Elko discusses CFP hunt, Missouri matchup

When the first College Football Playoff rankings are released this evening, a lot of fans will be following with great interest. Texas A&M coach Mike Elko won’t be one of them.

“Not at all,” he said when asked if he had any interest in watching the show. He was just as direct when asked what had set the No. 3 and 8-0 Aggies apart from other SEC powers like Georgia and Alabama.

“Um, we haven’t lost yet,” he replied to laughter from the members of the media Monday. “That would probably be a good starting point. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s hard to compare yourself to other teams in the league. I’m just trying to figure out how to play good football on Saturday against Missouri.”

The Tigers (6-2, 2-2 SEC) are fighting for the CFP lives as a loss will likely eliminate them. Elko knows that Missouri will be desperate, but he argued that his team should be as well.

“I think we are desperate. I tell them all the time, we have earned everything that we’ve got, right? We’ve got a record, we’ve got a ranking, we’ve got opportunities that we have worked really, really hard to earn. And every single Saturday someone’s coming in and trying to take all of that from us,” he said. “That’s the urgency that we have. In terms of Missouri–this is the challenge that you have in college football today, they’re still very much alive for the playoff. This is a playoff game for them. They obviously know they’re going to have to win out in order probably to get in. So this is a huge opportunity for them at home on a big stage to make a statement that they’re going to go chase a spot in the playoff.”

The Tigers have one major issue on offense — their starting quarterback, Beau Pribula, was injured against Vanderbilt and will miss this game at the least. That puts the ball in the hands of true freshman Matt Zollers, who will make his first career start. In order to get more of a look at Zollers (20-29, 213 yards, 2 TD), A&M had to get on Hudl.

“There’s obviously not a ton of film. We (went) back and watch his high school stuff, watch the part that he played in the Vanderbilt game,” Elko said. “Obviously he’s a talented kid. I think he throws the ball really well. The ball jumps out of his hands. You can see that. So I anticipate him being able to make all of the throws and see what he can do with his feet. He’s an athletic kid. I think he’ll present a lot of challenges to us.”

Even though Zollers and Pribula have different strengths, Elko said there’s probably not going to be a lot of difference for the Missouri offense as far as scheme goes.

“I don’t know how much you can change the structure of the offense when you get to this part in the season,” he said. “They’re coming off a bye week and I’m sure they’ll have their wrinkles and then build the thing around him as best they can. But you’ve got 10 other guys out there who have 8 games of experience playing in a certain system, a certain kind of way. It’s hard to deviate that. I’m sure what they’ll do is try to tailor it to him, to what he does well, what he’s really capable of, and I’m sure anticipate that the 10 guys around him will step up and support him and he’ll go out and play a really good game.”

The key player for the Tigers offense is running back Ahmad Hardy, who has already rushed for 937 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Hardy and Jamal Roberts (428 yards, 3 TD) have been one of the nation’s premier running attacks, something A&M is well aware of.

“He’s a really talented back. He big, he’s powerful. He runs through tackles. I think you see that consistently,” Elko said of Hardy. “He’s always leaning forward, and so he always gets more than is blocked. That’s obviously a testament to being a really good running back.”

The Tigers have been one of the nation’s best defenses through eight games, ranking fifth in total defense, seventh in pass defense and 13th in rush defense. Elko described the defense in broad, but clear terms.

“They’re really talented. They do a really good job. They’re coached exceptionally well. They’re really good on the line of scrimmage,” he said.

Both the Aggies and Tigers are coming off bye weeks, which Elko said came at an opportune time for his team. Now A&M returns to the field with a chance to fulfill the mantra they’ve had since the spring: Finish.

“We’re excited to get back to work, had a really good bye week. I think we were able to accomplish the things that we wanted to accomplish. We went out, we stayed sharp last week, we practiced, we did the things we needed to do to start looking ahead to Missouri. But we were really able to get the guys some good rest, some good recovery time, a lot of treatment, which you need at this point in the season,” Elko said. “So we’re excited to go down to Missouri and play another top-20 team on the road in the SEC. It’ll be a huge challenge and we’ll certainly have to get our guys ready to play our best football to have a chance.”