COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M's historic season ended with a gut-punch, as quarterback Marcel Reed, who'd driven the Aggies to the Miami 5-yard line with 27 seconds left, threw an interception in the back of the endzone in a 10-3 loss to Miami at Kyle Field.
The loss, in front of 104,122, the second-biggest crowd in CFP history, ended the Aggies' season at 11-2, tying A&M's 1939, 1998 and 2012 teams for the second-most wins in program history, behind the 1992 team that finished 12-1.
Mike Elko, the Aggies' second-year head coach, said the loss will sting, but that this shouldn't discount what the team did. He said when he took over before last season that this was not an elite program ready to compete for a national championship. In his first season, the Aggies finished 8-5 after a 7-1 start, and went into the offseason vowing to put an emphasis on finishing games. They did that all year, starting 11-0, but lost their final two games: to Texas in Austin and then the loss to the Hurricanes on Saturday, their first at home this season.
"We weren't able to tilt the margins in our favor the last two games," Elko said. "That's going to be a killer. One, to not go to Atlanta [to the SEC Championship], one to not go to the quarterfinals. So that's a killer, but you've got to swallow it and you've got to move forward just like we did last year."
Elko said he and his staff believed this team had "fairly small margins" to be successful in each game, and that's exactly how the season played out. He said he was a grown man and could handle the disappointment, but he hurt for his players. Still, he emphasized he didn't want to discount what his players had done to help turn the tide for the Aggies.
"I said to the seniors who just played their last game they left a mark on elevating this program that will never go away. From where this program was two years ago to where it is now, I don't think that can be lost on people," Elko said. "I said to the guys coming back, there's still another major step we have to take as a program to finish. I think the last two games showed that."
Elko said his offense had become one-dimensional, crediting Miami's defense for preventing them from being able to run the ball, and allowed them to tee off on Reed.
"Marcel Reed can't be our leading rusher," Elko said of his sophomore quarterback who had 15 carries for 27 yards, six more than running back Reuben Owens II. "He can't have the most carries. It just can't happen that way."
Reed sat devastated on the bench as the game ended following his interception, with a towel draped over his head. Reed's offensive coordinator, Collin Klein, is headed to Kansas State, his alma mater, as the Wildcats' new coach. The two spoke about how close their relationship is after the game, with Reed saying Klein is like a father figure for him.
"It didn't really feel real," Reed said. "I don't want the season to end. A lot of changes are going to be made after the season, so I really didn't want it to end. It sucked."
Taurean York, the Aggies' all-SEC linebacker, said he's proud of the steps the team has made and called the season a "foundation-setter," saying they finally got the Aggies to the big stage and have plans to keep building from there.
"We're really just scratching the surface of who we're going to become in the future," he said.
The Aggies traded defensive blows with Miami all day, but Carson Beck's shovel pass to Malachi Toney with 1:44 left broke the game open. The A&M offense responded, driving with a chance to tie the game before Bryce Fitzgerald's second interception of Reed on the day ended A&M's season and crushed the Kyle Field faithful.
"We came up five yards short and that's something we'll have to live with throughout the off season," Elko said. "But [I'm] still proud of this team, proud of what they accomplished, proud of what they did."
