Texas A&M's long-term third-quarter issues magnified against Missouri

Texas A&M's 2026 season is off the rails, as the Aggies endured their third blowout loss in SEC play, falling to No. 14 Missouri 27-6 on Saturday afternoon, while third-year coach Mike Elko's post-game comments regarding the team's Texas A&M fan site, TexAgs, have become an unnecessary talking point, overshadowing the problems on the field.

Thanks to TexAgs analyst Luke Evangelist, who took time after the loss to break down some of the uglier numbers after Mike Elko signed his six-year, $69 million contract extension through the 2031 season back in mid-November, the Aggies have been utterly dreadful against Power Four competition in the third quarter, starting with the loss to Texas at the end of the 2025 regular season.

Since the Texas loss, starting quarterback Marcel Reed has not thrown a touchdown pass against a ranked opponent, a trend that continued Saturday, as the Aggies were outscored 75-17 and outgained 950-286 in total yards. Against Missouri, Texas A&M produced just three total yards in the third quarter, compared to the Tigers' 103 yards and ten points.

While Collin Klein served as the program's OC during the final two games after Elko's extension, new OC Holmon Wiggins has not looked the part, failing to design an offense that covers up Marcel Reed's deficiencies, which will likely continue with games against Alabama, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas left on the schedule.

Is there still time to turn things around? Sure, but what we saw on Saturday is nowhere near acceptable given the progress made in 2025.

In the last 7 third quarters against power conference opponents since Mike Elko’s extension, Texas A&M has been…

Out-scored 75-17
Out-gained 950-286

Broken down per game…
Out-scored 10.7-2.4
Out-gained 135.7-40.9

Missouri out-scored A&M 10-0 and out-gained them 106-3. pic.twitter.com/jJben4228w

— Luke Evangelist (@lukeevangelist_) October 10, 2026

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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M's long-term third-quarter issues magnified against Missouri