{"id":593446,"date":"2026-04-19T10:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/593446\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T10:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:23:09","slug":"sanfords-injury-clouds-the-good-seen-in-maroon-white-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/593446\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanford’s injury clouds the good seen in Maroon & White Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click HERE to view Texas A&M\u2019s postgame press conference.<\/a><\/p>\n

Grey clouds filled the skies above Kyle Field on an overcast Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

The atmosphere at kickoff for Texas A&M\u2019s Maroon & White football game was gloomy. It got much gloomier just before halftime.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Daymion Sanford crumbled to the ground at the end of a running play. Soon afterward, Sanford was carted off the field with a cast on his lower left leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah \u2026 he got injured,\u201d A&M coach Mike Elko, who obviously didn\u2019t want to talk about it, said in a postgame press conference. \u201cLower body. We\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019ll require as much figuring as a CPA in mid-April. Sanford is a team captain. He\u2019s A&M\u2019s best linebacker. Last year, he was second among Aggies in tackles for loss. He was fourth in total tackles. He was second in sacks among returning players.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaymion is a one-of-a-kind type of player,\u201d fellow linebacker Noah Mikhail said after the game. \u201cLosing someone like that, it\u2019s\u00a0just really tough. It\u2019s really tough on the whole team, especially us linebackers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got in the huddle right away and prayed for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDaymion is a one-of-a-kind type of player. Losing someone like that, it\u2019s\u00a0just really tough. It\u2019s really tough on the whole team, especially us linebackers. \u2026 We got in the huddle right away and prayed for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Texas A&M linebacker Noah Mikhail<\/p>\n

No doubt, thousands more prayers for a quick recovery have been lifted on Sanford\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

The defense needs him. There\u2019s no denying it would be a major blow if the injury forces Sanford to miss significant time next season.<\/p>\n

The injury overshadowed the good things that occurred in the Maroon team\u2019s last-play 15-13 victory.<\/p>\n

Brady Hart appeared to show he could be a legitimate backup to starting quarterback Marcel Reed. Hart completed a 25-yard pass to Ashton Bethel-Roman on fourth-and-13. He also connected with Isaiah Horton for a 33-yard completion.<\/p>\n

Horton flashed brilliance with two receptions when well-covered. He had to reach down to pull in the 33-yard throw on the sideline while being blanketed by safety Chance Collins.<\/p>\n

Sophomore running back Jamarion Morrow hinted he could play a major role in the offense. He rushed for 75 yards on nine carries. That included runs which covered 23, 19 and 14 yards.<\/p>\n

Mikhail had an interception. The Aggies only managed three interceptions all of last season, so any turnover\u00a0is celebrated. Mikhail\u2019s made a great read to swipe Helaman Casuga\u2019s throw to tight end Houston Thomas and return 30 yards for a touchdown.<\/p>\n

Receiver Mario Craver was merely himself. He caught a 40-yard pass from Reed.<\/p>\n

The kicking game shined. Last season, the Aggies had the lowest field goal percentage in the SEC. They went 5-for-5. Transfer David Olano converted from 33 and 39 yards. Freshman Asher Murray made field goals from 28, 29 and 53 yards.<\/p>\n

The fun of competition. On the final play of the game, Casuga connected with tight end Luke Braden for a 23-yard game-winning touchdown pass. Maroon team players on the sideline then stormed the field in celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what you saw at the end was what we want the spring game to be, which is kids having fun playing football,\u201d Elko said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how relevant the last play is \u2014 non-live quarterback and all of that stuff, but it\u2019s still competition. You\u2019re still playing to win, and then you still get unbelievable energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what, to me, spring games are. It\u2019s literally all about the kids to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But is it worth the possibility of losing a key player to injury? That debate is rather common in college football these days. Some programs have canceled spring games.<\/p>\n

Elko obviously sees value in them. In this transfer portal era, rosters change dramatically from season to season. The need to evaluate and build cohesion arguably makes spring football games more important than in previous years.<\/p>\n

Besides, there\u2019s risk involved in every one of the 15 spring practice sessions, every practice in August camp and every practice during the season.<\/p>\n

Work has to be done to prepare. It cannot be ignored for fear of injuries.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s hard to remember that when a key player is carted off the field. Then, teammates hit their knees and cross their fingers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping we can get (Sanford) back as soon as possible,\u201d Mikhail said.\u00a0\u201cLosing someone like that hurts a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as you want to rally and not think about it, it\u2019s still definitely there. It\u2019s going to hurt. It\u2019s not going to go away, but as bad as it gets, we\u2019ve got to push forward and just see what holds for us next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next, all Aggies will anxiously wait for an update on Sanford\u2019s status. Any bit of good news would be like a ray of sunshine cutting through gray clouds on a gloomy day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Click HERE to view Texas A&M\u2019s postgame press conference. Grey clouds filled the skies above Kyle Field on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[54639,258772,258771,248846,133382,248844,237783,206419,206435,399,258773,206416,206413,206450,155490,7086,7090,7085,398,396,397,206439,155492,99,120318,7084,258770],"class_list":["post-593446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-54639","tag-2026-maroon-white-game","tag-4-18-2026","tag-asher-murray","tag-ashton-bethel-roman","tag-brady-hart","tag-chance-collins","tag-david-olano","tag-daymion-sanford","tag-football","tag-helaman-casuga","tag-houston-thomas","tag-isaiah-horton","tag-jamarion-morrow","tag-luke-braden","tag-marcel-reed","tag-mario-craver","tag-mike-elko","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-noah-mikhail","tag-olin-buchanan","tag-sports","tag-texags","tag-texas-am","tag-texas-am-vs-texas-am-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}