SEC fines Texas A&M, reprimands Mike Elko for Aggie player faking injury against Arkansas

The SEC has fined Texas A&M and reprimanded head coach Mike Elko for a violation of the conference’s policy on feigning injuries. The announcement from the conference office in Birmingham states that violation of the policy comes with a reprimand for Elko and a fine of $50,000 issued to the program.

Tuesday’s announcement states that the National Coordinator of Football Officiating reviewed game video from Texas A&M’s Oct.18 win over Arkansas. The National Coordinator concluded that the sequence reviewed was more likely than not a feigned injury. Here’s how the SEC described the sequence of events and the review:

Video of the questionable action, submitted to the National Coordinator by the Southeastern Conference office, occurred with 12:55 remaining in the game after Arkansas completed a pass for a first down just outside the Texas A&M 10-yard line.  After the ball is spotted by officials, No. 7 for Texas A&M goes to the ground, creating the appearance of an injury. Just prior to the player going down, a Texas A&M staff member can be seen in the video standing in the team area near the 25-yard line signaling demonstratively to the player, pointing to the ground. It was noted that the Texas A&M player had no contact during the play and returned to the game on the second play of the ensuing defensive possession.

“As determined by the National Coordinator, the action by player, especially with the concurrent action by the coach in the team area, is a clear attempt to gain an unmerited advantage by stopping the game to be awarded an injury time out. The action violates the spirit of the injury timeout and fair play and was conducted in a manner that appears to attempt to circumvent the NCAA’s injury time out rule to avoid the team being charged a time out.

NEWS | National Coordinator of Officiating determines violation of injury timeout: https://t.co/sXMjfVRR5i

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) October 21, 2025

Elko responded in a statement released by Texas A&M. He said that the program respects the SEC’s decision and accepts the ruling, but does not agree with the National Coordinator’s finding. Elko maintains that Texas A&M players are not coached to feign injuries.

In reference to today's SEC ruling. pic.twitter.com/Jc3nwqjpBL

— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) October 21, 2025

Texas A&M is the only undefeated team in the SEC, improving to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in SEC play with the win over Arkansas. The Aggies travel to Baton Rouge to face No. 20 LSU on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.