. “I think when we initially diagnosed it it was if the season got extended we felt like there was a chance. I think we’re probably still in that situation. Maybe there’s an outside shot he could be a little earlier.
“He’s just now starting to get to the point where we can start testing it. We haven’t really even been able to get him on the hard surface running yet. So, it’s still too early to tell how that will play out.”
Taking responsibility
Elko recited a long list of failures in the South Carolina loss and took total responsibility for them.
“Not really too many ways to sugarcoat it. We played really bad. Coached a really bad game. Played a really bad game. That’s just something we have to own,” he said. “Defensively, it starts with me. We had a poor plan. We had poor answers. Run defense wasn’t what we needed it to be. There were too many missed assignments. There were too many perimeter edge issues. Then in the pass game, I thought we had too many busts in the fourth quarter.
“Offensively, it starts with me. We had a poor plan. We didn’t do the things we need to do to be successful. We were awful in short yardage. I thought we had too many negative plays whether it was botched handoffs, botched exchanges that just set some drives back.”
Elko also pointed out the No. 15 Aggies (7-2, 5-1) remain tied for first place in the SEC standings heading into an open date this weekend.
“You’ve got to take advantage of the bye week,” he said. “You’ve got to go out and you’ve got to get better. You’ve got to put yourself in position to play good football three straight Saturdays starting with New Mexico State (Nov. 16). If we can do that, everything we want is still right in front of us.”
No benefits to losing
There is a school of thought that losses can be beneficial because they reveal issues that need to be fixed.
Jeff Blake-Imagn Images
Texas A&M erased an early 14-0 deficit against South Carolina to forge a 20-20 tie heading into halftime. Yet, the Gamecocks separated themselves in the third quarter to deal the Aggies their first loss in SEC play this season.
Elko doesn’t adhere to that philosophy.
“I hate losing,” he said. “I want a program that hates losing. I want a program that knows how to respond to losing, for sure. That’s a big piece of it — learning how to respond.
“We’ve got to get to a point here — and this is what was said to the guys in the locker room postgame — where we can fix problems through victory. You don’t want to be the program that has to lose to then identify all the issues that are growing to then fix them.
“I think maybe to some degree that got us on Saturday.”
Penalty problems
A&M’s defense committed six penalties for 63 yards in the loss to South Carolina.
Two of those penalties were on defensive tackle Shemar Turner. He was called for a low-hit roughing the passer and was flagged for unnecessary roughness after A&M had recovered a fumble.
In the previous game, he was cited for a late hit on LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. Turner has been called for four 15-yard penalties.
Elko acknowledged there has been conversation with Turner about those penalties.
“The conversation is you can’t have post-snap 15-yard penalties,” Elko said. “They’re killers. They’re selfish. You can’t do it.
“But I have to find a different way to get that message across because it’s clearly not working.”
