'Pretty Confident' Texas A&M Determined To Break Road Losing Streak

The Texas A&M Aggies are favored heading into their matchup this weekend in the swamp.

Sep 7, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko works the sideline during the fourth quarter against the McNeese State Cowboys at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images / Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

The Texas A&M Aggies have not won a game on the road since they took a trip to Columbia Missouri in October of 2021.

At the time, Mike Elko was the Aggies defensive coordinator under Jimbo Fisher.

Since then, Texas A&M has lost 10 straight true road games, and he is determined to change to buck that trend sooner rather than later, beginning with his team's trip to Florida this weekend to take on the Gators at the Swamp.

Sep 7, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko leaves the field following a 52-10 win against the McNeese State Cowboys at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images / Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

"We won quite a few of them when I was here," Elko said. "We'll try to duplicate that recipe more than the last couple of years."

The players are determined to change that too.

In fact, despite the Swamp being notorious as one of the most difficult places to play in the country, the players are downright confident.

“I’ve been here 3 years, and it’s not like we go out there playing to lose,” defensive end Shemar Stewart said. “We play our hearts out, but sometimes we just came up short. I don’t know what it was back then, but I’m feeling pretty confident on Saturday and we go in there and come out with a win. I feel like the team really stepped it up a notch today in practice. Like, we had a different tempo to us today.”

Of course, that could be easier said than done.

The Gators - particularly their head coach Billy Napier enter the matchup with their backs against the wall.

A loss to the Aggies could not only mean an abrupt early end to the season Florida, thanks in large part to their No. 1 rated strength of schedule, but it could also mean the end of the Napier era.

As such, the Swamp is expected to be extremely volatile come Saturday - something the Aggies have been preparing for for quite some time.

"One of the things with crowd noise is we started practicing for it in the spring," Elko said. "We're an SEC program. We're going to have to do this to win on the road... Those are all things our kids are comfortable with because we install all of that in the spring."

The Aggies and the Gators kick off at 2:30 pm CT on ABC.