Texas A&M football suffered arguably the most heartbreaking defeat of Saturday's chaotic slate. Late on Saturday night, after much of the SEC had already fallen victim to a full slate of difficult road games, Mike Elko and the Aggies fell just short in a 43-41 loss to Auburn in quadruple overtime.

Texas A&M lost after running back Amari Daniels dropped a pass on the team's only play of the fourth overtime. A catch would have tied the score at 43 and moved the game along to a fifth extra period. Instead, Elko and company suffered their third loss of the season and second in conference play.

While this loss will certainly sting for Texas A&M, it has no time to feel sorry for itself before a massive rivalry game against Texas next week. Elko is looking forward to the challenge, according to the Associated Press via ESPN.

“This one's certainly going to hurt, and we're obviously extremely disappointed,” Elko said after the game. “We had ourselves in a really good position. Obviously with who we play and what we're playing for, there's still going to be a lot of energy going into that stadium next week.”

On top of being a renewal of one of college football's most heated rivalries, but it also has massive SEC Championship implications. The winner of Saturday's contest in College Station will head to Atlanta to take on Georgia for the conference title.

For Texas A&M, winning the conference championship is likely the only way for them to reach the playoff, as it is unlikely to be selected for an at-large bid with three losses. There's no question that this is the biggest game of the season for Elko and company.

Texas A&M must find defensive identity again after loss vs. Auburn

Related Texas A&M Football NewsArticle continues below
The Michigan Wolverines offensive line, including Zak Zinter (65), Olusegun Oluwatimi (55), Giovanni El-Hadi (58) and Ryan Hayes (76), and tight ends Matthew Hibner (88) and Joel Honigford, get set against the Illinois Fighting Illini
5-star Michigan football target gets real on upcoming visit
Michigan Wolverines Michigan Wolverines offensive lines coach Sherrone Moore gestures from the sideline during the first quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium.
Michigan football makes 4-star OT’s final 4
North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick walks to his seat for the announcement of his hiring at Loudermilk Center for Excellence.
Bill Belichick clears up Jordon Hudson’s role at North Carolina
Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) hands the ball off to running back Amari Daniels (5) during warm ups before Auburn Tigers take on Texas A&M Aggies at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.
© Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Early in the season, the Texas A&M defense was the unit that the Aggies could really rely on, while the offense continued to build and come around into a solid unit. Mike Elko shuffled back and forth between Marcel Reed and Conner Weigman at quarterback as he tried to find the right blend for this unit.

The Aggies have officially settled on Reed as the full-time starter, and the offense has been playing some good football with him behind center. The running game is lethal with the element of the quarterback run because of Reed, and Texas A&M has been moving the ball consistently as a result.

However, the Texas A&M defense isn't playing as well as it was early in the season. That unit got carved up by an Auburn offense that has struggled mightily at times this season. Auburn finished Saturday night's marathon affair with 469 yards of offense, leaving Elko with a lot of things to clean up on that side of the ball.

If things don't get cleaned up, Steve Sarkisian and an explosive Texas offense will have no problems running up the points on them. Texas A&M must get that cleaned up if it wants to make it to Atlanta.