GAINESVILLE, Fla. (KBTX) – Texas A&M freshman quarterback Marcel Reed simply wasn’t prepared for his first career start.
The casual observer in the stands at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, or tuned in on the couch, wouldn’t have known as much during the Aggies’ commanding 33-20 win over Florida, ending a 10-game true road game losing skid that spanned three years.
After all, Reed completed 11 of 17 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 83 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
“I thought he was lights out. I thought he could have throw it a lot more,” head coach Mike Elko said. “We kind of took the air out of it a little bit when we got the big lead in the second half and kind of protected the game that way I think you should to win football games on the road. But he was calm. He was confident. He made throws.”
The redshirt freshman’s start was two weeks in the making. Starting quarterback Conner Weigman suffered an injury to the AC joint in his throwing arm during the Aggie’s season-opening loss to Notre Dame, Elko said. As he progressed through the last two weeks, the shoulder loosened up some, but the sophomore suffered a setback on Thursday. It was the first day he appeared as questionable on the Aggies’ mandatory participation report.
“We’re trying to still figure that out from a medical standpoint,” Elko said of the regression.
Weigman was one of the first Aggies out of the locker room Saturday afternoon, walking the field and using various apparatuses to try and warm up his shoulder. After making some tosses on the field in workout clothes, he walked over to the trainers and had a several-minute conversation before leaving the field with offensive coordinator Collin Klein. Just before the pair disappeared into the tunnel, Klein put his arm around a digested-looking Wingman’s shoulders.
Weigman suited up for the team’s pregame warmups and made some throws, but he couldn’t overcome the pain in the shoulder.
“He just want’t able to go today,” Elko said.
Approximately 20 minutes before the kickoff, Elko tapped Reed as the starter.
“As we were walking in, Conner was telling me, ‘I’m going to be right behind you. I got your back,’ and stuff like that,” Reed said. “‘Go run this show.’ Both of those guys had confidence in me and it made me feel great going into the game.”
It’s a scenario that isn’t fully unfamiliar to Reed. At the end of A&M’s previous season, Reed was called upon to enter the Texas Bowl on the second play of the game. That game’s starter, Jaylen Henderson, suffered a broken arm on the first play from scrimmage, leaving the keys to the offense to the then true freshman. Three plays later, the Aggies were forced to punt.
“It helped me prepare a little bit just because of the speed of the game. I had to get used to that really quick. As you guys probably know, my first drive wasn’t the greatest in the Texas Bowl, but I got comfortable.”
He finished that game with 20 completed passes in 33 attempts for 361 yards and a team-high 44 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
Reed nestled into Saturday’s game instantly. After two penalties pushed the Aggies back to their own 24, Reed burst forth from the middle of the pocket and scampered for 31 yards and a first down. By the end of the drive, A&M was up 3-0 on a Randy Bond 31-yard field goal.
Reed was fully engaged by the end of the second drive, when he connected to tight end Theo Melin Ohrstrom for a 29-yard touchdown pass and the first scoring reception for the Swede.
“That was a full-progression read and I made it through just about all the way and I kind of took a little hit at the end,” Reed said. “I was like, ‘I can do this. I’m not a little kid. I can’ make plays in this conference..’ And, you know, that set me up for. That one just set me up for some success and gave me the confidence I needed to go play the rest of the game.”
Klein didn’t use kid gloves with Reed. After a few short passes and run-pass options early in the game, he let Reed’s arm loose. On throws 15 yards or further, Reed completed 3 of 6 passes, including a 2 for 3 clip over the middle. On mid-range throws (five to 14 yards), Reed completed 3 of 4 passes.
By halftime, the Aggies were up 20-0 and had out-gained Florida 320 yards to 73 yards.
The Aggie offensive line, which was considered a potential venerability heading into the season, pushed Florida’s defensive front around and cleared running lanes for all of A&M’s backs. Le’Veon Moss paced the Aggies with 110 yards on 18 carries, followed by Reed and Amari Daniels, who tallied 68 yards on 13 carries. A&M closed out the second half with a seven-minute, 15-play drive that spanned 99 yards, with 97 of the yards coming on the ground.
“I thought it was physical SEC football by our offense today and that’s what you need when you go on the road if you want to win games on the road,” Elko said.
Rotating between quarterbacks Graham Mertz and Texan DJ Lagway, the Gators finally found some offense in the second half. Mertz finished with 195 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception while completing 80% of his passes. Lagway connected on 6 of 13 passes for 54 yards a touchdown and two picks. The Gators cut the lead to 13 in the fourth with 20 second-half points, but by the time Florida fans stood to sing Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down” at the start of the fourth quarter, the game had been deflated by Reed and the Aggie offensive line.
It drew A&M’s 10-game road losing streak to a close, which came as a relief to junior defensive back Bryce Anderson.
“Marcel helped us. Showed up in a big way,” Aggie safety Bryce Anderson said. “Got out there and wasn’t afraid of The Swamp. Came out there and played huge for us, man. Last year, he’d be giving us scout looks and be killing our one defense. So, we pretty much knew that Marcel had, he’s just been waiting on his chance.”
Reed was ready for his start Saturday. He took a large portion of significant reps during practice, especially as the week wore on and Weigman’s status became questionable. He also had the experience of the Texas Bowl to lean on.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” Reed said. “You guys know last year that we had guys go down and down throughout the week. The coaches preach that all the time, just staying prepared, getting extra work and stuff like that. You never know what is going to happen so you have to be ready when your name is called.”
After the game, Reed darted over to the corner of Ben Hill Griffen Stadium and nearly launched himself into the arms of his father and mother in the front row of the stands. The moment was mostly joy, but a lot of relief. After all, he hadn’t been prepared for everything it means to be a starting quarterback.
With a ton of family that resides in Florida and the chance he could see playing time Saturday, he waited until the last minute to secure tickets for his people. It was the one thing Saturday he simply wasn’t prepared to ace.
“I kind of messed up the tickets, so I didn’t know I they were going to make it to the game or not,” Reed said with a laugh. “We got it figured out. My mom’s side of the family is from Florida, so we had about eight other people there watching and it felt amazing being able to know that I’m going to start and they’re all here watching me and the performance I had, they got to see it.”
KBTX News 3 at Ten(Recurring)
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Publish date : 2024-09-14 18:13:00
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