Texas A&M Aggies' Marcel Reed Comes Full Circle

Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed took over as the team's starting quarterback in the middle of the season and never looked back, but his journey to that point actually began several months earlier.
Exactly a year ago Friday, Reed was thrust into action after starter Jaylen Henderson suffered an injury on the first play of the TaxAct Texas Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Reed, who had only thrown three collegiate passes prior, did an admirable job leading the offense, completing 20 of 33 passes for 361 yards and rushing for a touchdown. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as the Aggies fell 31-23 in Houston, with Reed throwing an interception on a Hail Mary at the end of the game.
On Friday night, Reed will start in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl against the USC Trojans, effectively coming full circle from where he was a year ago. Ahead of Friday's game, Reed reflected on how last year's bowl game helped him develop.
"It just helped me, my confidence, going into the next season, knowing what I'm capable of and just having the team around me, trusting me," Reed told reporters. "I came in as a freshman after the first play of the game. Not knowing I was going to play that long, but it really helped just leading into this season and making me a better player, seeing what it's like, seeing the speed of the game and how it changes.
"I feel like I've grown tremendously as a person and a player since last year and going into this year. I think there's a lot more room, try to raise my ceiling and just keep going forward and progressing as a player and being that teammate, stepping into this role and being a leader for my teammates."
Last year, Aggies head coach Mike Elko was only a month removed from his return to College Station, so he didn't have much time to meet Reed and the rest of his players. From what he did see, though, it wasn't a surprise to see Reed develop this season.
"I think watching him in bowl prep, the previous staff had a lot of really good things to say about him," Elko said. "I knew him vaguely from recruiting. But watching him sling the ball around, obviously, he was a young kid that really flashed and popped. Like the way he went about his business. When you were a backup at that point in the season with everything that had gone on amidst all of the turnovers, he was a kid that was coming out every day and putting in the work to put himself in position to be ready."
The Aggies and Trojans kick off from Allegiant Stadium at 9:30 p.m. CT, and despite missing a few weapons, Reed will be a player to watch in Sin City.
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