Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko argues with an official about an overturned targeting call against the Texas Longhorns during the Lone Star Showdown at Kyle Field on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024 in College Station, Texas. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mike Elko Makes Odd Comment on Texas A&M's Loss to Texas Longhorns

Originally posted on Texas A&M Aggies on SI
By Aaron Raley | Last updated May 27, 2025 6:28 PM ET

Last year on the final day of the month of November, one of the fiercest rivalries in college football was resurrected for the first time in over a decade, the Lone Star Showdown between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorns.

In the highly-anticipated matchup, the Longhorns scored first with a quarterback keep by Arch Manning later in the first quarter, and the Burnt Orange would hold the lead for the remainder of the contest, defeating the Aggies 17-7 in a contest where the only A&M touchdown was courtesy of a 93-yard pick six from cornerback Will Lee III, and Longhorns running Quintrevion Wisner had the game of his career, torching the Aggie defense for 186 yards on the ground.

However, in a recent press conference at the SEC spring meetings, a comment by Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko regarding the contest against Texas had a few people raising their eyebrows, and rightfully so.

During the press conference, Elko referred to Texas making it all the way to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff before losing to the eventual national champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes.

"We went back and forth, toe to toe, with a team that wound up in the NCAA Semifinals," Elko said.

This is somewhat a contradicting statement from Elko, who is also noted for saying that Steve Sarkisian's team "physically annihilated them" shortly after the clock hit triple zeroes last November, which kicked Texas A&M out of the SEC Championship and eventually the College Football Playoff picture.

Yes, the score was close, and both teams kept each other in check for most of the match, but when you dig deeper into the stats from the renewal of the rivalry game at Kyle Field, it wasn't exactly the contest that Elko described.

Elko's "physically annihilated" statement is more accurate when talking about the performance from his team against the then No. 3 Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns had 26 first downs compared to A&M's 15, and Texas had 461 total yards, while A&M only gathered for 248 yards.

The Longhorn rushing attack blew the Maroon and White out of the water, with 243 compared to A&M's 102, and the Longhorns had 10 more minutes with possession of the football on November 30 last year.

Not to mention, after Arch Manning scored the game's first touchdown in the first quarter, the Longhorns never relinquished the lead for the remainder of the game, a further showing of just how much more efficient they were in the first Lone Star Showdown since 2011.

The 12th Man will certainly be hoping for a more "back and forth, toe to toe" game this upcoming season, when the Aggies and Longhorns do battle at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin to close out the regular season on November 29, the first Lone Star Showdown in the state capital since 2010.

This article first appeared on Texas A&M Aggies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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