On a cloudy Easter-weekend Saturday, the 12th Man finally got a peek into what Texas A&M football might look like this fall. With the White team handing the Maroon squad a 19-7 defeat, fans saw 12 sacks from a disruptive defense group and a host of new faces on offense.
“Another great spring game,” coach Mike Elko said. “The Aggies won, they are now 2-0 in spring games that I’ve been part of. … I thought we had a good spring. Thought we got better, I thought we improved in a lot of areas”
Rebuilding the trenches
With a trio of pass rushers likely getting their names called in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for the NFL Draft next week, coach Mike Elko refilled the talent pool on the defensive line with trips to the transfer portal to support the incoming freshman class.
After glowing reports from spring practices, freshman DL Marco Jones lived up to the hype. The consensus four-star from Dublin, California, surfed the astral plane with five sacks, six tackles for loss and a pass breakup, preventing the sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed-led Maroon team from getting in rhythm.
“Marco Jones has a really bright future here,” Elko said. “He is extremely athletic. I think he’s got tremendous ability to rush the passer. I don’t know if Aggies should expect him to have five sacks a game this fall, that might be a little bit of a high expectation. … He’s going to be a really, really good football player for us.”
The Aggies may have found a gem in Iowa State transfer junior defensive lineman Tyler Onyedim, who repeatedly collapsed the pocket and made the White team’s passers uncomfortable. The Richmond native finished his disruptive day with a sack, 1.5 TFLs and a pass breakup.
Florida transfer junior DL T.J. Searcy, a four star prospect coming out of high school, also nabbed two sacks. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound edge rusher used his length on a stab technique to get around the right tackle and make the play. Colorado graduate transfer Dayon Hayes also had 1.5 sacks from the interior.
The new additions are set to buttress the existing talent that is now thrust into larger roles. The first-overall pick in the team’s draft for the game, senior DL Cashius Howell, rewarded team captain junior linebacker Taurean York for his faith with a sack and 1.5 TFLs.
“It was great to see Cashius Howell take a next step in his development,” Elko said. “I think he’s going to be a very, very disruptive edge player and really have a productive season for us. It was really cool to see that.”
Dusting off the arms
In his first season as the entrenched starter, Reed took some time to get the Maroon offense clicking. Donning a non-contact jersey, Reed’s wings were clipped in the Maroon & White Game’s format.
After going 9-15 for 93 yards with an overly ambitious interception to sophomore LB Jordan Lockhart, Reed bounced back on the first drive of the second half. The Nashville native threw back-to-back long fade balls to redshirt freshman WR Ashton Bethel-Roman, the second of which resulted in a toe-tapping touchdown. Reed finished his day with 213 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“The pockets weren’t great,” Elko said. “I thought he made some really good throws into really tight windows. I thought we did some things in the passing game that we hadn’t done last year.”
Redshirt freshman Miles O’Neill continued to look competent in relief after his successful cameo against New Mexico State in 2024. He didn’t put up gaudy numbers, but O’Neill operated the offense efficiently in the first half and found redshirt freshman WR Izaiah Williams in the second half for a score.
Also competing for the backup role is seventh-year senior Jacob Zeno, who rotated in with O’Neill for the White team. The UAB transfer went 4-7 for 28 yards but narrowly missed on an off-script deep ball.
New weapons show off
Following A&M’s sputtering to the finish line to end the 2024 season, the Aggies brought in a host of new toys for offensive coordinator Collin Klein to play with.
The crown jewel of the offensive firepower is North Carolina State transfer junior WR Kevin “KC” Concepcion. The former member of the Wolfpack hit the ground running, reeling in seven catches for 64 yards and creating separation at will.
Mississippi State transfer sophomore WR Mario Craver displayed stop-start quickness akin to the praying mantis from the “Kung Fu Panda” movies. The speedster also showed off his ball skills with consecutive receptions from Reed, including a spinning catch for 29 yards.
“I said it when we signed Mario that he was the toughest kid some of our kids thought they played against all of last year,” Elko said. “He’s got tremendous speed, tremendous quickness, tremendous twitch.”
The final wide receiver to flash across the Kyle Field grass was Williams, who managed two circus crutches. He fought through contact both times, hauling in a touchdown with just one hand and shrugging off a facemask penalty to catch the other ball from the turf on his 51-yard day.
Even with the offensive pockets getting manhandled by the defensive lines, freshman running back Deondrae “Tiger” Riden Jr. earned his stripes with a hard-charging 17-yard rush. The freshman might be called upon earlier than expected with senior RB Le’Veon Moss still nursing a knee injury.
“It’s what you do from this moment until the start of fall camp, through fall camp, to the opener that’s really going to determine the kind of season that you can have,” Elko said. “That’s where all the separation is going to happen.”
