Texas A&M coach Mike Elko discusses loss to Notre Dame

um first off hats off to Notre Dame they came in here and they beat us um you there's really no two ways around it um to the agie fans I thank you uh thank you for showing up tonight thank you for making this a really special day you deserve better and we didn't give it to you and so we'll go back to work and we'll continue to to drive this thing to become the product that you guys want this and deserve for this program to be um you know in terms of the game you know we lost the turnover battle two nothing that's not going to lead to a lot of successful games uh we had some real critical penalties in the first half uh that I thought ended some drives when we we had some things going in the second half in the third quarter we really struggled to get into Rhythm on offense um you know we put the one drive together to tie it and really just could never go out there and get things going consistently and then defensively I thought the way we defended the Run was really poor and so we gave up almost 200 yards rushing um you're not going to win football games in this conference doing that and so we could go figure out how to fix it and get it better so from there questions second row Brent Mike I heard you say during the game that Conor needed to relax uh what does he need to do moving forward after tonight yeah I I just think we got to we got to go back to the tape and we got to figure out uh how to put him in better situations to get him comfortable um you know the the challenge tonight was they were going to play us in man all night and you know so there's not a lot of easy access throws to get him comfortable and get him in Rhythm people are going to have to win to do that um and we just we weren't able to get it going and it seemed like like whether it was him missing you know he had a chance to hit Noah on on the big over route and kind of overshot him by a little bit and got the pick um or guys not getting the separation that we needed to get um it just one way or another we just weren't able to get it done we tried to do some different things to create some rubs and picks and um that didn't get it going and um yeah just it was really really hard because he was he was not in Rhythm um and and there was nothing easy to get and so we kept trying we kept trying we just couldn't get there front left Olen and then Sam yeah Mike speaking you you spoke about the uh uh run defense off the top of your head just right off the the field do you have any any thoughts any theories what the problem was and especially on that that next to last scoring drive from Notre D went 85 yards yeah I mean there was I mean it was a it was a Litany of things I thought we could have done a better job up front controlling the line of scrimmage for sure uh you know we missfit some things I think that created some of the large runs um you know there was some some crack replace situations where we didn't show up the way we needed to and then on the two long runs we just missed tackles and and missed tackles I think on the the first touchdown that got him to the 13 I think we missed three tackles um with guys that were right there and could have down the football we didn't get it done uh and then on the last one we missed the tackle in the hole and the kid scored through because we were in zero trying to sell out to stop the run there so um there wasn't much defense behind the first line so third row on the right Sam Mike what did did you think of your offensive line and how it held up against Notre Dame's defensive front yeah you know it didn't feel like the pocket was dirty it felt like we had time to throw felt like we were able to get a little bit going in the Run game not not a ton but we were able to get a little bit run going in the Run game and so um yeah it certainly felt like that was a little bit more neutral than it was you know them having the complete upper hand second row on left Alex and then down front you know knowing you needed to score a touchdown at the end of the game did you feel like you needed to be in passing situations even though had all three timeouts um well we ran it on the second and 10 to get it to to Fourth and two and then on Fourth and two we called the play that we thought was the best play to get us the first down we certainly felt like coming out in the drive we wanted to kind of get going with the throw game um and then you know again on the second and 10 we or the third and 10 we did run it we got the eight got it down to Fourth and two and we just felt like that fourth and two was was the best way to to get us the two yards and you know we just didn't get it done front row right Travis in this second half the little heavier rotation of wide receivers how much of that was your plan how much of that was just trying to get find a guy who might could get that separation yeah probably a little bit of both you know I think as it as it started to go on and the Heat and the Muggin out there and and you wanted to try to keep guys fresh and then um again you're just kind of trying to find a rhythm of of who can get out there and get the separation that we need to get the thing going know the espb cameras caught uh Conor getting sick was that just a matter of the conditions outside or something he brought into the yeah yeah no that just was him he just in the In the Heat of the Moment got a little bit sick and PUK and rally second row on the left coach how was facing Riley again and how did his uh rushing potential affect yall on the defense yeah I mean it it it wasn't fun I knew it wouldn't be um he made a bunch of Big Time plays he made a play on the third and five he made some runs on the last Drive um he did what he did and and you know made enough plays to win the football game uh told him I loved him after the game and and you know I'll be rooting for that kid for the rest of his life coach back behind the lights in the middle Tyler could what did you see from Le'Veon Moss tonight kind of what are your expectations of him moving forward yeah I mean I thought again it was a it was a it was going to be a challenging night running the football there was there was going to be seven people in the Box pretty much every single snap and so um you I thought for the most part he pushed the pile forward um I thought he ran hard um you know we got to try to figure out how to get him a little bit more space to get him going a little bit better um you know but I thought for the most part he he did what we asked him to do staying back on the far right Ben uh coach defensively y'all were you know really good on third down for most of the for all the night two for2 um but they you know did have a couple drives where you know they weren't necessarily third downs but they can you know especially the first and 25 coming out of the hole what did you see that they were able to kind of do to just in those fine moments kind of make those plays when they hadn't necessarily been having that success throughout the night yeah I you know we were we were really really bad off schedule tonight on defense you know second and eight to Second and 10 I think when we go back and watch the film I think is going to be one of the worst first down and distances of the night and um you know I think we got to look at what we're doing we got to look at how we're challenging throws I think we got really soft in our coverage and those down in distance um you know almost like you know we kind of got on our heels a little bit because we won first down um and that's the exact opposite of what you should do um you know again we we were aware of it we were trying to get it fixed and corrected we just just couldn't get it done and so um you know ultimately you know but ultimately at the end of the day we had him third and five backed up had a chance to make a play to get off the field and didn't do it and I think at the end of the day that's the turning point in the game you know we've got him third and five on the 20 yard line um and we don't we don't get them off the field and I think we get them off the field there you know they're punting us and we've got the ball with a chance to go down and win it um we don't make that play and then all of a sudden they get some runs going they get some Rhythm that kid makes a great catch on their sideline and and you know next thing you know they're they're lining up in field goal range and so they hit the Run third r on the right Sam and then now you wrap us up Mike going back to Conor getting comfortable how much of that do you attribute to like you said receivers not being able to get the win but also is there some of that attributing to the first live game in a new system and getting acclimated to yeah I'm sure it's all of it you know when you when you go look at it it's going to be you know the plays that we called and and making sure that we're doing the right things to get kids in the right spots to be successful it's going to be Connor delivering the ball in the right spots on time it's going to be receivers creating separation it's going to be the old line protecting you know there's going to be a breakdown on every play that ultimately leads to the success that you're not hting for and so um you know what I told the guys in the locker room is is um you know for us to get this program over the hump we're going to learn we're going to have to learn how to put ourselves in position to play the game the way we need to in those moments and we just didn't do that tonight