COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M's historic season ended with a gut punch, as quarterback Marcel Reed, who had driven the Aggies to the Miami 5-yard line with 27 seconds left, threw an interception in the back of the end zone in a 10-3 loss at Kyle Field.
The loss Saturday 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 squad that finished 12-1.
Mike Elko, the Aggies' second-year head coach, said that the loss will sting but that it shouldn't discount what the team accomplished. When he took over before last season, he said 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 and started 11-0 but lost their final two games: to Texas in Austin and then to the Hurricanes, their first defeat 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 that as a grown man he can handle the disappointment but that he is hurting for his players. Still, he emphasized that 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, and he credited Miami's defense for preventing the Aggies from being able to run the ball, enabling the Canes 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, 6 more than running back Rueben 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 the interception, 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 took and called the season a "foundation-setter," saying A&M finally got to the big stage and has plans to keep building.
"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 Aggies' 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 5 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."