Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed Rips Texas, Makes Bold Rivalry Promise
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Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed has officially thrown the first punch of the 2026 Lone Star Showdown and the season hasn’t even started.
Reed didn’t settle for the usual rivalry script about respecting Texas and taking every game one week at a time.
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He attacked the Longhorns’ signature color, dismissed Austin and promised payback when Texas visits Kyle Field on Nov. 27.
“I hate the color orange,” Reed told USA TODAY Sports’ Blake Toppmeyer. That’s the kind of quote that delights Aggies, infuriates Longhorns and gets taped to a locker before Thanksgiving.
The problem? Texas currently owns the receipts.
Reed is 0-2 against the Longhorns, averaging 163 passing yards with three interceptions and zero touchdown passes across those losses.
Texas A&M’s 2025 defeat to its rival also began a miserable two-game finish. The Aggies subsequently lost 10-3 to Miami in the College Football Playoff, ending an 11-2 season. Reed threw four of his 12 interceptions in those final two games.
That ending shouldn’t erase his broader production. Reed completed 62.1 percent of his passes for 3,169 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2025.
He added 493 rushing yards and six scores, producing 3,662 total yards while starting all 13 games.
Those numbers explain why confidence follows him. The Texas tape explains why the confidence can sound like gasoline near an open flame.
Reed also declared that the Longhorns “are gonna have to pay” when they travel to College Station. He’ll get that opportunity in the regular-season finale, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
First, however, No. 8 Texas A&M must avoid staring five exits down the highway.
The Aggies open against Missouri State on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN. Reed enters his second full season as the starter with 5,407 career passing yards, 41 touchdown passes, 1,085 rushing yards and 14 rushing scores.
That’s enough experience to understand what his comments created.
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Rivalry swagger is great theater, and college football desperately needs more players willing to say what they actually think. But Reed has transformed the Texas game into a personal referendum.
If he wins, the quotes become Aggie folklore. If he loses again, burnt orange won’t be the ugliest thing he sees.
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