Mike Elko wants you to know that his team isn’t overlooking Auburn, but his thoughts aren’t meeting his words.
The Texas A&M head coach made an epic slip of the tongue when asked about the difficulty of keeping his team’s focus on the task ahead and not what awaits them—an eventual showdown with Texas on Nov. 30, which has implications for the SEC Championship Game and College Football Playoff.
With losses against Notre Dame and South Carolina, the Aggies have little margin for error, even if their head coach made one this week.
If there was ever a trap game, it’s against a Hugh Freeze-coached Auburn team that’s 14th in the SEC and 1-5 in conference play entering Week 13. At 4-6, back-to-back wins would secure the Tigers a bowl berth, even if that sounds like a fever dream at this point, with an Iron Bowl matchup vs. Alabama looming.
That said, A&M can’t look past Auburn. And it likely isn’t going to, but that didn’t make Elko’s slip of the tongue any less funny.
“I don’t think it’s an issue,” said Elko. “I think, when you’re in the situation we’re in, it’s easy to focus on the task at hand. I think those big games early in the year. Maybe you look ahead if we didn’t have what’s at stake; maybe you would worry about it. I think our focus is single-handedly on Texas…I meant on Auburn right now and locked in what we got to get done.”
Mike Elko was asked about the difficulty of keeping his team focused on Auburn with the November 30th rivalry game vs Texas just around the corner:
“Our focus is single-handedly on Texas…I mean Auburn…” 🫣
🎥 Texas A&M Athletics pic.twitter.com/SOZkS9etal
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) November 19, 2024
Yikes.
Elko may have caught himself, but it’s clear his team needs to stay locked in on Auburn — because a slip-up against the Tigers could be the last mistake they make before their biggest test of the season.
And if Elko’s mind is already in Texas, let’s hope his team isn’t following him there.
