It was a good news/bad news kind of day for Texas A&M on Saturday against Utah State.
On one hand, the 19th-ranked Aggies (2-0) won the Battle of the Aggies, 44-22. On the other hand, A&M lost starting quarterback Marcel Reed in the process.
Reed exited the game in the third quarter after landing awkwardly at the end of a run. After team trainers tended to him for several minutes on the field, Reed went first to the medical tent on the sideline and then to the locker room.
The on-field report from ESPN was that Reed was available to return to the game, but did not due to the lopsided nature of the contest. A&M led 37-14 when Reed exited.
Reed finished the game with 220 yards passing, 66 yards rushing, and 4 total touchdowns. Backup quarterback Miles O’Neill replaced Reed in the third. O’Neill picked up 25 yards on his first pass attempt, threw a pick on his second attempt, and then threw a 72-yard touchdown on his third.
A&M held Utah State to just 6 points in the first half, using a dominant second quarter to blow the game open. Texas A&M scored 20 unanswered in the second quarter while limiting Utah State to minus-15 yards on 12 plays. Cashius Howell had a huge role to play in the second, sacking Utah State quarterback Bryson Barnes on 3 consecutive plays.
The Aggies have won their first 2 games of the season for the first time since 2021. They’ll try to get to 3-0 next Saturday when they head to South Bend to face Notre Dame.
Texas A&M 44, Utah State 22
Here’s the Texas A&M-Utah State box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Marcel Reed vs Bryson Barnes
A statistical breakdown of how Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed performed against Utah State’s Bryson Barnes:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
