{"id":426327,"date":"2026-09-04T18:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T18:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/426327\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T18:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T18:28:10","slug":"3-bold-predictions-for-texas-ams-matchup-against-missouri-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/426327\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Bold Predictions For Texas A&#038;M\u2019s Matchup Against Missouri State"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6f\">An exciting weekend is ahead in the Bryan-College Station area as<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/tamu\/football\/mike-elko-and-texas-am-arent-taking-missouri-state-lightly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Texas A&amp;M<\/a> hosts its first game at Kyle Field against Missouri State. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6k\">It\u2019s officially Week 1, and head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/tamu\/football\/three-questions-texas-am-must-answer-vs-missouri-state\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mike Elko<\/a> is excited to analyze where his program stands after the first game. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">No one knows what the product will look like yet, but with all the work put in during the spring, summer, and fall sessions, expectations are high that this group has the opportunity to replicate and build on last season\u2019s success. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6u\">With a newly constructed group with several veterans still in the room, it will be a huge week to build off of, and these are the bold predictions of the weekend. <\/p>\n<p>Marcel Reed Throws 5+ Touchdowns<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m1hgfeat5ny2w0pd8y.jpg\" alt=\"Marcel Reed Texas A&amp;M Aggies. \" title=\"Marcel Reed Texas A&amp;M Aggies. \" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7b\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Nov 15, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&amp;M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) warms up before the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7h\">What a great opener to get out on the field, get a feel for the new season against a Conference USA opponent, and give the offense a solid amount of reps to figure out where it is at. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7m\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/tamu\/football\/marcel-reed-rips-texas-ahead-of-2026-rivalry-rematch-ive-got-something-for-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Marcel Reed<\/a> enters Year 4 in Aggieland and knows that the expectations are high after leading his team last year on an 11-game winning streak. He knows he needs to limit turnovers and build on the mistakes from last year that he believes he has addressed. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7r\">After several departures that played a huge role in the operation last year, Reed\u2019s weapons are still very capable of making those big plays. Just look at the depth chart and film, and it speaks for itself. He arguably has one of the strongest receiver rooms in the nation, and because of that, expect newly promoted offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins to focus on ensuring they are involved. Book it for 5 or more passing touchdowns. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Defense Logs 3+ Turnovers<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"81\">All offseason, a lot of the chatter from the returning defensive players has been that they want to up the numbers in the turnover category because that was an area they wished was better last year. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"86\">A&amp;M struggled at times finding ways to get the ball back in the hands of the offense. There were only a total of 10 turnovers with three interceptions and seven fumbles. At the end of the season, the defense was toward the bottom of the SEC in that category, so there has been a lot of accountability to improve. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8b\">With Missouri State going into a hostile environment, it\u2019s very likely there will be mistakes from them that they wish they could take back. Give a couple of interceptions to one of the captains, Marcus Ratcliffe or Dalton Brooks, and a fumble recovery by one of the linebackers. <\/p>\n<p>Tight Ends Record 150+ Yards<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8l\">Not a lot of people knew this, but the Aggies\u2019 tight ends had a total of 435 receiving yards, so upping those numbers would be a huge step in the right direction for a group that doesn\u2019t have a tight end who played last year on the roster.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8q\">A&amp;M does have Micah Riley back, but with his injuries, he hasn\u2019t been able to participate as he&#8217;d like. Alongside him are also newly acquired right end Richie Anderson and Houston Thomas, who both joined the team after hitting the transfer portal.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8v\">Every option can make those highly contested catches and will help open up the run game with their blocking skills. Reed needs a downfield threat as well that can assist in moving the chains, so expect to see at least one of the tight ends with a massive evening. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"90\">Sign up to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/tamu\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">our free newsletter\u00a0<\/a>and follow us on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AggiesOnSI\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TAMUAggiesOnSI\" rel=\"nofollow\">X<\/a>and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tamuaggiesonsi\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>for the latest news.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:pointerenter=\"q-DsTcwbGG.js#s_1NOcOpHWmT0\" on:touchstart=\"q-DKzyCckx.js#s_R8AiGTDeM28\" on:focus=\"q-LAnb4fzu.js#s_gxiTM6qMMu8\" on:click=\"q-BasC_x_p.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"96\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An exciting weekend is ahead in the Bryan-College Station area as Texas A&amp;M hosts its first game at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-426327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426327","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=426327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}