Texas A&M had one goal going into the weekend: win against The Citadel. Job accomplished.
They secured it with a 41-0 blowout at Kyle Field.
The Aggies' head coach was certainly pleased with what he saw from his group of men, who pitched a shutout and delivered an all-around performance on offense and defense.
"Proud of how they handled it," Elko said. "4-for-4 on offense with four touchdowns in the first half. Defensively, to pitch a shutout, thought we were able to get a lot of guys a lot of reps."
Not one guy carried this Maroon and White to the finish line. Look at how the quarterbacks led the offense. Their weapons out wide showed up. Aaron Gregory and TK Norman. Add to the mix the running back, Jamarion Morrow . Don't forget the offensive line, which controlled the line of scrimmage and helped with pass protection and run-game dominance.
Starting with the wide receivers, Elko noted that the duo has grown and stepped up over the last couple of weeks. Together, they had 11 receptions for 182 yards and combined for two touchdowns.
"I think that's a couple weeks in a row we saw TK get more comfortable," Elko said. "Aaron is a young kid who keeps getting better with reps."
One of those stars who got their fair share of reps this past weekend against the Bulldogs was Morrow, who had been absent the last couple of weeks with an injury. As a result, he missed the matchup with the Wildcats and Tigers before returning and posting a career-high three touchdowns on eight carries for 54 yards.
"He's a physical ball carrier," Elko said. "I think he finishes forward. It was good to get him healthy."
When discussing the quarterbacks, Elko said that he thought Marcel Reed threw the football well and that it was good to see Hart out there as well. The two ball slingers finished with eight completions each. The 237 yards in the air was plenty to move the offense and put the win on the board once again.
"I thought Marcel did a nice job throwing the football," Elko noted. "I thought some of the incompletions could have been catches. It was good to see Brady get out there. I still think he operates a little bit quicker than I'd like him to. I'd like to see him a little bit more relaxed and a little bit more comfortable in the pocket."
Overall, the offense logged 501 total yards, posted 26 first downs, averaged 7.7 yards per play, and went 6 of 6 in the red zone. Elko also highlighted third-down success in his postgame press conference: the offense finished 7 of 11 on third down, while the defense held The Citadel to 5 of 15.
"I thought, offensively, we did a better job of staying in third and manageable," Elko said. "Defensively, I don't think we did a great job on third down. I would have liked to see us do a little bit better job of getting off the field."
Overall, the product looked much better than it has over the last month, even if there were some guys not suited up for the noon matchup.
"Excited with where we're at," Elko stated. "Coming off the field today, we were able to get done what we needed to get done. Now, it's back to SEC play and obviously a big challenge next week in Tuscaloosa."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tamu as Mike Elko Is 'Proud' & Sees Progress After Texas A&M Defeats The Citadel .
