Texas A&M welcomed The Citadel to Kyle Field for a Week 7 matchup under beautiful skies and a slight breeze.
The Aggies entered the weekend at 3-3, while the Bulldogs came in at 2-4. Only one of these programs came out on top in this non-conference affair, and it was the SEC school over the Southern Conference school in a 41-0 victory.
Head coach Mike Elko’s group pieced together one of its better outings of the season, with the offense putting up 501 yards and the defense giving up only183 total yards.
In a get-right game before hitting the road for a top-10 matchup, these were the biggest takeaways from the day in Aggieland.
Marcel Reed Handles Business
It’s been a dicey few weeks for quarterback Marcel Reed, who hasn't looked like last season. Heading into this weekend, the Nashville native completed only 55.3 percent of his passes, but he cleaned up his passing game, finishing with a 62 percent completion rate. Wrapping up his day, he completed eight of his 13 passes through two quarters of action before watching from the sidelines.
On the opening offensive series, Reed went 2-for-2 and wasn’t asked to do much, relying on his running back and offensive line to win at the line of scrimmage. That set up a quick drive downfield in under four minutes, a 62-yard drive in which he sling two passes downfield for 35 yards. A&M also went 2-for-2 on third down and had three first downs in only nine plays.
Two drives later, the Aggies led 14-0 when Reed scanned the field for an open wide receiver and chunked a 37-yard missile to Aaron Gregory for the touchdown. That toss to Gregory was Reed’s first passing touchdown since the Kentucky game, when he found tight end Micah Riley, so it was a highlight for the 12th Man and the entire roster to build on.
Jamarion Morrow Logs First Multi-Score Game
On A&M’s first two drives of the afternoon, the team balanced running backs taking handoffs. That included Jamarion Morrow, who ran short-yardage plays and posted three touchdowns.
Not one time in his tenure in Aggieland has he registered two touchdowns in a single game, and he did so once in the first quarter and twice in the second.
After Morrow’s first handoff that went for three yards on a 2nd-and-7, offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins drew up another play designed for Morrow to attack inside and did so for the 4-yard touchdown. After that stellar drive, the offensive line did its job again, opening a hole he plowed through to get into the end zone for the 1-yard score.
He wrapped up a remarkable day by barreling through traffic for his second 1-yard touchdown, posting 54 yards on eight attempts and three touchdowns at the intermission.
Gavin Garcia Tested A&M Defense
The Citadel's pass game was limited in the first half. Two quarterbacks slung a total of three passes. Quentin Hayes and Nick Billoups. That meant the offense operated through the ground game, and their offensive line couldn’t open enough holes to get into the red zone.
Since that was the case, the best rusher the Bulldogs have was running back Gavin Garcia, who was leaned on for a portion of the first half. Entering this matchup, Garcia had over 100 carries for 579 yards.
Despite what he had to work with, he maneuvered through plenty of rotating Aggies on defense, recording 16 carries for 46 of the 76 first-half total yards. His longest first-half run was nine yards, with an average of 2.9 yards per carry. He got no more touches as other backups earned reps, but it was a battle at the line of scrimmage.
TK Norman’s Impressive First Half
Coming into today’s contest, wide receiver TK Norman had only six receptions for 93 yards, averaging 15.5 yards per catch. In the first half, the star playmaker caught three for 53 yards. Not too shabby for an offense that was missing Mario Craver and Ashton Bethel-Roman.
His first target came in the first quarter on the first drive, when Reed hit him in stride for a 25-yard gain, giving A&M a first down and putting them in the red zone. A 15-yard grab by Norman at the 10:57 mark in the second quarter moved A&M into enemy territory, and his third and final catch of the half came with under two minutes to go on a 20-yard bullet from Reed to spot the ball at The Citadel's 7-yard line.
His chemistry continued with more elite route running as he connected with quarterback Brady Hart on a 33-yard catch. Finishing the afternoon, Norman caught five of six targets for 88 yards.
Brady Hart’s Second Half Reps
It felt like everyone knew backup quarterback Hart would check in for most of the second half, and that was exactly the case.
This wouldn’t be the first time Hart saw action, as he came in for a little bit against Missouri State and closed it out against LSU. Coming into this game, he had 36 total yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Today, he finished 8 of 12 for 107 yards and one touchdown.
Out of the gate, the Cocoa, Florida native was ready to run the offense and did so effectively, completing three of his first four passes for 49 yards on the first drive. Gregory caught two of those three completions, with the other on the money to Norman. His running backs took command as well, helping guide the offense down the field for David Olano to nail two short-distance field goals.
His day was smooth sailing as he did what he needed with the second-team offense, keeping the chains moving. The team tallied 26 first downs, with seven of 11 third-down conversions, along with a 6-for-6 stat line in the red zone.
Not a bad day at the office.
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