10 Things for Tuesday

1. If you want to know why assistant coaches want to work with Mike Elko and why some of the current group may stay a lot longer than people expect, check out this comment from yesterday’s press conference: “I thought one of the things that was not right was the bonus structure that I was going to receive had we qualified for the playoffs that was not on par with what the assistants…certainly I’m no more valuable to this thing than they are. We were able to get that done immediately, and so that’ll go in effect immediately so that if this thing continues and we wind up getting rewarded with a playoff berth, those coaches who were a huge part of it will get rewarded at a very similar level. That was really important to me.”

One thing that Texas A&M has not had, since the departure of Mike Sherman 14 years ago, is a head coach with any semblance of humility. Can you see Kevin Sumlin or Jimbo making a comment like that? Yeah, me either.

2. One reason I’m not concerned about giving Elko an extension now is that I don’t see any situation where he takes the foot off the gas and goes into cruise control. Sumlin’s ego was so big that he really thought he was the man responsible for the 2020 season and the refurbishment of Kyle Field, even though we now know with the benefit of time that the credit should largely go to Johnny Manziel. By 2015, it was pretty clear things weren’t working, that players weren’t being developed, but Sumlin’s response was to fire assistants instead of taking a look at everything. Jimbo got his extension in 2021 and poof, he was in late FSU mode where he just didn’t seem to care. He certainly lost the locker room. Elko seems to get why he’s there, what he’s supposed to be doing and doesn’t go back to where he was before — with good reason.

“When I was a GA at Stony Brook, they were redoing the stadium, and so we were in trailers. That was our office. We were in a trailer and because I was the GA, my desk happened to be right next to the bathroom,” he said Monday. “And so, as I was sitting at that desk next to the bathroom, no, I did not envision signing an extension like I just signed or being the head football coach in Texas A&M.”

3. Saturday’s comeback, henceforth known as The Comeback, was incredibly rare. We knew that from the get-go. We knew that, since 2004, teams down 27 points at any time were 0-286 before A&M’s win. But SEC Network did some research and took it back even further. Going back to 1992 — the last time A&M reached 10-0 — teams down by 27 or more were 0-366. 

And now it’s 1-366. In case you were wondering, that’s a .27% chance to rally. 

4. After Saturday’s big comeback against South Carolina, people from across the media were talking about how Elko must’ve given one heck of a halftime speech. I even started the press conference with that very question. His response then was “not much,” but on Monday he got into a bit more detail. And personally, I was impressed by the cerebral approach he takes to things. 

“It’s not oh, I went in and I riled them up and because I riled them up, they started playing. That’s not how this works. It just doesn’t,” he said. “I have to be calm and collected. My job is to be calm and collected when they’re frantic. My job is to create intensity when they’re not intense. My job is to always be opposite the moment. It’s not to let the moment take me away.”

5. The moment took Shane Beamer away Saturday. With his “We beat this team by 24 last year” gloating at the end of the first quarter and waving his arms like a little kid running back to the locker room at the half, all he did was motivate the Aggies (though they didn’t know about the interview at the time). And, after being gifted 17 points and A&M screwing up to have 10 points (at least) off the board, Beamer thought his team was going to cruise to victory. Instead, his team got flat-out crushed after the half and he looked utterly impotent when it came to stopping the avalanche. After the game, he looked utterly baffled when it came to what had just happened.

Let me help, Shane: you were outplayed, out-talented and, perhaps most importantly, out-coached — not just in X’s and O’s, but in how to keep a team motivated. If anything, he helped A&M, not South Carolina. 

If you wonder if the Aggies really knew what he’d been up to, go watch Nate Boerkircher’s celebration after he scored to make the game 30-24. He starts doing the same arm wave motion Beamer did — while looking right at the Carolina bench.

6. After Saturday’s comeback win against South Carolina, Marcel Reed now is tied for the SEC lead in touchdown passes (22) and leads yards per completion (14.7). Reed’s three best games in both passing and total yards came agains SEC or Power 4 opponents. In those three games alone, Reed has accounted for 1,184 yards of total offense.

Against Notre Dame and SEC opponents only, Reed has averaged 301.1 yards per game of total offense. He’s thrown 15 of his 22 touchdowns against those same opponents. That sounds pretty Heisman-like.

7. Texas A&M has never had two players reach 1,000 yards receiving in the same season. Right now, KC Concepcion has 787 receiving yards and Mario Craver has 781. It won’t be easy for both to get to 1,000 (especially since Craver probably won’t play against Samford), but there is a shot. Texas is ranked 89th nationally and 12th in the SEC against the pass, and they haven’t seen a duo like Craver and Concepcion yet.

8. This morning, we found out that Cashius Howell was a finalist for the Lombardi Award, given to the best lineman in the country. He’s currently sitting at 11.5 sacks, one off the 12.5 put up by Myles Garrett in 2015 and Damontre Moore in 2012. Considering that A&M’s remaining games are against a team that is 85th in FBS in sacks allowed and the worst team in FCS in sacks allowed in their next two games, I’m wagering he has that record to himself by season’s end.

9. Here’s some interesting stats about Samford (1-10), A&M’s opponent this weekend. They’re an FCS team, and there are 126 ranked teams, just to give you an idea of how things stand:

Turnovers: 125th

Tackles for loss allowed: 125th

Total defense: 117th

Scoring offense: 116th

Scoring defense: 115th

Passing yards allowed: 125th

Rushing defense: 113th

Interceptions thrown: 125th

Sacks allowed per game: 126th

Rushing offense: 126th

They are, however, 9th in FBS in passing yardage, averaging 287.2 YPG. But they are also 125th in interceptions thrown, which leads them to a turnover plus/minus of -16, which is…126th.

10. One of the transfers who has made a tremendous impact while being largely overlooked is defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim. Onyedim had what was his best came in conference play against South Carolina, with 6 tackles and a sack. With one more tackle, he’ll match his career high in tackles (42). If that tackle is a tackle for loss or a sack, he’ll set a career high in that category too (and both if it’s a sack). Onyedim has gotten consistently better as the year has gone on and now, it’s hard to take him off the field because he’s too productive to spare.