Texas A&M fans got the only confirmation they needed from Mike Elko and Aggies amid blowout win over Samford

Young Aggies stars like Ashton Bethel-Roman, Tiger Riden, Jamarion Morrow, and TK Norman showcase Texas A&M’s bright future to come after studs like Marcel Reed and KC Concepcion are gone

Travis May — College Football Managing Editor
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How much can anyone really learn from a Texas A&M 48-0 blowout win over Samford? Marcel Reed only had to play one quarter of action before the game was clearly over in the Aggies’ favor. Mike Elko and his impressive Texas A&M squad are now 11-0 after thoroughly annihilating their FCS opponent over the weekend, and now they only have to take down Texas to complete their undefeated regular season. However, that wasn’t the focus on Saturday.

The story of the day, and the exact confirmation that Aggies fans should have been looking for, came in the form of the bright future that Texas A&M clearly has in their young stars that were featured against Samford.

Young Texas A&M Aggies players confirm Mike Elko is building towards bright future

This 2025 college football season has been incredible for the Texas A&M Aggies and it very well may finish with a College Football Playoff run to a national championship. It also might fall apart quickly with a first round playoff exit like it did for the Oregon Ducks last season following their undefeated regular season and conference championship. Regardless of what happens, games like Saturday against Samford confirm that Mike Elko isn’t just trying to win this season, but is building something special in College Station that should last long after stars like quarterback Marcel Reed, wide receiver KC Concepcion, and edge rusher Cashius Howell are gone.

How? Saturday’s game showcased the impressive talents of over a half dozen exciting freshman offensive playmakers and some solid performances by young defenders too.

First off, redshirt freshman wide receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman continued to shine, stepping up as star WR Mario Craver (also just a second year player) recovers from injury. He may have only caught two passes against Samford, but they both went for touchdowns, including this absolute bomb of a 58-yard score in the post below.

Most Aggies fans were already familiar with Bethel-Roman coming into Saturday, and he just further solidified his possible WR1 or WR2 status for 2026 and 2027, but several other young offensive guys stepped up too. TK Norman, Kelshaun Johnson, Terry Bussey, and Izaiah Williams caught 10 receptions between the four of them. All four will be competing for the WR3 role on the Aggies next year. Running back Jamarion Morrow, who has already shined some this season, racked up another quick 58 yards from scrimmage on limited action. Perhaps most importantly though, Deondrae “Tiger” Riden saw his first significant action of the year.

For those unfamiliar, Riden is a four star true freshman and was one of the most productive Texas high school football running backs ever. He owns the storied DeSoto High School program rushing record with nearly 4300 yards on the ground and just shy of 60 touchdowns. He logged 45 yards and his first trip to the end zone Saturday, looking like the perfect potential partner for Morrow to carry the future of A&M’s back field.

Freshman defenders Noah Mikhail, Dealyn Evans, Solomon Williams, and Landon Rink all racked up 5+ tackles each and several tackles for loss on Saturday as the future of the Aggies defense got a ton of run as well. Young players were dominating everywhere, definitely looking ready to lead Texas A&M in the near future.

Mike Elko has quickly turned this Texas A&M program completely around. Not only does he have them undefeated, headed towards what could be the best year in the history of the program, but it’s clear he’s building up a roster that should provide sustained greatness with talent up and down both sides of the ball. That should have Texas A&M fans extremely excited and confident for many years to come.

We’ll be back with more Texas A&M Aggies coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

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