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Texas A&M football’s loss Friday to USC in the Las Vegas Bowl night felt like the final month of the season encapsulated into one 60-minute game.
From penalties continuing to be a persistent issue — adding eight more miscues against the Trojans, pushing their season total to 98 — to the defense’s inability to stop USC’s passing attack that scored the winning touchdown with 8 seconds left in the game.
The Aggies’ shortcomings, as well-documented as they are, were accentuated Friday night in Las Vegas. They finished their season by going 1-4 in their final five games. They led USC by 17 points in the third quarter before allowing three Trojan touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
SEASON GRADES: Bs and As aplenty for Aggies
Texas A&M placekicker Randy Bond reacts after missing a field goal attempt in Friday night’s 35-31 loss to Southern Cal in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Aggies once were 7-1 and leading the SEC this season, but finished by going 1-4 in their final five games.
“I think the story of the game is the story of our season,” head coach Mike Elko told reporters following the 35-31 loss to the Trojans. “We can’t cover the forward pass well enough to be a good football team, so that’s my fault.”
With A&M ushering in a new coaching staff, there was an understanding that growing pains were coming on both sides of the ball in Elko’s first year. However, where they fell short in the season finale was in all of the areas head coach Mike Elko was hoping to have fixed by this point in the process.
As bad as the passing defense was, including one play that saw cornerback Dezz Ricks playing off coverage on the final defensive snap of the game inside the 10-yard line, allowing USC’s easy game-winning slant-pattern score from quarterback Jayden Mavaia to Kyle Ford, A&M’s front seven wasn’t much better.
“We’ve got to be able to stop…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-ms-consistency-issues-hamper-080137755.html
Author : Austin American-Statesman
Publish date : 2024-12-29 08:01:00
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