3 Texas A&M matchups ranked in ESPN's top 100 games of the 2025 season

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Texas A&M’s 2025 football season was a mixed bag for most of the fan base, but it was historic nonetheless, as second-year head coach Mike Elko and his veteran squad reeled off 11 consecutive wins, including road victories over Notre Dame, LSU, and Missouri.

However, back-to-back losses to Texas in Austin and Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the program’s first postseason appearance was a major disappointment given the circumstances, the advantage of playing in Kyle Field, while starting quarterback Marcel Reed failed to connect on several throws that would have given the Aggies the lead.

Still, the wind, which was even worse on the field, affected both teams, but thanks to a healthy running game, combined with Texas A&M’s inability to stop the run late in the game, Miami running back Mark Fletcher racked up over 150 yards, leading to the Hurricanes finding the endzone, and ultimately winning the game 10-3. Yes, Miami made it all the way to the National Championship, but the Aggies had every chance to pull out the victory.

Coupled with the insane comeback win over South Carolina, ESPN’s Bill Connelly placed three of Texas A&M’s memorable matchups on his top 100 games of the 2025 season, starting with the first-round playoff loss to Miami, which he surprisingly placed at No. 16, even though this was a slog fest before Miami’s final drive in the fourth quarter.

“Maybe the most aesthetically … unique game of the season. Before Miami could make a run to the CFP championship game, the Hurricanes had to survive impossibly windy conditions (and a strong Texas A&M defense) in College Station. Carson Beck threw for only 103 yards, and the teams combined to miss four of six field goal attempts. Malachi Toney lost a key fourth-quarter fumble, but a 56-yard Mark Fletcher Jr. run set up Toney’s redemption moment — an 11-yard jet sweep TD with 1:44 left. Texas A&M rallied, driving 70 yards in just 1:20, but Bryce Fitzgerald picked off a third-and-goal pass in the end zone, and Miami advanced.”

Coming in at No. 11, Texas A&M’s 31-30 win over South Carolina did not end up being the catalyst many of us thought it would be, but it will be remembered as one of the greatest comebacks of all time, regardless of how the season finished out. Trailing 30-3 at the half, the Aggies went from playing their worst football of the year to looking like an unstoppable force on both sides of the ball.

“It was the biggest comeback in Texas A&M history, without which the Aggies probably wouldn’t have made the playoff. It was also a day that featured both the worst and best halves of Marcel Reed’s career. In the first half, he completed only 6 of 19 passes with two terrible interceptions and two sacks, one of which produced a fumble returned for a score by Nick Barrett. LaNorris Sellers threw a 50-yard touchdown to Vandrevius Jacobs and an 80-yarder to Nyck Harbor (complete with a really strange interaction with a state trooper), and the Gamecocks cruised into halftime up 30-3.

In the second half, A&M woke up, and the Gamecocks clammed up. Reed went 16-for-20 for 298 yards and three third-quarter touchdowns — 27 yards to Izaiah Williams, 39 to Ashton Bethel-Roman, 14 to Nate Boerkircher — and the Aggies gained 371 yards while allowing 76. They needed only 20 minutes to take a 31-30 lead, and South Carolina could never mount a rally. It was the most strangely straightforward 27-point comeback you’ll ever see.”

Lastly, at No. 4, Texas A&M’s most important win of the season was going on the road in Week 3 against a 0-1 Notre Dame team that had lost a close road battle against Miami the week prior.

Having not won a ranked non-conference road game in over 40 years, a botched snap on an extra point, paired with Marcel Reed driving the Aggies down the field, finding tight end Nate Boerkircher for the game-tying touchdown, was by far the most exciting moment of the 2025 season outside of Indiana winning its first national title.

“A botched PAT snap and hold might have made the difference in a playoff bid. Texas A&M led 28-24 after a wild first half, and after a reasonably tame third quarter, the action picked up again late. With the score tied at 34-34, Jeremiyah Love capped a 12-play, six-minute drive with a 12-yard touchdown, but a botched hold on the PAT left the Irish’s lead at just six points. A third-down scramble from Marcel Reed and a defensive holding penalty gave A&M a first-and-goal, but that quickly became fourth-and-goal from the 11. No worries — with 19 seconds left, Reed found Nate Boerkircher for the game-winner. (Well, I guess Randy Bond’s PAT was the actual game winner, but still.)”

Texas A&M will open the 2026 season against Missouri State on Saturday, September 5.

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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Three Texas A&M matchups ranked in ESPN’s top 100 2025 CFB games

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