Texas A&M fails to impress early in first season under Elko after Fisher's firing

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M moved on from coach Jimbo Fisher last year with $75 million remaining on his contract after another disappointing season.

Early results under coach Mike Elko haven’t seemed like much of an upgrade.

No. 25 Texas A&M, a 22 1/2-point favorite, squeaked by Bowling Green 26-20 Saturday night in a sloppy game filled with mistakes.

The win came after the Aggies opened the season with a home loss to Notre Dame followed by wins over FCS school McNeese State and the struggling Florida Gators.

Asked what frustrated him most about his team’s performance against Bowling Green, Elko took a deep breath before answering.

“It was a lot,” he said.

The Aggies gave up a 65-yard touchdown pass to tight end Harold Fannin Jr. on the first play of the second half and the Falcons cut the lead to three when they scored on a 40-yard reverse later in the third.

Bowling Green blocked a punt on the ensuing drive, but the Aggies held onto the lead when Jackson Kleather missed a 28-yard field goal.

They looked to have finally put the game away with about two minutes left when Marcus Ratcliffe grabbed an interception in the end zone. But Le’Veon Moss fumbled on the next play to give the Falcons another chance.

“Just so many things to fix and clean up, and we’ve got to get back to work Monday and get a lot better,” Elko said.

He was particularly unhappy with the defense on Fannin, who was left uncovered on his touchdown.

“We did a horrible job managing the tight end all night,” he said. “Obviously he was their best player. We knew it coming in and we let him go for eight for 145. That’s not acceptable.”

Texas A&M had trouble finishing drives in the second game with Marcel Reed at quarterback in place of Conner Weigman, who has a shoulder injury. Elko said after the game that Weigman still has pain in his shoulder and they’re trying to get him “where he can throw comfortably.”

Reed threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 91 yards more, but the Aggies settled for field goals on three of four trips inside the red zone.

“At times he did the things we needed him to do. At times, he didn’t,” Elko said. “But it’s not all on Marcel… when you talk about settling down your quarterback, it’s probably a catch phrase for we’ve got to operate more consistently with what we’re doing. So, I don’t want to make it sound like it’s just on Marcel. It certainly isn’t just on Marcel.”

Despite all A&M’s problems on Saturday, Elko credited his team for not letting things snowball into an upset.

“When you get into those moments and those situations and it feels like it’s spiraling out of control, you see a lot of teams not find ways to win that football game,” he said. “And I think it’s a credit to our guys that we found a way to win it.”

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Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press