Click here to view Texas A&M’s postgame press conference.
Game #3: Kentucky 31, No. 9 Texas A&M 21
Records: Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1), Kentucky (2-1, 1-1)
Box Score
Stunned by a disastrous football loss to Kentucky (2-1, 1-1), thousands of Aggies exited Kyle Field on Saturday and probably wondered what just happened.
Texas A&M coach Mike Elko had a blunt answer.
“They came in here and beat our ass,” Elko said. “Not good enough from us on any level — coaching, playing, performing, physicality, anything.
“It’s on me. I own it. It’s my program. I’m in charge of it. We have to get it fixed.
“Questions?”
Well, since Elko asked. The 31-21 Southeastern Conference shellacking, which wasn’t nearly as close as the score suggests, raised a lot of questions about the No. 9 (and falling) Aggies (2-1, 0-1).
- Was earlier success in run defense just a mirage?
- Is the secondary vastly overrated?
- Did Elko panic in a horrific third quarter?
- What’s wrong with Marcel Reed?
- Where does this team go from here?
Perhaps it was an ominous omen when receiver Terry Bussey was injured and left the game on the opening kickoff.
Except that A&M promptly marched downfield 76 yards to the Kentucky 11-yard line where they faced fourth-and-1.
Elko opted to go for it. Rueben Owens II was stopped cold. A great scoring opportunity was wasted.
On the next series, A&M moved from its 28-yard line to Kentucky’s 27. On second down, a Reed pass to Aaron Gregory was intercepted. Another scoring chance denied.
The Aggies finally broke through on their third series. They drove 79 yards in 14 plays for a two-yard touchdown run by freshman Carsyn Baker to take a 7-0 lead.
However, Kentucky struck back for a quick touchdown.
The short pass from quarterback Kenny Minchey to tight end Henry Boyer did more than that forge a 7-7 halftime tie. It completely changed the game.
It was the first of four consecutive Kentucky touchdown drives (excluding one play to run out the first half clock).
Kentucky completely dominated the third quarter. In that quarter alone, the Wildcats outscored A&M 21-0, while rolling up 196 yards of offense compared to 20 for the Aggies.
Minchey consistently burned A&M's secondary for big gains. He had completions of 53, 42, 32 and 28 yards to often wide-open receivers.
“I think we had a lot of eye violation issues,” Elko said of the coverage problems. “(We) Did a really, really poor job of putting our eyes where they needed to go.
“It felt like most of the (long gains) in the second half were gimmes. And you can’t have gimmes in this conference.”
Complicating matters, the Aggies defense fell back into old habits of allowing long gains as Kentucky running backs routinely bursts through gaping holes.
The Kentucky offensive onslaught was so unyielding that Elko, trailing 21-7, opted to go for fourth-and-2 at his own 33-yard line. The Wildcats’ momentum clearly influenced his decision.
“It’s a deal where we feel like we have the look (from the defense) we’re going to try to run the play,” Elko said. “If not, we’re taking the delay (penalty) and punting it.
“We felt like the play was there.”
Baker was open in the right flat, but Reed’s short pass … well, came up short.
Four plays later, Kentucky extended the lead to 28-7 and ensured the Aggies their first loss. A&M tried to make a late rally, but never seriously threatened afterward.
Reed’s misfire was one of many. He also threw two interceptions and completed just 53 percent of his attempts.
Elko said Reed has been pressing and trying to prove himself to critics who doubt his ability.
“That’s not an excuse, but that’s a reality,” Elko said. “You can see him pressing. You can see the stress when he’s trying to throw because he’s trying to be perfect.”
Elko compared Reed to a baseball pitcher who’s suddenly having trouble finding the strike zone.
“It definitely felt like that,” Reed said. “The way for me to get out of that is just kind of calm myself down. Obviously, tell myself I can make those throws because I know I can make those throws. Just do it.”
Obviously, it’s not going to be that easy for Reed or for the Aggies.
No SEC opponent can be overlooked, but Kentucky is a team A&M expected to beat.
Maybe that was the problem.
“I think maybe we just expected things to happen,” Elko said. “When you expect things to happen, you can get in a lot of trouble in this game.
“It’s 7-7 (at halftime). Obviously, we didn’t feel great about the way we had performed or where we were. Expected us to come out in the second half like we traditionally have done. It kind of felt like we came out in the second half without the energy we needed.
“Sometimes you attribute that to expecting it to go a certain way. Football never happens like that.”
So what happens now?
How can the Aggies win on the road at LSU next week? Or later at Missouri, Alabama, South Carolina or Oklahoma?
Or Texas and Tennessee at Kyle Field in November?
Those are legitimate questions.
Hopefully, Elko can find the answers.
