“I think we’ve made a lot of progress in a lot of areas. We’re in the middle of those ups and downs that come with camp,” he said to members of the media Saturday. “But (I’m) excited with where we are excited with the progress we’re making. Obviously still a lot of things that we’ve got to get cleaned up and fixed here in these last two weeks as we head down the stretch getting ready for Notre Dame.”
Elko said that he was pleased with not only the improvement he’s seen in practice, but the way the team has practiced as well. He said the players have also been attentive to the “small things”, like walk-throughs and meetings.
“I think by and large, I’m happy with the tempo with which we’re practicing. I’m happy with the urgency we’ve had to go out and get better,” he said. “It shows me that we’ve got a group that’s hungry to learn and improve.”
Elko said the team has made it through camp fairly injury-free, except for one exception: running back Rueben Owens, who suffered a serious injury during A&M’s first scrimmage Aug. 11. Owens, who had been running with the first team in camp, will miss several months at the least.
“Unfortunately, he suffered a foot injury, and so he’s going to be out for an extended period of time,” Elko said. “Most likely this season. There’s an outside chance that if the season extends beyond the regular season, we’ll have a chance to get him back for something.”
With the Aggies now down to three scholarship running backs in Le’Veon Moss, Amari Daniels and EJ Smith, Elko said the staff has had “what if” discussions about what to do if there was another injury at the position, but for now, A&M will stand pat.
“Obviously, Le’Veon has had a really strong campaign. We’re really confident him. Amari Daniels and EJ Smith were both leading rushers on power five football teams last year. So I don’t think we’re at that point (of looking for alternatives) now,” Elko said.
The Aggies have their second and final scrimmage of the summer today, after which Elko and his staff will sit down and try to establish their two-deep. While he said “90%” of the starting lineup would probably be set after Sunday, some competitions will continue up until right before A&M opens with Notre Dame Aug. 31.
“Who is the third, fourth, fifth O-lineman? Who is the true five in the secondary? Who is the second (linebacker)? I think some of those battles will just kind of continue to go all the way through, up until kickoff,” he said.
When it comes to the linebackers, the Aggies have a top four, with starting middle linebacker Taurean York and three others. Just how the other three will shake out, Elko said, remains uncertain.
“(Scooby Williams) is in a pretty tight competition for where two, three and four wind up at linebacker,” Elko explained. “I think that is him, Daymion Sanford and Solomon DeShields, I think those three guys are battling for two, three and four, and we’ll kind of see where it
lands.”
Before training camp began, Elko said he wouldn’t call the offensive line, which was battered the past two seasons under Steve Addazio, a strength. While the group has apparently shown tangible improvement, Elko is hoping things continue to improve in the two weeks before the Aggies and Fighting Irish face off.
“I don’t know that my opinion has changed a ton. I think those kids are getting better,” he said. “I think they’re battling. The first half of camp was was strongly tilted towards the defensive line having more success. I think it’s become a lot more balanced the last week of camp. I think those kids are under fire every day, which is great for them. Learning how to block that group every day is really good for them. We’ve gotten significantly better through 14 practices.”
The line will be counted on to protect quarterback Conner Weigman, who missed the final two-thirds of the season after breaking his ankle against Auburn. Elko said that Weigman, who was off to an excellent start in 2023, has taken quickly to the offensive scheme of offensive coordinator Collin Klein.
“He’s really comfortable in the system now. I think he’s really got a chance to go out there and operate at a really high level,” he said. “(Weigman) just continues to get better and better every time he goes out there. And so we’re really excited for who he is when he’s capable of such a winner. He’s such a competitor.”
Overall, Elko said camp has bene a net positive, with the Aggies starting to round into form as their nationally-televised clash with Notre Dame nears. Having a past history of opening with national power Clemson while at Duke has helped Elko and his staff develop an effective approach to the season opener.
“There’s this balancing act that you had to get through in fall camp, and so we got to do that the way we felt like it should be done at Duke for two years, and tweak and change some things, and then do some things and make sure we were kind of optimizing,” he said. “I think that’s probably the biggest thing that we spent a lot of time on, this is just how you do all of that. How do you do that the right way, so when you come out of the tunnel against Notre Dame, things are firing.”