Marcel Reed's spark against LSU leaves Texas A&M with more questions

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The No. 14 Texas A&M football team entered Saturday's ranked game with No. 8 LSU with a question to answer: Which of the two programs will be in the home stretch of the Southeastern Conference Take pole position?

The Aggies delivered a resounding response with a 38-23 victory over the Tigers in front of Kyle Field's third-largest crowd of 108,852. For the first time since joining the SEC, the Aggies are 5-0 in conference play and alone at the top of the league at the end of October.

However, this answer led to another, more pressing question. Who is the right quarterback to lead the Aggies (7-1, 5-0) through their most important November in a generation? On Saturday, the Aggies, buoyed by backup quarterback Marcel Reed, pulled off a 10-point comeback against the Tigers that put them in the driver's seat of the conference.

“We just felt like we needed a spark and we pulled the trigger and went with Marcel and what a spark he gave us,” head coach Mike Elko said after the game.

Recalling the Aggies' season-opening loss to Notre Dame, Weigman couldn't find the key to get the A&M offense going. He started the game 2-for-6 for 25 yards as the Aggies stalled on their first two drives of the game. At halftime, A&M had accumulated 49 passing yards and found itself in a 17-7 hole.

When the ABC broadcast welcomed commentators Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit back on air early in the second half, Herbstreit, the former quarterback, weighed in on whether Elko would make a substitution for Reed.

The rookie from Nashville took over the starting role for the Aggies in three games this season while Weigman recovered from a sprained ACL. Although performances in all three games were mixed, Reed was able to earn victories in all three games, including two conference wins.

“To me, no matter what plan you came into this game with, you make some subtle adjustments,” Herbstreit said on the broadcast. “But Marcel Reed might, maybe, come into the game in the second half. He played. He can cause a stir with his athletic ability. But I think you have to run the ball and get the passing game going.”

Minutes earlier, in the A&M locker room, the coaching staff began putting that very thing into action.

“(LSU) did a really good job of mixing up the coverage,” Elko said. “We had a lot of trouble getting our route combinations right. We had a difficult time. There weren't many people open. I did all the passing in the first half and there just weren’t many open windows to throw the ball.”

After the first two drives of the second half totaled 14 yards, Elko walked over to Weigman for a quick chat.

“I just told him: 'It's not you.' That's not your fault. “I’m going to tell everyone it’s not you,” Elko said. “We let him down. We all did that. But we needed a spark. We were just getting to the point where we needed to try something different, and we felt that Marcel's athleticism, if nothing else, would give us a different variable that they probably hadn't spent much time preparing for.”

Players and coaches made their way to Reed, giving brief words of encouragement and patting shoulder pads as he prepared to enter the game.

The Aggies had some success with the ground game in the first half thanks to running backs Le'Veon Moss and Amari Daniels. The duo combined for 92 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown before halftime.

Elko and his coaching staff believed the read option play would create much-needed space for the Aggie offense. The tactical change, which also included the quarterback change, worked immediately.

On his first play, Reed took a handoff and scampered past the outside of the defense for an 8-yard touchdown, bringing the Aggies back to within three points. It was the start of a series of three consecutive rushing touchdowns by the backup quarterback that gave the Aggies their first lead of the game.

“They just attacked our running backs,” Reed said. “They used me to give my legs a little swing. When they crashed, I pulled the ball and ran. They did it a lot and I had a lot of opportunities to find some space and run. And they didn’t really make any adjustments, that’s all.”

Reed finished the game with 62 rushing yards on nine carries and three touchdowns. He was only asked to attempt two passes, both of which he completed. The second was a perfectly placed 54-yard pass that wide receiver Noah Thomas was able to intercept and hold on midway through the fourth quarter.

Throughout the remainder of the game, Weigman operated on the edge of the sideline, moving with the offense as it approached the end zone. After each reed run, he clapped enthusiastically. When Reed was asked to come into the game, the quarterback said Weigman gave him words of encouragement before he took the field.

“I told him, 'I got you,'” Reed said. “We are brothers. We are teammates. I stand behind him. He has mine. He was just as excited as I would be for him if he was in the game.”

Elko emphasized after the game that the decision to fire Weigman was tactical, a gamble that ultimately paid off. That leaves a decision to be made as the Aggies head to South Carolina next Saturday and enter a conference match as the SEC top seed for the first time.

“The price of success and the price of winning games like this is having a target on your back,” Elko said. “And so we will certainly end up in an extremely hostile environment. It’s going to be the toughest environment this team has ever played in…so 5-0 means we’re going to have a heck of a time to get to 6-0.”

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