LSU LB Greg Penn on Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed: 'We Didn't Really Prepare For It"

LSU's game plan surrounded starting signal-caller Conner Weigman, quarterback change took Tigers by surprise.

Oct 26, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) celebrates after scoring a touchdown with Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks coach Collin Klein in the third quarter against the LSU Tigers at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images. / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

No. 8 LSU (6-2, 3-1) found no answer for No. 14 Texas A&M (7-1, 5-0) in the second half behind Aggies signal-caller Marcel Reed having his way in Kyle Field.

In a game where the Aggies handed the keys to Conner Weigman to start the SEC clash, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko changed things up in the third quarter.

After an abysmal first half where Weigman went 6-for-18 through the air with just 64 yards, the Aggies' coaching staff went to true freshman quarterback Marcel Reed to shake things up.

For Elko and Co., the decision paid dividends with Reed changing the game in the blink of an eye for the Aggies.

“We just thought Conner Weigman was going to get the majority of the snaps,” LSU linebacker Greg Penn said. “He's been playing pretty well. That game against Missouri, he played really good. We just thought he was going to be the guy.”

LSU’s defense simply had no answer for the dual-threat quarterback. Reed torched the Tigers with his legs in the third quarter, and just when LSU believed they had him figured out, he launched a 54-yard pass to Noah Thomas to change the trajectory in the fourth quarter.

Reed’s ability to tuck it and run on the zone read had the Bayou Bengals scrambling for the final 30 minutes of Saturday night’s Week 9 battle.

“We didn't really prepare for it, honestly,” Penn said. “We didn't think that he was going to come in the game, so him coming in the game caught us off guard. We didn't really know what runs they were going to run. Them doing that opened the game up for them in terms of what they were doing on offense.”

After game-planning for Weigman all week, the instant change of placing Reed in the game was the decision that ultimately put the Aggies over the top.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly has game planned for dual-threat quarterbacks this season, specifically last weekend at Arkansas against Taylen Green, but a lack of execution plagued the Tigers.

“We have a plan for the running quarterback,” Kelly said after Saturday's game. “I don't know that we executed at the level that we needed to. Should we have spent more time on it? Sure looks that way. But I don't believe that there was a sense that we weren't capable of doing it after feeling really good about the running quarterback that we faced last week at Arkansas because we had a similar plan.”

No. 8 LSU will have an open date next week before returning to Death Valley on Nov. 9 for an SEC showdown against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

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