Texas A&M fans are basically used to a specific kind of emotional rollercoaster by now. You know the one. High expectations, a mid-season surge that feels like "this is finally it," and then a November that makes you want to hide your 12th Man towel in the back of the closet. The aggie football schedule 2024 was supposed to be the clean slate. Mike Elko’s first year. A return to defensive fundamentals. And, of course, the game everyone had circled for a decade: the return of the Longhorns to Kyle Field.
Looking back, the season was a weird, beautiful, and eventually frustrating puzzle. It wasn’t a disaster, but it definitely didn’t end with the fireworks people expected after that October winning streak. If you just look at the 8-5 record, you're missing the real story of how this team almost crashed the playoff party before the wheels fell off in the most Aggie way possible.
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The Brutal Start and the Seven-Game Surge
The season kicked off with a massive spotlight. Notre Dame came to town on August 31st. College GameDay was there. The atmosphere was electric, but the offense was... well, it was stuck in the mud. Losing 23-13 at home isn't how anyone wanted to start the Elko era. Honestly, it felt like the same old story.
But then, something clicked.
The Aggies went on a tear. They handled McNeese 52-10, which, okay, they were supposed to do. But then they went into the Swamp and beat Florida 33-20. That was the moment people started thinking, "Wait, is Elko actually doing this?" They followed that up with a nervy 26-20 win over Bowling Green and a gritty 21-17 victory over Arkansas in Arlington. By the time they dismantled No. 9 Missouri 41-10 at Kyle Field, the hype train was at full speed.
A Historic Mid-Season Run
Most experts, including guys like Greg McElroy, pointed to that Missouri game as the turning point. The defense looked elite. The running game was finding lanes that didn't exist in August. When they beat LSU 38-23 on October 26th to move to 7-1, the aggie football schedule 2024 looked like a roadmap to the SEC Championship.
At that point, the Aggies were 5-0 in conference play. That was their best start in the SEC ever. Mike Elko looked like a genius. The 12th Man was ready to start booking hotels for the playoffs. Then, November happened.
Where the Aggie Football Schedule 2024 Fell Apart
If you want to pinpoint the exact moment things went south, look at the trip to Columbia. South Carolina has a way of ruining seasons, and they did exactly that on November 2nd. The Aggies got bullied. A 44-20 loss wasn't just a defeat; it was a physical beatdown that seemed to take the soul out of the team.
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Elko later mentioned at the SEC spring meetings that the team didn't handle being "the hunted" very well. They went from the underdog story to the team with a target on their back, and they blinked.
- The Auburn Heartbreak: After a breather against New Mexico State (a 38-3 win), the Aggies went to Jordan-Hare. It turned into a four-overtime nightmare. Losing 43-41 to an Auburn team they should have beaten was the final nail in the "major bowl game" coffin.
- The Lone Star Showdown: Then came November 30th. The game. Texas vs. A&M. 109,028 people packed into Kyle Field. The first time these two played in 13 years. It was a defensive slugfest, but the Aggie offense just couldn't move the ball. A 17-7 loss to the Longhorns hurt worse than any other game on the schedule.
- The Las Vegas Bowl: Ending the year in Vegas against USC sounded fun, but the 35-31 loss just cemented the feeling of a "what if" season.
Breaking Down the Results
To really understand how the aggie football schedule 2024 played out, you have to look at the consistency—or lack thereof. The defense was actually quite good for most of the year, ranking in the top 40 nationally for points allowed. They were especially stout against the run, giving up just over 100 yards a game.
The problem was the offense. When they were on, like against Missouri or LSU, they looked like world-beaters. When they were off, they were stagnant. They struggled with turnovers and third-down conversions in the big games, particularly in that regular-season finale against Texas where they only managed 7 points.
The Full 2024 Results
- Aug 31: vs Notre Dame (L 13-23)
- Sep 7: vs McNeese (W 52-10)
- Sep 14: at Florida (W 33-20)
- Sep 21: vs Bowling Green (W 26-20)
- Sep 28: vs Arkansas - Arlington (W 21-17)
- Oct 5: vs Missouri (W 41-10)
- Oct 19: at Mississippi State (W 34-24)
- Oct 26: vs LSU (W 38-23)
- Nov 2: at South Carolina (L 20-44)
- Nov 16: vs New Mexico State (W 38-3)
- Nov 23: at Auburn (L 41-43, 4OT)
- Nov 30: vs Texas (L 7-17)
- Dec 27: vs USC - Las Vegas Bowl (L 31-35)
Real Insights for Aggie Fans
So, was 2024 a success? Honestly, it depends on who you ask.
If you're looking at the big picture, Mike Elko took a roster in transition and had them one or two plays away from an 11-win season. The "B" grade from analysts seems fair. They proved they could compete with the elite (beating Missouri and LSU), but they also showed they weren't deep enough to survive the November grind of the SEC.
The biggest takeaway for next year is the schedule management. The Aggies proved they can handle the middle-tier SEC teams, but they need to find a way to win on the road in hostile environments like Auburn and Columbia.
If you're planning your travel for future seasons based on this 2024 data, focus on the late-October games. That's usually when this team hits its peak before the depth issues start to show in November. Keep an eye on the transfer portal for offensive line help—that was the quietest but most significant reason the 2024 schedule ended in a skid rather than a sprint.
The 2024 season is in the books, and while the 8-5 record feels mediocre, the context tells a story of a program that is finally moving in the right direction, even if they tripped over the finish line.
To prepare for the next cycle, start tracking the 2025 recruiting class rankings early. Depth was the primary culprit for the November collapse, and seeing how Elko addresses the secondary and offensive line depth will be the best indicator of whether the 2025 schedule will end differently than the 2024 one. Additionally, review the 2025 SEC schedule rotations to see if the Aggies get a friendlier draw for their road games.