LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Mike Elko and the Aggies will take on Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans Friday night, in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl. It’s been a while since the last time these two teams squared off. You’d have to go back to 1977 where the programs met in the Astro Blue Bonnet Bowl. For context, that’s before Riley was born and Elko was just five months old.
“It’s a great opportunity for two great brands in college football to play each other in a great venue Friday night,” Elko said.
While bowls may not hold the level of importance that they once did, they’re also opportunities for players to emerge. In fact, it was just a year ago in the Texas Bowl that freshman quarterback Marcel Reed was called upon after the first play of the game and he went on to throw for 361 yards against Oklahoma State.
“I mean it just helped me propel my confidence going into next season,” Aggie quarterback Marcel Reed said. “Knowing what I’m capable of and having the team around me, trust me, I came in as a freshman after the first play of the game not knowing I was going to play that long but, it really helped leading into this season. Making me a better player, seeing what it’s like, seeing the speed of the game and how it changes.
But that’s not to say results don’t matter. The outcome of this game will set the tone for the offseason.
“I think for our whole team, this is an opportunity to vault into next year,” Elko said. “I think that's what we've spoken about the most is, win or lose this feeling lasts 6 months, and that's just the nature of bowl games and so people can talk a lot about who's in, who's out, who's playing, who's not playing. At the end of the day when there's a ball down, there's a result and those results last an awful long time because our team puts an awful lot into it and so does the other one. I think for our whole team, I think this is a potential launching point for next year.”
And even though the focus of this trip is football, the Aggies have had the opportunity to soak in a little bit of what Sin City has to offer.
“My favorite part, I would definitely say was a sphere,” Aggie defensive lineman Albert Regis said. “I mean, I'm going to be honest, it's crazy, bro like that screen, all that feeling, the cold air, smelling oranges, roses like it's crazy how far as a society we've came.
The Aggies and Trojans will meet for just the fourth time in the program history. USC leads the all-time series 3-0, so the Aggies will try and get one back at Allegiant stadium, Friday night. Kickoff is set for 9:30pm CT.
