Mike Elko refutes Nick Saban’s claim of Texas A&M using artificial noise at Kyle Field
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Mike Elko had a message for Pat McAfee on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday morning, he had a message for the entire country, and he had a message for Nick Saban.
Elko’s message? That the Kyle Field noise mystique isn’t artificially enhanced. The Texas A&M head coach stuck up for his “12th Man” fan base that makes College Station 1 of the toughest places in the country to play, talking to McAfee about it while Elko walked the field before Saturday afternoon’s College Football Playoff showdown against Miami.
He was standing on the Kyle Field turf about an hour before kickoff, and he wanted to let everyone know, Saban included, that the noise Saban said this week was pumped in to help the decibel level just isn’t true. All that noise that pours down from the stands at Kyle Field is very real, Elko told McAfee.
“I think it’s awesome. I think you can feel the electricity when you walk around campus,” Mike Elko said. “We’ve always had the crowd noise, we’ve always had the fan base. None of that (noise) is actually pumped in, I just want to make sure I throw that in.”
When Elko said that last sentence, he was talking to everyone but specifically to Saban, who is part of the College GameDay crew. Elko didn’t want to let that pregame moment go by without saying, once and for all, that all the noise that Miami will face on Saturday is very real.
Elko couldn’t wait to get the game going, so Kyle Field would be on display for all college football fans to witness.
“It’s a great moment for our program,” Elko said. “We got to go out there (Saturday) and take advantage of it.”
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
