Elko's Slip of the Tongue Provides Fuel for Auburn against Texas A&M

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko's slip should be turned into fuel to throw on the Auburn Tigers fire on Saturday.

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko assured everyone the Aggies' focus was on Texas... errr... Auburn... this week. / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Facing Texas A&M this weekend provides the 4-6 Auburn Tigers with a tantalizing opportunity to offer some proof that their slide into the ranks of the also rans has been greatly exaggerated. 

Understandably, head coach Hugh Freeze and Co. might be treating the game against the Aggies like it could provide a season-defining springboard, and one which could well help save at least a part of their season.

On the flip side, Aggies head coach Mike Elko might have just let slip that his team is looking way past the challenge the Tigers might present this Saturday.

"I don't think it's an issue. I think, when you're in the situation we're in, it's easy to focus on the task at hand," Elko said of not looking past Auburn to Texas next week. "I think those two big games in the year, maybe you look ahead. If we didn't have at stake what's at stake, maybe you'd worry about it. 

“I think our focus is single-handedly on Texas - I mean, on Auburn right now - and locked in on what we've 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

Yes indeed, Elko may well have simply stumbled over his words, but Sigmund Freud famously believed there are no accidents. If Freeze has enough pins left to post another diss on the Tigers bulletin board; it just presented itself on the doorstep of such a key game.

In the far bigger picture of things, it's pretty darn telling that high profile opponents head coaches possibly just don't care enough to get their head around the formerly storied name of the Auburn Tigers.

Earlier this week, outspoken ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum suggested that Auburn could be a nasty spoiler for A&M, and now Elko might have provided some compelling evidence that his guys are more fixated on facing Texas next week.

Consider the door to be more than slightly ajar for Auburn.

The fondness to trip folks up on their way down the aisle is deeply macabre stuff, but is also an extremely effective weapon for any underdog outfit. 

Sporting history tells us that taking seemingly innocent comments by the opposition, and then turning it into high octane fuel is hardly revolutionary practice, particularly in the fiendish world of coaching.

In the cutthroat world of major college football, perhaps Freeze just needs to find a far nastier and sadistic side to his team's personality, which includes getting pretty darn ticked off when it's required.