‘Pray’: Arizona State tasked with containing dynamic Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed

TEMPE — “Pray” was the first word out of Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham’s mouth to describe preparing for Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed.

The dual-threat QB has elite escapability that can make defenses pay, even when they’ve done everything right covering receivers for the first few seconds of a play.

There were multiple instances of Reed turning plays that would be sacks for most quarterbacks into chunk gains on the ground or through the air in Texas A&M’s season-opening 50-0 win over Missouri State.

kenny dillingham had a great point when he said “pray” regarding prepping for marcel reed. the texas a&m qb is a nightmare when improvising or working rpo’s.

it can’t be overstated how important containing him is in the formula for asu to get the upset. pic.twitter.com/T8P6ycRcY5

— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) September 9, 2026

Reed has 1,036 rushing yards and 13 scores on the ground over the previous two seasons. He also took a step up as a passer last season, throwing for a career-high 3,169 yards and 25 touchdowns while leading Texas A&M to an 11-0 start and its first College Football Playoff appearance.

“He’s athletic, but what people don’t give him credit for is he has unbelievable touch on his deep ball and on his intermediate passing game,” Dillingham said. “It’s very challenging to sack him. I think when you have the ability to get the ball down the field, when you have the ability to stretch the field sideways … you can tell his comfort level.”

ASU defensive coordinator Brian Ward said the amount of times the Aggies are dropping Reed back shows their belief in the signal-caller being able to produce, whether the pocket is kept clean or not.

 

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Having that safety net is key for Texas A&M, which lost four of five starting offensive linemen from last year’s playoff team.

Reed, who will start his 29th college game on Saturday, has legitimate veteran savvy at the line before the snap and is a threat to force offsides penalties with an effective hard count and false claps.

The ASU defense has a word it uses to battle hard counts: earmuffs. Many Sun Devils are shouting it ahead of most, if not all, snaps to encourage especially defensive linemen to block out any noise and just watch for when the ball moves.

Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed vs. ASU’s Cutter Boley could decide matchup

Sure, it’s a cliche to say the quarterbacks will determine a game’s outcome. Sure, it’s a little unfair to do so since they won’t actually face each other at the same time, rather the other’s defense.

But both quarterbacks struggled mightily with ball security last season, and it’s fair to say that only Boley’s situation improved between the two.

Reed and Boley threw 12 interceptions each last season to tie for the second most in the SEC. Boley’s turnover-worthy play rate was slightly worse at 4.9% (eighth worst among 108 qualified quarterbacks) compared to Reed’s 4.7% (12th worst).

Reed lost four starting offensive linemen and a first-round pick at wide receiver in KC Concepcion, albeit while adding impact players at the positions, such as left tackle Tyree Adams (LSU) and wide receiver Isaiah Horton (Alabama).

Boley left Kentucky for ASU where he has experts at the position in Dillingham and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo, as well as wide receivers Omarion Miller and Reed Harris, both of whom were called “NFL wideouts” by Texas A&M coach Mike Elko.

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