The redshirt freshman had been scheduled to start for two weeks. Starting quarterback Conner Weigman suffered an injury to the AC joint in his throwing arm during the Aggies’ season-opening loss to Notre Dame, Elko said. Over the course of the last two weeks, the shoulder has loosened up a bit, but Thursday the sophomore suffered a setback. It was the first day he appeared questionable on the Aggies’ mandatory participation report.

“We’re still trying to figure this out from a medical perspective,” Elko said of the setback.

Weigman was one of the first Aggies to leave the locker room on Saturday afternoon. He walked around the field and tried various equipment to warm up his shoulder. After making a few throws on the field in practice clothes, he walked over to the coaches and talked with offensive coordinator Collin Klein for several minutes before leaving the field. Just before the two disappeared into the tunnel, Klein put his arm around the shoulders of a dejected-looking Weigman.

Weigman geared up for his team’s pregame warm-up and made some throws, but he couldn’t overcome the pain in his shoulder.

“He just couldn’t walk today,” Elko said.

About 20 minutes before kickoff, Elko nominated Reed as the starter.

“When we came in, Conner told me, ‘I’ll be right behind you. I’ve got your back,’ and stuff like that,” Reed said. “‘Go run the show.’ Both guys had confidence in me and that made me feel great going into the game.”

It’s a scenario that Reed isn’t entirely unfamiliar with. At the end of A&M’s last season, Reed was called up to the Texas Bowl on the second play of the game. That game’s starter, Jaylen Henderson, suffered a broken arm on the first play, leaving the then-freshman with the key to the offense. Three plays later, the Aggies were forced to punt.

“It helped me prepare a little bit, just because of the speed of the game. I had to get used to it very quickly. As you probably know, my first drive in the Texas Bowl wasn’t the best, but I got used to it.”

He finished the game with 20 successful passes on 33 attempts for 361 yards, 44 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown (his team’s highest total).

Reed was immediately in the game on Saturday. After two penalties forced the Aggies back to their own 24-yard line, Reed burst out of the middle of the pocket and ran 31 yards for a first down. At the end of the drive, A&M led 3-0 after a 31-yard field goal by Randy Bond.

At the end of the second drive, Reed was fully committed and threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to tight end Theo Melin Ohrstrom, who scored the first touchdown for the Swede.

“It was a complete test of progression and I made it almost to the end and I had a little setback at the end,” Reed said. “I thought to myself, ‘I can do this. I’m not a little kid. I can play in this conference.’ And, you know, that prepared me for something. That just paved the way for me to succeed and gave me the confidence I needed to play the rest of the game.”

Klein didn’t go easy on Reed. After a few short passes and run pass options early in the game, he let go of Reed’s arm. On throws of 15 yards or more, Reed completed 3 of 6 passes, including a 2 of 3 pass over the middle. On throws of medium range (five to 14 yards), Reed completed 3 of 4 passes.

At halftime, the Aggies led 20-0 and had outgained Florida by 320 to 73 yards.

The Aggie offensive line, considered a potential weak spot earlier in the season, forced Florida’s defensive front into the defensive and opened up running lanes for all of the A&M backs. Le’Veon Moss led the Aggies in rushing with 110 yards on 18 carries, followed by Reed and Amari Daniels, who totaled 68 yards on 13 carries. A&M closed the second half with a seven-minute, 15-play drive that included 99 yards, 97 of which were gained on the ground.

“I thought our offense played physical SEC football today, and that’s what you need when you’re playing on the road and want to win games,” Elko said.

With quarterbacks such as Graham Mertz and fellow Texan DJ Lagway alternating, the Gators finally found some offense in the second half. Mertz finished with 195 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception, completing 80% of his passes. Lagway completed 6 of 13 passes for 54 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The Gators cut the lead to 13 in the fourth quarter with 20 points in the second half, but by the time Florida fans rose to their feet to sing Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down” early in the fourth quarter, the game had already been defused by Reed and the Aggie offensive line.

That ended A&M’s 10-game road losing streak, which was a relief for junior defensive back Bryce Anderson.

“Marcel helped us. He put on a great performance,” Aggie safety Bryce Anderson said. “He was there and he wasn’t afraid of the swamp. He was there and he played great for us, man. Last year he was scouting us and he was destroying our only defense. So we pretty much knew that’s what Marcel was doing, he was just waiting for his chance.”

Reed was ready for his start on Saturday. He got plenty of key reps in practice, especially as the week progressed and Weigman’s status became questionable. He also had the experience of the Texas Bowl to lean on.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” Reed said. “You know last year we had more and more players falling off as the week went on. Coaches preach that all the time, just stay prepared, put in extra work and stuff like that. You never know what’s going to happen, so you have to be ready when your name is called.”

After the game, Reed ran to the corner of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and nearly fell into the arms of his father and mother in the front row of the stands. The moment was filled with joy, but also with great relief. After all, he was not prepared for everything that comes with being a starting quarterback.

Since he has a lot of family in Florida and could potentially play on Saturday, Reed waited until the last minute to get tickets for his folks. That was the one thing he just couldn’t get done on Saturday.

“I kind of got the tickets mixed up, so I didn’t know if they were going to make it to the game or not,” Reed said, laughing. “We got it sorted out. My mom’s side of the family is from Florida, so there were about eight other people there watching. It was a great feeling knowing I was going to play from the start and that they were all here watching me and seeing my performance.”

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