The Tennessee locker room was jacked up after beating Texas A&M 22-7. On the other side of the stadium, the Aggies were down in the dumps, and head coach Mike Elko was not happy at all. Entering the season as a Top 10 team, Texas A&M now has six losses on the year, with the offense looking downright awful each week.
Matter of fact, the offense is completely inept? That's what Elko didn't hesitate to say while meeting with the media. Right after the loss, Elko was asked about a potential change at quarterback, with Marcel Reed still struggling. Elko didn't want to hear any of that, channeling his inner Mike Gundy to blast his offense as a whole. However, Elko wants all the blame for A&M's season going south.
"Our offense is inept," a furious Elko said. "I don't know how you can put this on one kid. This is not on one kid. The narrative that this is just on Marcel... anybody who watched that game and thinks that is just on Marcel Reed, it's on me. It's a completely non-functional offense, and that's on me. It is my fault, and I own it. Come after me."
Mike Elko defends Marcel Reed after Tennessee loss:
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) November 14, 2026
"Our offense is inept.
"I don't know how you can put this on one kid."
"It's on me. It's a completely nonfunctional offense.
"And that's on me! It's my fault, I own it!
"Come after me." pic.twitter.com/jtsxX9CfoA
Tennessee's defense put together yet another performance to remember against Texas A&M
It's pretty dang easy to agree with Elko there, as his offense looked like a joke from start to finish. We will disagree with him saying that none of this is on Reed. Newsflash, it is. Entering the campaign, the stud quarterback was getting Heisman Trophy hype, and the expectation was that he'd lead the Aggies back to the College Football Playoff.
Against the Vols, he looked like a scout-team signal-caller at times, missing throws that were right in front of him. On the day, Reed completed just 9-of-22 pass attempts for 71 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. During garbage time, Elko had Brady Hart take over the offense, with thousands of A&M fans cheering their heads off for that move.
With Brady completing some passes, all hope was restored in College Station. Well, until Hart sailed a throw and it was intercepted by Dejuan Lane. The ground game wasn't any better for the Aggies, with KJ Edwards leading the way with his 44 yards. That's a testament to the fantastic work up front by the Tennessee defense, while the secondary came to play.
With the Vols' offense struggling, particularly in the first 30 minutes of the action, Jim Knowles kept making life a nightmare for Elko and his players. It led to his postgame rant, which is surely making plenty of people back home in Knoxville pretty happy. Yes, things were close for most of the game, with Texas A&M even holding a 7-6 lead going into halftime.
In the second half, however, Tennessee made the plays needed, while Texas A&M couldn't do much of anything. With this win, the Vols are now one step closer to getting to the CFP, where they belong. Elko is 4-6, shockingly at risk of not even having his team play in a bowl game this winter. That's a big yikes.
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