Texas A&M aims for national championship after first College Football Playoff berth

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M is in the College Football Playoff for the first time, taking a huge step toward contending for a national championship after years of coming up short.

But the Aggies certainly aren’t content just to be in the playoff.

“Obviously there was excitement yesterday to sit in the watch party and see our name go up on the screen and that moment’s not lost on the team or on me, but we have aspirations to do a lot more than just sit in a room and see our name get put on a screen,” coach Mike Elko said Monday. “I think very quickly it shifted to, now we have an opponent, we have a focus. I think you could feel the energy lift.

“We kind of went right out of there into a team meeting and to get to work on kind of where this thing was going,” he continued. “So yeah, obviously first step is getting in, but I think we want to try to do a little bit more than that.”

Seventh-seeded Texas A&M (11-1) hosts No. 10 seed Miami (10-2) on Dec. 20. The Aggies aim to bounce back after a loss to rival Texas in the regular-season finale spoiled their undefeated season and knocked them out of a first-round bye in the postseason.

“It’s an honor to be able to play in the playoffs and especially get another home game at Kyle Field,” offensive lineman Trey Zuhn said. “There’s no better feeling than that. But we didn’t come here just to get to the playoffs. We came here to win it all.”

The Aggies are looking for their third national championship and first since 1939. Their 11 wins are the most they've had since going 11-2 in 2012 during Johnny Manziel's Heisman Trophy-winning season.

They’ll make their playoff run with offensive coordinator Collin Klein, who will remain with the team throughout the postseason despite being hired as Kansas State’s new coach last week following the retirement of Chris Klieman. Elko said though Klein oversees the offense, it is a collaborative effort that involves a variety of people and he isn’t worried Klein will be stretched too thin handling all his responsibilities.

“I have a ton of confidence in Collin, in who he is as a man and who he is as a competitor, that he’ll give the focus and energy that he needs to to ensure that this thing is done the right way and finished the right way,” Elko said. “And so, I have no questions about that. I think all in, we’ll be able to manage this thing pretty well.”

As for if the Aggies and Klein will have star running back Le’Veon Moss when they host the Hurricanes, Elko wouldn’t say Monday. Moss has been out since injuring his ankle against Florida on Oct. 11 and Elko has said in the past that Moss could return for the playoffs.

If he can’t go, Texas A&M will continue to rely on Rueben Owens II to power the running game. He leads the team with 618 yards rushing but has managed just 76 yards combined in his last two games.

The Aggies returned to practice Monday for the first time since the 27-17 loss to the Longhorns on Nov. 28. Elko said he saw a sense of urgency from his team as it tries to put that loss behind it and focus on Miami.

“The positive sometimes of a loss is it refocuses and recenters everything,” Elko said. “When you’re winning, you talk a lot about what needs to get fixed and changed and it doesn’t always seem to happen at the rate you want it to. Then sometimes when you get slapped in the face a little bit, you kind of have to readjust. And I think that’s maybe what will happen from the loss.”