How Marcel Reed Saved Texas A&M's Season With One Play

Texas A&M’s 2025 season was filled with big-time moments. Nate Boerkicher’s game-winning catch against Notre Dame. Dayon Hayes’ sack to put Auburn away. Marcel Reed’s 41-yard touchdown scramble in Baton Rouge. And of course, every play of the 27-point comeback against South Carolina.

But when you look back at how the playoff committee sorted through the teams on the fence, one thing becomes clear: without that historic surge against the Gamecocks, the Aggies might be watching the postseason from home.

So it begs the question, out of all those season-defining highlights, is there a single moment that truly saved A&M’s season?

Marcel Reed’s 4th-and-12 Scramble

Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed. — Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) before a game against the Samford Bulldogs at Kyle Field. | Joseph Buvid-Imagn Images

Trailing 30–3 to South Carolina with 12:08 to go in the 3rd Quarter and staring at 4th-and-12, Mike Elko kept the offense on the field.

The pocket collapsed almost instantly around Reed, forcing him to escape and tuck the ball. With one guy to beat to reach the sticks, Reed hit him with a shake, broke free, and dove past the marker to keep the miracle alive.

One play later, A&M found the end zone. It was the first seven of the 28 unanswered points needed to complete the comeback.

From that moment on, Reed and company scored on three straight drives, becoming the first team out of the last 276 SEC programs since 2004 to erase a 27-point deficit.

What If Reed Had Been Stopped Short?

If Reed doesn’t convert that fourth down, the game is effectively over. A&M walks out with a 9–1 record and rolls into the Lone Star Showdown with everything still to lose. A second loss to Texas likely drops the Aggies to 10–2.

Would that résumé get them into the playoff?

It would be up for debate, with multiple other two-loss teams already being left out of the discussion.

Given the committee’s choice to place Miami ahead of Notre Dame because of head-to-head, A&M would’ve probably received the same treatment and been slotted above the Irish.

But even with that, three other programs in 11-1 BYU, 10-2 Vanderbilt, and 9-3 Texas would have all been in the committee’s ear arguing they deserved that spot more than A&M.

BYU and Vanderbilt, especially, had cleaner profiles, and the committee isn’t exactly known for favoring the Aggies.

So yeah, it’s more than valid to say Reed’s 4th-and-12 scramble against South Carolina didn’t just spark a comeback.

It might have saved A&M’s entire season.