Marcel Reed displayed more than a few flashes of brilliance in his first full season as Texas A&M’s starting quarterback. The redshirt sophomore led the Aggies to a 41-40 early-season win over Notre Dame with a game-winning touchdown throw and threw for over 400 yards in a 28-point second-half comeback against South Carolina. Yet, those flashes were rarely sustained.
On Saturday, in the first round of the College Football Playoff at Kyle Field, moments of excellence were very few and far between for the entire A&M offense as the No. 7 Aggies fell 10-3 to No. 10 Miami.
Marcel Reed’s struggles doom Texas A&M in the CFP
Reed struggled to be consistently accurate on a windy day in College Station, and the vaunted Miami pass rush got home for seven sacks. He finished with 27 yards on 15 carries and 237 yards on 25 of 39 passing, with two costly interceptions and a lost fumble. His final turnover ended a potentially game-tying touchdown drive on the doorstep of the end zone with 24 seconds left.
With those two interceptions, Reed, who totaled 25 passing touchdowns to 12 interceptions on the season, saw his TD/INT split slide to 15/12 against Power 4 opponents. In his final two games of the season, against Miami and at Texas in the final week of the regular season, with a spot in the SEC Championship Game on the line, he threw four picks with no touchdowns rushing or passing, and the Aggies offense averaged just 10 points a game.
While Reed wasn’t the only issue for a team and offense that may have been inflated by an SEC schedule that included the conference’s bottom five teams and only two SEC teams that finished with a winning record, he may have been the biggest one. And the late-season skid has Aggies fans wondering if heading into 2026 with him as the undisputed starter is the right decision. Mike Elko, seemingly, does not share those concerns.
Mike Elko on QB Marcel Reed
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) December 20, 2025
“He’s still a young QB. I still think there’s a lot of room for development and growth for him.
“I think you saw major strides this year, but I still think there’s a ceiling there that he’s not close to hitting.
“I think you’ll get a much better… pic.twitter.com/46YPSm5W9d
Mike Elko gives Marcel Reed a vote of confidence for 2026
In the postgame press conference, Elko admitted, “I still think there’s a lot of room for development and growth for him,” but added, “I think you’ll get a much better version of him next year.”
While that doesn’t necessarily mean the better version of him will still be in a Texas A&M uniform, it feels safe to assume that is what Elko means. That doesn’t sound like a coach who has one eye on the transfer portal and is ready to cut ties with his QB.
Maybe Elko will be vindicated for his belief in Reed. He is a talented thrower with elite athleticism, and that can be a dangerous combination. However, he’s struggled to read the field and against top competition, and has routinely looked uncomfortable in the pocket.
Oftentimes, the biggest games of the season come down to a quarterback’s ability as a true dropback passer. Maybe offensive coordinator Colin Klein should have used Reed’s athleticism to his advantage in the red zone, where the windows get tight, but if you can’t trust your quarterback to make a throw in that situation, you quickly run out of other options.
Texas A&M can reload the money cannon about as well as any program in the country. That money might be better spent replacing KC Concepcion at wide receiver, or keeping him for entering the NFL Draft, and restocking the roster in the trenches, than spending the four or five million dollars it would take to replace Reed. Or maybe not.
Elko still has time to step back, evaluate the season, and consider making a move. And that process will be further complicated by Klein's departure to become the head coach at Kansas State. But right now, it sounds like Reed will be back in College Station for 2026.