Las Vegas Bowl Collapse A Microcosm of Texas A&M Aggies' Season

The Texas A&M Aggies must learn to finish better.

Jon Alfano | Dec 29, 2024

Dec 27, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts against the Southern California Trojans in the second half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Texas A&M Aggies

The Texas A&M Aggies' season ended in bitter disappointment on Friday, falling to the USC Trojans 35-31 and blowing a 17-point lead in the second half.

If the story of collapsing down the stretch sounds familiar, then it should, because that's basically the story of the Aggies' 2024 season.

It feels like a lifetime ago now, but the Aggies entered November ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll with a 7-1 record, having just beaten the LSU Tigers 38-23 at home in a pivotal SEC game. They were all alone atop the SEC standings with a 5-0 record in conference play, and essentially controlled their destiny in the College Football Playoff race.

Then the collapse began, as A&M went 1-3 in its final four regular season games. First came a 44-20 drubbing against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Nov. 2, then a 43-41 heartbreaker in four overtimes against the Auburn Tigers on Nov. 23, and finally a 17-7 dud where the offense could do nothing against the Texas Longhorns on Nov. 30. A&M's lone win in this stretch came on Nov. 16 against the New Mexico State Aggies, a Conference USA team that finished the season 3-9.

Now with the loss to USC, A&M's late-season collapse is now complete. The worst part? This is nothing new.

There have been far too many instances in recent history, particularly during the Kevin Sumlin era, of the Aggies starting a season hot and utterly falling apart by the end. In 2014 and 2015, they started 5-0 and finished 8-5. In 2016, they started 6-0 and finished 8-5. Last year, they started 4-1 and finished 7-6. You get the idea by now.

First-year head coach Mike Elko showed promise this season but ended up falling into the same trap as his predecessors. Going forward, he knows he must do a better job of finishing, both individual games and the season as a whole.

"We are just not good enough right now," Elko said. "The challenge is, when we get back here in January, everything has to get turned up. We are now where we need to be from a cultural standpoint. Now we have to become a good football program. That is the next step that we have to take."