What Did Marcel Reed and Mike Elko Think After the First Round Playoff Exit?

No matter what the doubters of Texas A&M football say, the school should be very proud of coach Mike Elko and quarterback Marcel Reed bringing the program back to national coverage and attention.

Obviously, the Aggies ended the season on a heartbreaker that will never be forgotten in Aggieland and will live in the minds of every person involved within the locker room. However, this season goes down in the history books as one of the most memorable, marked by some phenomenal players who just couldn’t finish, especially in the fourth quarter against the Hurricanes.

“You've got to swallow it, and you've got to move forward, just like we did last year,” Elko said. “I think it's a credit to those kids that they put themselves in this position and got us to where we were, but we've got a lot of work to do to continue to develop this program into what ultimately it needs to become. We're still in the infant stages of that.”

Room To Learn

Marcel Reed scrambling for the Texas A&M Aggies. — Dec 20, 2025; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) scrambles against Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor (3) during the second half of the first round game of the CFP National Playoff at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

A fumble, two interceptions, and taking seven sacks in a game doesn’t sound like the perfect game for an offense that statistically was better on paper in most categories, including total yards, pass yards, penalties, first downs, third downs, total plays, and time of possession.

Reed had a decent game, going 25 of 39 for 237 yards with a 64 percent completion rate. He found the three favorite weapons he had chunked the ball to a ton, but was constantly on the move and had to use his legs to move the chains. As the leading rusher on the Aggies, that’s typically not what a coaching staff wants to see occur in a game where the defense held the game within a possession.

The results just weren’t in favor of the Aggies after Miami’s defense quieted the 12th Man on their own field.

“We didn't win the line of scrimmage.“ Elko said. “You've got to learn what it's all about, and then you've got to get good enough to win games in the playoffs.”

Although there were glimpses of how A&M might be able to wake up late in the game, it was 1-for-3 in the red zone, with kicker Randy Bond making one field goal.

Even after the turmoil of what the offense looked like through a majority of the game and in the last two games, getting to the playoffs was something that if you told anyone repping the Maroon and White that the team was going to make it into the playoff bracket, everyone would’ve been satisfied and taken it. Despite the season-ending loss, Reed knows there much to learn from and is hopeful for his junior season in College Station, Texas.

“I think it's just another step of this program,” Reed said. “We took what we learned from last year, brought it to this year, and hopefully we can take from what we learned this year to next year.”