What Marcel Reed Said Postgame That Has Texas A&M In Drivers Seat

Marcel Reed is him.

He’s got accuracy. He’s got the blocking. He’s got happy feet. He’s got the weapons. He’s got a phenomenal coach. What else does he need?

Securing a hard-fought win in one of the most challenging circumstances in one of the most ruckus environments in all of college football has shown that Reed can finish the job and take Texas A&M football to the next level.

“That’s been the word of the offseason,” Reed said. “Finish.”

A&M’s final play of the evening was a fourth-down play with 11 yards to go. Not a single person in the building knew what would be drawn on up, but one thing was sure. Reed was going to find a way to connect with tight end Nate Boerkircher, even though he was not the primary target.

“I just threw the ball up to Nate,” Reed said. “It was a one-on-one matchup. They had taken our two double posts that we wanted to get open, so I had faith in him. He arguably had the best hands on the team. I told him I loved him. He caught a big one for us.”

Wide Receivers

Aug 31, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko arrives prior to the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Kyle Field. | Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sp

Notre Dame played in a bunch of tight coverage with the A&M defense dealing with a lot of man-to-man situations. Reed said that his group told him to trust them, and the rest would fall into place.

“I had to throw the ball in some tight windows and let them go get it,” Reed said. “I knew I had some playmakers to do it.”

There was no hesitation from Reed to also let the media know that Mario Craver is quicker than the Irish defenders, going into how the combo found success.

“He’s faster than all of them,” Reed said. “I really wasn’t surprised. All he had to do was get a little bit of space, and as he catches the ball, he’s gone. That dude’s freaky.”

Tight end production was also pivotal to piling up the final drive, hitting three or four tight ends to run the clock down.

“Credit to them,” Reed said. “That’s a great room we have. A lot of dawgs on that side and really appreciative for those guys.”

Securing the Win

Starting the first quarter was not how the Aggies intended to start the game. Especially on a momentum-building blocked punt to put Notre Dame up 7-0 quickly. At one point in the game, the Aggies fell two possessions behind, but nothing stopped the offense from doing its job in challenging moments.

“It’s all the work we put in over the offseason. We brought in these guys to help us out, and they have done a tremendous job so far, so we are just looking forward to keeping that going,”

In a wild sequence of events at the end of the game, where a fumbled hold on an extra point attempt resulted in an unsuccessful PAT, Notre Dame was in an awkward situation knowing that A&M had a chance to waste the clock, score a touchdown, and drill one additional point to win the game.

Arguably, the most significant penalty and call of the game occurred after wide receiver Terry Bussey returned a kickoff for a touchdown that got called back due to a holding penalty, which would have given Notre Dame one more opportunity to possess the ball. Unfortunately, the home team never had that chance.

“I feel like this season we haven't played a full four quarters of football, and even though tonight wasn’t our best night of football, I think we fought all the way through.”

Fighting through adversity was exactly what Reed and his troops did, and added a quality road win to their resume that might pay off in the long run.