The 2025 Texas A&M football season has been great through the first half. The Aggies are 7-0 and have looked great up to this point. However, in college football, the conferences are cracking down on programs that are supposedly faking injuries, and the SEC fined the Aggies for doing so. Despite the punishment, Mike Elko denied it had happened.
The SEC fined the Texas A&M football program $50,000 and publicly reprimanded head coach Mike Elko for the incident. That decision was made after Steve Shaw, the National Coordinator of Football Officiating, reviewed the video of the play in question, which involved nickel Tyreek Chappell in Texas A&M's 45-42 win over Arkansas on Saturday. After the decision, Mike Elko said that while he respected what the SEC said, he completely disagreed with the decision and said they did not coach to fake injuries.
“We respect the SEC's decision and understand the importance of upholding the integrity of the game,” Elko said in a statement. “While we accept the ruling, we disagree with the decision and want to be clear that we never coach or instruct our players to feign injury. Texas A&M football remains firmly committed to the highest sportsmanship, competitiveness, and integrity standards. We'll use this to review our processes and ensure we continue representing our great university and the SEC with class and accountability.”
On the play, Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green completed a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Raylen Sharpe with 12:43 remaining in the fourth quarter. Tyreek Chappell did not hit another player on the play, which ended with safety Marcus Ratcliffe tackling Sharpe.
After the officials spotted the ball for the next play, Chappell immediately went down to the ground. It also seemed like the Texas A&M training staff appeared to look at his right knee before he got up and gingerly walked off the field. However, just six defensive plays later, Chappell returned to the game to finish the rest.
They reasoned that an Aggie staff member could be seen on video standing in the team area near the 25-yard line “signaling demonstratively” to Chappell, pointing to the ground. It is worth noting that this was not completely clear to anyone watching television.
Shaw determined on behalf of the Aggies that this was “a clear attempt to gain an unmerited advantage by stopping the game to be awarded an injury timeout.” That reasoning was used for the punishment.
The rule that the SEC established was approved in 2022, and this was the first time that a program had been punished over the new rule. It was unanimously approved, and any other violations would result in doubling the fine or, in worst-case scenarios, a suspension for Mike Elko.
