David Olano off to perfect start at Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – When Texas A&M coach Mike Elko sought a kicker in the transfer portal in January, he put Illinois senior David Olano at the top of his wish list.

Two games into the 2026 season, Olano is showing why he was Elko’s top choice. The Colombian American nailed a pair of field goals Saturday to help the No. 10 Aggies rout Arizona State 48-20 before a red, white and blue-clad sellout crowd of 107,523 at Kyle Field.

While accounting for 12 points, David Olano became the first Aggie kicker since 2024 to score at least 10 while making
all of his field goal attempts.

Olano made a 22-yard field goal with three seconds left in the first half to give Texas A&M a 17-10 lead heading into halftime. He added a 39-yarder with 2:26 to play in the fourth quarter, giving the Aggies a 41-20 lead. He also was perfect on six extra points. Combined with his field goal in the season opener a week earlier, Olano is now a 3-for-3 to start his Texas A&M career.

The Aggies struggled mightily in the kicking game last season, and Elko knows the kicking game is crucial heading into the rugged SEC season.

Remembering 9-11 victims

As they did 25 years ago, the Aggies honored the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Most of the sellout crowd of 107,523 dressed in red, white and blue. Fans in the bottom deck of the stadium wore blue. The second deck was in white, and fans in the top deck wore red.

More from Our Esquina

Texas A&M kicker David Olano made own path from Futbol to Football

El Salvador trip grounds Houston kicker Jonathan Dimas

Iowa receiver Tony Diaz capitalizes on mom’s sacrifices

The T-shirts read “United in Remembrance” in the bottom. Texas A&M students first led an initiative to wear red, white and blue on Sept. 22, 2001, to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks. The tradition was repeated in 2021 to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the attacks.

The A&M logo on the field was red, white and blue. Moreover, the south end zone was painted blue, and the north end zone was painted red. The crowd was the 10th largest in Kyle Field history.

“I think it starts with just, what a scene,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “Thank you for the 12th Man. 107,500 — again
over 107,000 – and just the scene of red, white, and blue when we ran out of the tunnel, and what that
stands for on the anniversary of 9/11.

“I just thought that was another really, really impressive thing by the 12th Man, so thank you for all of them. Thank you for enduring that heat and some up-and-down play and staying with us and sticking with us and following us to the end, where we’re able to pull away.”