Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed was under fire for much of the offseason for his “inability to pass” according to many in the national media. In fact, this was so frequent that one of the first things Marcel said to the local media when fall camp opened was, “I know y’all have heard it just like I have, ‘Not a passer.’” That take aged like warm milk.
Marcel Reed led the Texas A&M Aggies to an easy 42-24 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners on Saturday as he threw for 289 yards, four passing touchdowns, and ran the ball for 39 more yards on top of that. Reed couldn’t have silenced the doubters much more emphatically than that in Week 1.
Marcel Reed silences the “He’s not a passer” crowd as he slices up UTSA’s defense through the air
Back in 2024 there was never a doubt about Marcel Reed’s ability to stress opposing defenses with his legs. For instance, he only completed two passes against LSU last year, but destroyed the Tigers on the ground with three rushing touchdowns. However, after finishing the season with five straight games where he threw an interception and never once averaging above 8.6 yards per pass attempt (in a single game) there were certainly questions about his ability as a passer.
While it would be nice to see Reed complete more deep passes in future weeks, his impressive showing against UTSA highlighted his much-improved short and mid-range accuracy as a passer. He connected with his tight end Theo Melin Ohrstrom on a wide open short score and a quick screen to wide receiver Mario Craver for two of his touchdowns, but his most notable came on a target to transfer wide receiver KC Concepcion (as seen below).
Reed patiently awaited Concepcion to beat his man on a deeper slant route, then rifled the ball in between two defenders hitting his target in stride so his receiver could finish for the touchdown.
Reed’s performance set a new personal record for most passing touchdowns in a game, tied for most total touchdowns, and just barely missed his records for passing and total yards as well. This performance was clearly a miassive step forward in the right direction.
After the game, Mike Elko confirmed the obvious when he said, “We wanted to see Marcel [Reed] throw the ball a little bit better, and he did.” Reed did miss a couple deeper targets, as well as force a couple incompletions underneath, but he is no longer just the one-dimensional running quarterback from last year.
His 10.85 adjusted yards per pass attempt 7.8 overall yards per play against UTSA would have ranked third and seventh respectively among all power conference quarterbacks last season. Reed may not continue that kind of elite level efficiency against stronger opponents, but this was a huge step for him and the Texas A&M football team as a whole.