I forgive the botched play fumble. The INTs not so much.

TxAg76 said:

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AggieBB said:

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John Fisher Pessimist said:

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Meh. Pass pro was fine. Run blocking was okay. Happy feet and lack of accuracy were the killers down the stretch.

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lol wut? The o line was atrocious Saturday. How many times was reed sacked and how many times did the pocket collapse before he could even make a check down read? Run blocking was terrible as well. Reed accounted for the majority of our rush yards

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It snowballed in the 2nd half, once Miami realized Reed wasn't going to hit the broadside of a barn.
After that, they pinned their ears back and came flying.

Complete more of the easy balls, and it plays out different.

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Our running game was cooked after the half a UM realized they could take chances in the secondary due to QB play. The good fronts we got in the first half were wasted running poorly executed WR screens that gained nothing. Reed needs to look at Jackson Arnold for reference. The guy pretty much sank Auburn's season because he wouldn't get the ball out.

Yet if he makes that touchdown pass and the 2 point conversion to win the game, he gets the glory? You cannot credit him for the wins and then not blame him for the loss due to the failures of the offense. Great quarterbacks find ways to score/ win.

I would also add that many QBs have a limit to what they can process. To overload them is the worst thing a coach can do. I never saw evidence that we had gotten more complicated, but it is possible. I did think Klein should have tried to get some quick easy throws to get Reed in a rhythm which we did very late but I think Klein's head was in the clouds all day and probably the last 3 weeks.

Excuses, excuses, excuses. He's just not good enough

John Fisher Pessimist said:

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Meh. Pass pro was fine. Run blocking was okay. Happy feet and lack of accuracy were the killers down the stretch.

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We had 89 yards rushing the leading rusher was Reed and they had 7 sacks. This post is what it looks like when you are blind or intentionally ignoring facts. If you don't like Reed just say that but don't make up crap.

SunrayAg said:

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You are right it isn't always the quarterback.

But when the receivers are open and the quarterback's accuracy is so bad he can't stand on the beach and throw it in the ocean… it's the quarterback.

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Well said

TxAg76 said:

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Sterling82 said:

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I would also add that many QBs have a limit to what they can process. To overload them is the worst thing a coach can do. I never saw evidence that we had gotten more complicated, but it is possible. I did think Klein should have tried to get some quick easy throws to get Reed in a rhythm which we did very late but I think Klein's head was in the clouds all day and probably the last 3 weeks.

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Good lord, he threw several quick and easys....and missed most of them by 6+ feet.
The receivers shouldn't have to be circus acrobats just to have a chance to make a catch.

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Klein had 3 weeks from the tu game to help Marcel get back into an acceptable zone. No need to pretend that was just Reed's normal accuracy because if he played like that all season we would be 6-6. If they worked on setting his feet, making quick reads and getting the ball out it sure didn't show up. All of those things should have been high priority…UM's D-Line wasn't a secret. Maybe they worked tirelessly and Reed just couldn't or wouldn't get it down. I just doubt it…lousy game plan, lousy performance and the same crap as the tu game but worse. If it had been my call, since Reed wasn't just struggling but was hurting the team, he would have been yanked after the interception. But we just screwed around and struggled to get 3 on the board in a win or go home game. Klein has a big hand in all of that and I'm having trouble believing his mind was on this game to the extent needed.

If Reed was QB for Miami they probably still win that game using their same strategy. Run the ball and punt for 4 quarters until it finally works at the very end. We lost to a team without a QB.

Conversely, A&M asked Reed to throw it 39 times and scramble another 15. He's not good enough to carry the offense like that. But he could be a decent game manager with the ability to scramble and make things happen with the help of an effective run game.

His accuracy was horrible even on check downs with no pressure.


The Online play wasn't great, but Marcel sucked Saturday.

Reed needs to work on the short game. We need to execute the short passing. Would be great to roll the pass pro out left or right sometimes. Despite his faults Jimbo did have a great screen game. Very deadly against aggressive DL's.

I honestly think the choking has become part of the culture. It is no secret to anyone - us, leadership, coaches and players - that we have a monster problem with cratering in the spotlight. It has become like a cultural boogeyman. And when you develop a fear of something it just self perpetuates. Like my kids' ridiculous fear of my uber tame cows in the pasture. It is unrealistic but has snowballed from a molehill to a mountain. I feel like this has happened on a program-wide basis but fear of the spotlight.

I just think we are stuck in a psychological response of choking. Until someone can get us to repeated moments that truly matter, we are going to remain this way. Exposure therapy is the only way (in anything in life) to get past the anxiety and choking, and we just have to get into these moments enough to learn to block it out. Elko seems to have gotten to the point where we can get to where it matters- the exposure part, and now it's his time to train the choking out of them. So far he is 100% on the exposure and 0% of getting us past choking. Here is to hoping!

We shall all see what happens in the portal and spring ball. We really don't know what the coaches are privately thinking about Reed and the QB position at this point. JMHO, Elko did a really great job in the portal last year, and I would expect him to do so again for critical needs. Just for context, this time last year we were all worried about a weak and empty WR room.

But I blame him for this loss. Allowing a man who was already coaching another team to be your OC in your first and only playoff game ranks pretty high on the stupid meter.

W said:

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cannot buy it

Beck was bad too

but he did not turn the ball over

and as a result...made A&M go on long drives

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Don't forget the kicking game. Blocked punt, blocked FG. Maybe that goes back a little to the offensive line too.

Let's not forget 7 sacks in the analysis.

100% correct, with regard to not showing Klein the door. He only got worse. He owns way more of the loss than Reed.

This is why we lost. Here's my straight, no-hedging allocation, based on what showed up on film and context not box-score scapegoating.

Responsibility Breakdown (100%)

Marcel Reed 45%

This is the biggest single slice.

Why:
Defenses clearly did not respect the intermediate passing game stacked boxes, late safety rotation
Missed or passed up open throws (especially slants, digs, glance routes)
Held the ball too long at times, which made OL issues look worse
His legs are a weapon, but once Miami keyed on that, he didn't punish them consistently through the air

Bottom line:
Reed didn't have to be elite he just needed to be credible enough as a passer to loosen the box. He wasn't.



Offensive Line 35%

A real problem, but not the primary one.

Why:
Interior push was poor run game never imposed itself
Pass protection was uneven, especially vs stunts and late blitz looks
Couldn't consistently win on early downs, putting the offense behind schedule

However (important):
They were playing against loaded fronts because of Reed
No OL looks good when defenses know the QB won't beat them consistently over the top

Bottom line:
The OL didn't play well but they were put in a bad structural position.



Play-calling / Scheme 15%

Not perfect, but not the main culprit.

Why:
Needed more quick-game answers early (RPOs, glance routes, hot reads)
Some predictable sequencing
But plays were there execution lagged



Other (WR separation, drops, misc.) 5%

Minor contributors, not drivers.



Final Verdict (Plain English)
If Reed plays even a B passing game, the OL looks average instead of bad.
If the OL dominates, Reed's issues are masked but that's not a sustainable model.
The offense failed because Miami dared Reed to beat them throwing and he didn't.

One-line summary:

This loss was primarily about defensive disrespect of Marcel Reed's arm and the offense never made them pay.

He had time. But will say it looked like where a game short dinks would have prevailed.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8yUrECv/

Name a 70% A&M passer.

Reed is not consistent or accurate enough. He can make explosive plays but if you take that a way he not consistent enough to March down and score. Throwing behind running back and getting them lit up at line of scrimmage, these are just the easy passes. Making are receivers make great contested catches that are high or behind just kills yards after catch yard. Yes a strong line and run game would take pressure off him but he's still not gonna be consistent

Reed is a good QB. He showed flashes of great this year but did not play consistently great. I have been team Reed for the last year and a half. I am grateful for the year this team gave us, it was a blast. Gig-em and thank you boys!

My thoughts on Reed and what I think we see going into next year.

Accuracy:
Reeds accuracy was an issue from week 1 but it was largely limited to his deep ball. This is not a terrible problem if your short and middle game is working and for the first 7-8 weeks, it was. If you only hit 1 of 5 deep balls, they partially work as intended. The DC just needs to know you will throw them. And when you have elite WRs, he has to stay honest in scheme. This is not to say that an accurate deep ball guy isn't a force multiplier, he obviously is. Good, not great.
This IS where an elite run game does help the QB. You can't tell me that a healthy Moss does not change how opposing DCs scheme it up. It does, period... But we did'nt have that and this is about Reed.

Unfortunately, the accuracy issues seemed to expand as we hit the last 3-4 weeks of the season. We saw more bad balls in the short-to mid routes than we had earlier in the season. And, the deep ball still was not dialed in.

Mental:
I think the accuracy issue got to Marcel. This happens to the best athletes and is in no way a shot at him (think Chuck Knoblauch). I started seeing more "happy feet" and double pumping in relatively clean pockets. This will bleed into rout progression decisions as well. The positive here is that Marcel seems to be a really smart kid with a great work ethic. That's what it takes to silence the "yips". I also think he took a step forward in his leadership this year. I saw good body language and communication even if he was struggling. I am a Texans fan and this drives me crazy abou CJ Stroud. CJ always looks like he is pouting and I do think it impacts the team. Good, not great.

I think the ceiling is higher than what we saw. If the accuracy is a product of "yips" it can be corrected. Is it certain? Of course not.

Going forward I think we see Elko challenge Marcel. I do not know if it comes from the current QB room or from the portal but I believe the 2026 QB will have to earn the spot (whoever it is). If it comes from the current QB room, I do not think Elko will talk about it much outside of the building. He does not want the circus. But, that is not to say it will not get out. If he starts poking around in the portal, no way it stays quiet. We shall see.

Ultimately, I like Marcel and believe he can be really good to great. You can't look at this year and think he did not get better. He did. I am firmly in the wait and see camp. I believe Elko will do what is best for this team. If Marcel is QB1 next year, Im good with it. If Elko decides there is a better option, Im good with that too.

Thank you to the 2025 Fightin' Texas Aggie team! They were net positive in our house and the most fun I have had watching the Ags in a while.

BTHO of 2026... can't wait for kickoff.

WaldoWings said:

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I honestly think the choking has become part of the culture. It is no secret to anyone - us, leadership, coaches and players - that we have a monster problem with cratering in the spotlight. It has become like a cultural boogeyman. And when you develop a fear of something it just self perpetuates. Like my kids' ridiculous fear of my uber tame cows in the pasture. It is unrealistic but has snowballed from a molehill to a mountain. I feel like this has happened on a program-wide basis but fear of the spotlight.

I just think we are stuck in a psychological response of choking. Until someone can get us to repeated moments that truly matter, we are going to remain this way. Exposure therapy is the only way (in anything in life) to get past the anxiety and choking, and we just have to get into these moments enough to learn to block it out. Elko seems to have gotten to the point where we can get to where it matters- the exposure part, and now it's his time to train the choking out of them. So far he is 100% on the exposure and 0% of getting us past choking. Here is to hoping!

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We had a handful of these this year. And, we lost one game and made the CFP. That is progress. The hope lies in building on it next year.

Reed was PFF rated 117th in the nation in catchable passes. 25% of his passes were rated as not catchable. The issue was, and is, way more than deep passes.

If you exclude the bubble throws, 50% of his passes in the 1st half were uncatchable balls. Ironically, the bomb to Craver was catchable.

northeastag said:

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We shall all see what happens in the portal and spring ball. We really don't know what the coaches are privately thinking about Reed and the QB position at this point. JMHO, Elko did a really great job in the portal last year, and I would expect him to do so again for critical needs. Just for context, this time last year we were all worried about a weak and empty WR room.

But I blame him for this loss. Allowing a man who was already coaching another team to be your OC in your first and only playoff game ranks pretty high on the stupid meter.

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I mostly agree but probably would not call him stupid. That is not an easy decision. But, at the point Elko knew he was staying in-house with Wiggins, I think you go with the new guy. That man did what he thought best for the team, to be sure. Easy to armchair QB this and not acknowledge the weight of the decision.

The single most important attribute of a QB is accuracy. A close second is awareness. Then there is mobility.

Mobility often confuses people in evaluations. It's those games where mobility happens to compensate for the lack of the first two and people go back to "there is so much upside"

He's had long enough to show everyone who he is as a QB

SteveA said:

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Run blocking was ok? We ran for 89 yards. Pass protection was good? They were only rushing 3 or 4..... good lord.

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Smu ran for 26 and their qb threw for 360.

Miam is an elite run defense with an elite dl who overloaded the box. One team all year went from 100 on them in the run game.

The gameplan to be able to beat them is that you have to make plays in the passing game. They dared us with numbers all game.

Marcel had time. Yes I know the sack numbers. We gave him easy pass plays, screens, had multiple missed recoveries, even when he did complete a pass newer the los the ball was consistently high, behind our guys, and kept craver / Concepcion from having any momentum moving forward. Quick passes to them is an extension of the game and far easier to get yards against Miami than running it straight up the middle

The OL didn't play great. But they played well enough to score 17-24 points and grind out a win similar to Indianas 13-10 win over Ohio state. Sometimes you have to win that ugly game. It was there. The defense, the WRs, the OL who had the toughest battle, all did enough to do that.

I think Marcel is still a decent to good qb who is better than most on the message boards believe right now. I think he can be a good to very good qb next year. Recency bias is something I'm able to brush aside.

But he played poorly the last two games and was a massive reason we lost. Even if not the sole reason, he was a big reason

I don't need Reed to be 70%. But 64/65% and 7-8 turnovers next year instead of 62% and 16 turnover this year would suffice

I just don't think you can teach a QB to not **** his pants during big games. You either have it or you don't.

TxAg76 said:

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Burnsey said:

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Three turnovers, all by Marcel.

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He had 8 thru his last 3 games (skipping Samford)

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Yes he did- and could have had another 2 or 3 in the first half alone of the SC game! We wouldn't need his heroics / comebacks if he could just make the easy play/throws.

It's the quarterback. He's improving slightly each year though so not sure what else we can do but hope he gets better.

Logos Stick said:

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Reed was PFF rated 117th in the nation in catchable passes. 25% of his passes were rated as not catchable. The issue was, and is, way more than deep passes.

If you exclude the bubble throws, 50% of his passes in the 1st half were uncatchable balls. Ironically, the bomb to Craver was catchable.

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Holy smokes. I dunno how the zoo feels about PFF week to week, but… this is terrible if accurate (pun intended).

For all the folks saying Klein was jamming a square peg into a round hole with his scheme… I'm impressed his offense worked as well as it did. Kudos to him, I have no problem with Klein outside of maybe blaming him for not bringing in a better QB. But his time here was limited, so who's to say he wouldn't've.

Do we happen to have any data for this stat on say Mond from back when? Just for comparison's sake

Logos Stick said:

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Reed was PFF rated 117th in the nation in catchable passes. 25% of his passes were rated as not catchable. The issue was, and is, way more than deep passes.

If you exclude the bubble throws, 50% of his passes in the 1st half were uncatchable balls. Ironically, the bomb to Craver was catchable.

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I do not have PFF granular data. Id like to see first half of the season vs the second half (short/mid catchables). Im not saying Marcel does not have accuracy issues, he does. And, it absolutely impacted this team.

My eyes told me the accuracy issue expanded over the course of the season. Deep ball always was and remianed an issue. The regression was in the short to middle part of the field. He was hitting KC and Carver in stride (more often) on the short to middle routes, and they were making guys miss, early on. In spurts we were also effective over the middle to the TEs.

Im not defending him and I am ok with replacing him if that is what Elko decides is best for the team. While not as confident as early season, Im ok with him leadng this team next year as well. Im on the fence, I guess. Six weeks ago I would not have said that.