Last season, the Texas A&M offense switched from Conner Weigman to Marcel Reed in midseason after Weigman’s injury. The mid-season change from a pocket-passing QB to a mobile QB left the offense without a clear identity. SEC Network's Cole Cubelic said the Aggies would be running the ball well, then suddenly turn into a "spread-it-out, throw-it-around offense."
This year, that has all changed. With a full offseason to design the offense around Marcel Reed, A&M’s Collin Klein now has a top-20 offense in the country. The Aggies nearly score 36 points per game with a more impressive average of 9.1 yards every time they pass the ball. "We had more explosive plays in that scrimmage than we've had since we've been here," Klein himself saw the difference.
After bringing superstar receivers like Mario Craver and Kevin Concepcion, Klein has been able to use his powerful running game to set up deep passes and create the plays that were absent last year.
They aren’t the only ones who made changes. On the other sideline, Mississippi State’s defense has had its own comeback story. In 2024, they were simply awful, finishing last in the SEC, giving up a staggering 34 points and 456 yards per game. Plus, that unit had no pass rush, recording only 10 sacks the entire season.
This season, that same defense allows just 17.6 points per game and has become a master of creating chaos. The Bulldogs now force an average of two turnovers in every contest, which ranks 24th nationally. That’s why Head Coach Jeff Lebby said, "We're light years ahead of where we were."
The two transformed units collided with each other on Saturday, October 4, 2025, at Kyle Field. Klein’s passing game has generally been his strength, but Marcel Reed ended up faltering during the game. The promising QB went 13/26, 2 TDs, 1 Int and with a 56.7 QBR, per ESPN.
Texas A&M instead new heights through a revitalized run game with several players having standout performances. Rueben Owens II rushed for 142 total yards on 21 carries. Owens performance was elevated by the rest of his team, with four other players rushing for 30 yards or more and the team totalling over 300 rushing yards, twice as much as the total passing.
With Texas being far more reliant on their pass game in prior matches, the ability for the rushing back stable to completely overtake a game underlines a new dual threat to A&M offensive football.
Shutting down Marcel Reeds has been key to prior defensive efforts, but if the rushing attack emerges as a consistent threat, the question is if that alone will be enough?