Texas A&M has quality depth at quarterback, but there's no controversy — for now. Redshirt freshman Marcel Reed stepped in for an injured Conner Weigman and more than lived up to the next-man up motto. Reed was spectacular in leading the Aggies to a 33-20 victory over Florida in Saturday's Southeastern Conference opener in helping the program end a 10-game road losing streak.
Reed accounted for 261 yards and three touchdowns. The dual threat rendered Florida's defense helpless. Florida came with blitzes early and often with the elusive Reed using that to his advantage.
He had runs of 10, 12, 12 and 31 yards. His mobility led to timely completions as four different receivers each had a catch of 20 or more yards, topped by Cyrus Allen's 73-yard touchdown. Running back Le'Veon Moss added runs of 27 and 22 runs as A&M's big-play off ense produced seven plays of at least 20 yards.
In the first two games A&M only had four plays of at least 20 yards, two via the run and two by the pass. The Aggies looked so good on off ense; you might ask yourself is Reed is more than the next man up? Could he be the man? Odds are he could be the starter for one or two more games. Weigman has an AC (arcromioclavicular) joint injury in his throwing shoulder that he suffered against Notre Dame in the opener.
He was healthy enough to play against McNeese, but suffered a setback in practice last week. Type I AC injuries involve a sprain or partial tear of AC ligaments with no injury to the coracoclavi.