{"id":383700,"date":"2026-07-23T10:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T10:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/383700\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T10:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T10:40:10","slug":"texas-am-qb-marcel-reed-seeks-improvement-after-tough-2025-cfp-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/383700\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed seeks improvement after tough 2025 CFP loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 \u00a0The last pass stands out most in Marcel Reed<\/a>\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Despite the frustrating 59 minutes of football, the Texas A&M Aggies were one completion from overtime in their first College Football Playoff appearance and Reed, their big-play quarterback who anchored an 11-1 regular season, had driven his offense to the doorstep.<\/p>\n

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\"Marcel<\/p>\n

Marcel Reed (10) of Texas A&M\u00a0runs with the ball in the first quarter against Miami during the 2025 College Football Playoff First Round Game at Kyle Field on Dec. 20, 2025 in College Station. (Photo by Alex\u00a0Slitz\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Alex Slitz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The ball found the end zone and the arms of Bryce Fitzgerald. Problem was, Fitzgerald was wearing a Miami uniform.<\/p>\n

The interception was the most memorable play of the Aggies’ 10-3 loss and while Reed made several gigantic plays in his first full season as the starter \u2014 from his last-second touchdown pass to Nate Boerkircher to win 41-40 at Notre Dame<\/a> to powering a 28-point second half comeback against South Carolina \u2014 he chose a negative play as the most memorable.<\/p>\n

MORE\u00a0GOLDEN:\u00a0Why Steve Sarkisian must solve the Kirby Smart problem<\/a><\/p>\n

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A&M coach Mike Elko said it speaks to what he\u2019s trying to build in College Station. A quarterback that practices accountability is essential to success, especially in the beehive that\u2019s SEC football.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our program is grounded in who we are,\u201d Elko said during Wednesday\u2019s SEC media days. \u201cI think we know that there\u2019s still a lot of things that we want to accomplish. We certainly celebrate our successes, and we certainly remember our successes, but great people and greatness sometimes comes from understanding where you came up short and how you can fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0A day in life of the offseason for Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed<\/a><\/p>\n

Reed finished with 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and ranked fifth among SEC passers in passing rating at 148.19, a breakout season in most instances. Leading his team to an 11-0 start took a backseat to a pair of losses to end the season, notably the 27-17 loss to archrival Texas<\/a> that knocked the Aggies out of the SEC title game for the second straight year.<\/p>\n

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And that interception still lingers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s good plays and there\u2019s bad plays, but that was the last one so it\u2019s hard to forget,\u201d Reed said Wednesday. \u201cBut we\u2019ll definitely grow from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With new offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins taking over full-time play calling duties, Reed believes another year of maturity and experience in this league \u2014 plus some time in the weight room \u2014 will benefit this offense as the Aggies attempt to notch three straight double-digit winning seasons for the first time in 32 years.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko walks off the field after the loss to Miami in the round one College Football Playoff game at Kyle Field on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025 in College Station, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotten stronger,\u201d Reed said. \u201cI\u2019ve gained a couple of pounds, and I feel faster for sure. It\u2019s still going to be an explosive season.\u201d<\/p>\n

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His name doesn\u2019t come up as often when discussions of the best SEC quarterbacks come up. Names like Texas’ Arch Manning<\/a>, Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss and Georgia’s Gunner Stockton have gotten bigger headlines, but Reed wants everyone to know he\u2019s not playing second fiddle to anybody.<\/p>\n

Sign up for\u00a0Ced’s Corner<\/p>\n

Sign up for Cedric Golden\u2019s newsletter <\/a>for hot takes and expert analysis each Tuesday on Texas Longhorns football and beyond. \u00a0It’s called Ced\u2019s Corner, from the mind of the American-Statesman\u2019s resident sports columnist who was named the NSMA’s 2025 Texas Sportswriter of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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He worked at the famed Manning Passing Academy earlier this year <\/a>and held his own against the biggest arms in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m one of the top quarterbacks in the SEC and I think I\u2019m one of the best quarterbacks in the country,\u201d Reed said. \u201cI didn\u2019t go out there to compare myself (to others). I went to showcase myself for sure and get some throws in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The offseason also presented an opportunity to meet another athlete who wears No. 10. Reed and Aggies legend Von Miller were part of the 90,000 that packed Kyle Field for a soccer friendly between Argentina and Honduras in June. Watching the game was one thing, but a jersey swap with the iconic Lionel Messi? Epic.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSomeone asked us if we wanted to meet him and I was like, \u2018Why not?\u2019 Reed said. \u201cSomeone asked what we talked about. That guy doesn\u2019t speak a lick of English. We didn\u2019t talk about anything, but I had my jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time last year, Reed was looking to take the next step forward in proving himself and now the expectations have increased after such a successful 2025 campaign. He has a coach who will still push him to higher heights. Even if some uncomfortable conversations will probably happen along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely some tough-love coaching, but it\u2019s coaching and I like that stuff,\u201d Reed said. \u201cMy dad was a coach, so I\u2019ve grown up in that structure in my life. Me and Elko have kind of grown up since we\u2019ve been here together and he\u2019s told me what I need to do to improve on. I really like having him in my corner. He\u2019s a really good coach and I love how honest he is. He\u2019s open and lets you know what it is. He\u2019s not going to sugarcoat anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Aggies are still searching for what Elko called \u201cthe hardware we\u2019re looking for\u201d and Reed wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to raise our floor,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to happen this year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 \u00a0The last pass stands out most in Marcel Reed\u2019s mind. Despite the frustrating 59 minutes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11511,96710,4055,2163,27,19650,29,537,536,28],"class_list":["post-383700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-cedric-golden","tag-columnist-opinions","tag-marcel-reed","tag-mike-elko","tag-texas","tag-texas-a-m-aggies-football","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-football","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}