"(His thoughts were) not a whole lot different in my thoughts than what I had after the game," he said. "Certainly a disappointing loss, one where we felt like we had an opportunity to really set this season off on a really good foot and just unable to get it done."

After throwing for just 100 yards and two interceptions in the game, quarterback Conner Weigman has been the target of significant criticism. But Elko said the blame for his struggles should be just as much on the coaching staff as it is on Weigman himself.

"I think when you go back and watch the film offensively, obviously we struggled in the passing game. I think what we went back and evaluated, you know, obviously, it starts with us," he said. "I think we've got to try to find some ways to create better opportunities for our kids to get open and get vertical down the field and make plays."

In spite of Weigman's struggles and going 12-30 on the night, Elko said he has no qualms about putting the redshirt sophomore back out on the field Saturday morning against McNeese (11:45 a.m. central, SEC Network).

"He knows (the problems). He saw it," Elko said of Weigman. "He's confident in the corrections he needs to make, and he'll have a great week of practice and put himself in position to make the improvements we need to make."

Elko noted some adjustments that needed to be made on the other side of the ball as well. After largely shutting down the Notre Dame offense, the Aggie defense made several key mistakes in the fourth quarter allowing the Fighting Irish to pull away late.

"I thought for most of the game we played the way we wanted to. I thought there were two really critical stretches in the second half that we didn't play to the best of our ability that ultimately cost us the game," he said. "I think we had them backed up on the first and 25 and, you know, back to back plays, we gave up an 11 yard pass, and then, you know, the long run for the touchdown."

Elko said one down and distance situation, in particular, stood out as an issue in the opener.

"I think that's probably the one area we looked at as coaches, is what we're doing on second and off schedule. That was probably the one down and distance where we really struggled the most defensively," he said. "And then, you know, we had them third and five on that last drive of the game, and didn't make the play, and it felt like maybe started pressing at that point and really gave up some uncharacteristic runs all the way down to the final touchdown."

When asked what positives he took away from the game, Elko mentioned two areas in particular -- both of which were serious problems in 2023.

"I thought we certainly made some strides and improvements on the offensive line," he said. "I think the pockets were cleaner than maybe people thought they were going in, and we didn't give up any balls over our head in the secondary."

The Aggies will look to pick up their first win against McNeese, which is 1-1 after beating Southern 21-7 Saturday after dropping its opener 26-23 to Tarleton State. Elko said that, record aside, A&M should expect the Cowboys' best shot Saturday.

"They spread it out. They're an RPO team. They're led by quarterback Clifton McDowell, who led Montana State to an FCS national championship appearance last year. He's a dual thread kid. He's their leading rusher as well. He's completing 63% of his passes, and so he kind of makes the offense go," he said. "At tailback, they've got a big kid, D'Angelo Durham, who's been around for a while. He's 6-1, 210. He's averaging over 6 yards a carry at this point. The wideouts, tight ends, are kind of a mix of like returning players and Power Five transfers. And so they're still trying to kind of sort through. They're playing a lot of guys at both of those positions. Three of their five returning starters are back, and so it's an experienced group up front."

Defensively, Elko said McNeese runs a defensive scheme not all that different from the one the Aggies operate.

"They've got an experienced front coming back. Three of their four starters return. They had a linebacker, Micah Davie, who led the nation that tackles last year with over 150 tackles. He's already got 31 and two games coming into this one," he said. "Their secondary, like their wideouts, is a mix of returning starters (and) kids who have transferred in, and so they're trying to sort that group out still."

The Aggies will go into Saturday's game with a new center after Mark Nabou suffered a season-ending leg injury against Notre Dame. Transfer Koli Faaiu, who played most of the game Saturday, will get the start for A&M. Elko said that Faaiu nearly won the starting job outright in training camp, so the confidence level with him is high.

"I thought he played well; I mean the kid's played a lot of football. It's why we brought him here. You know he battled all the way through it," he said. "It really went all the way to about Thursday before we kind of settled on where we were going with that starting offensive line. And I don't know even if Mark was healthy, that we still wouldn't have conversations about who the best five would be."