Marcel Reed replaces Conner Weigman in Texas A&M win

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M coach Mike Elko, looking to pull ahead of LSU in the third quarter, benched his starting quarterback Conner Weigman and handed the ball to Marcel Reed.

That spark began one play later when Reed scored an 8-yard touchdown run on his first play and led the Aggies to four touchdowns and a field goal on his next five drives to defeat No. 14 Texas A&M to a 38-23 victory over No. 8 LSU in front of 108,852 spectators, the third-largest crowd ever at Kyle Field.

It was a remarkable turnaround: LSU led 17-7 at halftime. The Tigers had won 104 straight games with a halftime lead of more than 10 points, which was the longest such streak in the country, according to ESPN Research. The Aggies had lost 26 straight games by 10 or more at halftime.

But Reed's rush of adrenaline ended both streaks and led the Aggies to their first 5-0 start in the SEC since joining the league in 2012.

Texas A&M struggled to find many openings in the LSU defense in the first half, with Weigman going 6 of 18 for 64 yards while the Aggies managed just 3.6 yards per play. But after Reed entered the game with 8:10 left in the third quarter, A&M outscored the Tigers 31-6, averaging 9.9 yards per play with Reed leading the show.

Reed threw just two passes, 2-for-2 for 70 yards, including a 54-yarder to Noah Thomas, but ran nine times for 62 yards and three touchdowns.

“Obviously it’s an incredible honor for Marcel Reed to be available to play tonight,” Elko said. “It certainly wasn't Conner's fault. There weren't many open windows. We couldn't defuse the passing game at all. We couldn't call it right. I couldn't get her to play it right. “We couldn't open up. There were just a whole bunch of problems that Conner sometimes couldn't handle. We just felt like we needed a spark and went with Marcel to see what spark he gave us. “

Weigman said the Aggies' calls were simple, often just zone-read calls where he read the defender and then left.

“They just crashed, crashed into our running backs,” Reed said. “When they crash, I pull the ball and run. And as you can see, they did it a lot and I had a lot of opportunities to get some space and run and they didn't really make any adjustments. So that was all.”

The Aggies' defense also turned up the heat, scoring LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, who was 25-50 for 405 yards with two touchdowns but threw three interceptions in the second half. Two of those went to BJ Mayes, a defensive back from Houston who spent his first two seasons at Incarnate Word and last season at UAB and recently made the transition from corner to nickel back.

“It’s been a beautiful journey, my journey,” Mayes said. “I played nickel for the first time in my life. It was great to come in as quickly as I did, pick up the game and then start for a really big game, LSU.”

The Aggies’ journey was also special. They lost their season opener at home 23-13 to Notre Dame, the first major matchup of the Elko era. This game would be a test of how far they are from that setback.

“It’s a huge win,” Reed said. “It was LSU, we all had a chip on our shoulder. We didn't really think they respected us when we came to Kyle Field. Getting the spark in the second half and getting the team going, there was no turning back from that at all.” .”

Texas A&M has now won seven in a row, matching its win total from last year's 7-5 season that led to a $77.6 million buyout of Jimbo Fisher, and is on its first record since 1998. when they were in the conference, going 5-0 in a Big 12 conference. Elko took over a program that had a No. 1 class in 2022 and went 11-11 after that.

“All the rhetoric about this program was zero, mercenary and selfish and all those things,” Elko said.

But the win over LSU is a validation of Elko's vision of what Texas A&M can be. His team outgained LSU 242 yards to 24, and its defense forced Nussmeier into his first three-interception game of his career.

“This is a real program,” Elko said. “This is not a fake. I am not a politician who runs this program, talks fast and insults everyone.”

Next week, the 7-1 Aggies travel to South Carolina looking to maintain their lead in the SEC race. But Elko isn't looking too far ahead yet.

“The price of success and the price of winning games like this is having a target on your back,” Elko said. “What 5-0 means is that we’re really going to have a hell of a time to get to 6-0.”