Texas A&M coach Mike Elko was fired up and angry after a 41-10 win over No. 9 Missouri. Not because of how the game unfolded, but because of how the lead into the game went for his quarterback Conner Weigman.

Elko finished his opening remarks after the win over the Tigers and quickly pivoted to his signal-caller.

“The last thing I’m going to say, and I’m going to say this because it needs to be said,” Elko began. “You can challenge Conner for how he plays, and you can be upset about Conner for how he throws a football. Some of the stuff that has been said about this kid and written about this kid — not by you guys, you guys have been great — is embarrassing. Is absolutely embarrassing the stuff that gets out there on this kid.

“This kid’s a winner, he’s a competitor. He does everything that he needs to do for Texas A&M football. And there’s a lot of people right now that need to stand up and recognize what they’ve said over the last three weeks and take some ownership in it.”

Conner Weigman, of course, missed the last three weeks with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder. In his stead, freshman Marcel Reed took over and played remarkably well.

Many wondered if Weigman might get Wally Pipped, passed over through no fault of his own.

For Elko, that was clearly never in the cards. He knew what he had in Conner Weigman and stuck by him. He started Saturday and never looked back, turning in an outstanding game.

Still, Elko wasn’t about to let it rest there. He was asked to clarify what irked him the most about whatever was said about Weigman.

“How false and fictitious it all was,” he said. “Not criticism to him as a quarterback. You can criticize him as a quarterback. He stood up here, he owned his performance. We’re all in this arena to be criticized, that’s sport, right?

“When you start taking about personal things that are grossly fictitious and grossly false and those things become stories and start running, that’s embarrassing.”

Elko left it at that.

But Conner Weigman’s play on Saturday did plenty of talking. And certainly silenced a lot of the doubters.

The veteran quarterback went a near-perfect 18-of-22 passing for 276 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass, but he didn’t throw an interception either, keeping the chains moving all day long for a Texas A&M team that throttled previously unbeaten Missouri.

And now everyone knows: Conner Weigman has the full backing of his coach.

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