A little rain didn’t hold off Texas A&M football from giving the 12th Man a sneak peak on what’s to come in the 2026 season with its Maroon & White Game. Fans in attendance got to witness a walkoff touchdown to give Maroon a 15-13 win over White.
“It was a really good opportunity for us to go out and better develop the program,” head coach Mike Elko said. “Develop some of the core values that we need to go out and be a successful program in the fall.”
Unfortunate injuries
The most important takeaway from a spring game like this is one that could impact the regular season. Senior linebacker Daymion Sanford went down with what looked to be a lower leg injury.
Named a captain last week, Sanford’s season looks to be in jeopardy after being carted off the field in the spring contest. Before his exit, the Katy native already had recorded four tackles in the contest, looking to build off of his strong 2025 campaign.
His injury starts to raise the question that has been at the forefront of spring time in college football for the last few years, is the spring game necessary? We’ve already seen major programs like LSU cancel theirs in favor of more focused practices and less possible injuries. With a major contributor on defense going down for potentially the upcoming season, should A&M follow suit?
“Injuries are always going to happen,” sophomore LB Noah Mikhail said. “At the end of the day, that’s part of the game. And being able to put a show on for the fans and give them a preview for the season is what really matters.”
Transfers show off
Following 13 combine invites and even more headed to the 2026 NFL Draft, Elko and Co. looked to the transfer portal to fill the gaps of the talent lost.
Graduate student wide receiver Isaiah Horton made his presence known his first time touching the field, going up and over the White defensive back for an impressive 17-yard catch. The Alabama transfer followed up one great catch with another on his next target, beating double coverage for a 33-yard grab. Horton finished the game with five receptions for 79 yards.
“I thought he did a lot of what we hoped he would be able to do for us,” Elko said. “Go out and make those contested catches.”
Colorado redshirt junior safety Tawfiq Byard brought the heat on his first drive, bringing down projected backup sophomore running back Jamarion Morrow for a tackle for loss. Byard went on to lead the Maroon defense with six tackles, three of them being solo.
With an offensive line compiled of many new transfers, it’s a good thing to not have much to report. Both teams combined to give up only two sacks, one of them from Northwestern transfer graduate student defensive end Anto Saka. While the 2025 Aggie offensive line sent most of their starters to the draft, it was encouraging to see the transfers pick up where last season left off.
Linebackers, secondary impress
The departure of Taurean York and Scooby Williams in the linebacker room, on top of losing Will Lee III in the secondary, forced a new tandem of Aggies to step up. And step up they did in the spring preview.
Mikhail made the biggest impact of the day, grabbing an interception from freshman quarterback Helaman Casuga and taking it 30 yards to the house. The La Verne, California native also tallied four tackles on the day.
Senior safety Marcus Ratcliffe totaled the most tackles for both teams on the day with eight, including one tackle for loss. The secondary’s most impressive feat was holding all four participating QBs to under 100 yards. Casuga was the only one to throw a touchdown, which came on the last play of the game.
“The defense got the upper hand today,” Elko said. “Certainly really good on third down, which has been a calling card for us.”
Field goals?
It was no secret that A&M struggled kicking the ball last year, going 16-26 over the season, and falling apart to close out the year. A new year meant a whole new kicker room was ready to show their talents in the rain.
Freshman kicker Asher Murray showed off the leg on two easy attempts early, knocking down both a 28 and 21 yarder. The Shreveport, Louisiana native got the 12th Man fired up after punching in a 53-yarder, longer than any field goal made from an Aggie kicker last year.
Graduate student kicker David Olano from Illinois nailed a 33 and 39 yarder of his own, keeping both teams perfect through the game. Fifteen of the 28 total points in the game came from the legs, an important thing to note after the subpar 2025 season.
“I think we got two really talented kickers this year that can really help us,” Elko said.
