Chants or not, Reed keeping his focus on the field
By know, most people associated with Texas A&M know what “chants” means on social media: “MARCEL REED, MARCEL REED”. One person, at least, didn’t know what it meant.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know what this is,’ then I saw a picture of my face, and then it said, ‘chants’. I was like, ‘Okay, I kind of understand it now,'” he said.
Reed may not be an overnight sensation, but he’s quite possibly the most popular Texas A&M football player since Johnny Manziel. He’s certainly the favorite of the student body, which starts the “Marcel Reed” chant nearly every time he comes on the field.
“Yeah, life has changed a little bit,” he said. “Definitely get a little bit more recognition.”
A little bit more recognition might be an understatement, because Reed has emerged as a candidate for the Heisman Trophy in a year where there’s no clear-cut favorite. With a perfect record, more than 2,000 yards passing and 19 touchdowns, along with 378 rushing yards and another 6 rushing scores, Reed’s national profile has skyrocketed.
“I definitely embrace it a little bit and enjoy a little bit because, you know, it’s great to get recognition like that. But you know, I kind of have to push it aside, just because, you know, none of that all matters until they matter,” Reed said. “So until, you know, the Heisman ceremony comes, it’s not really on my mind. Focused on, you know, winning one game each week. And right now we got South Carolina coming up, so that’s what I’m focused on.”
Reed’s focus on the field has clearly improved year-over-year, as he is far more comfortable and confident operating in offensive coordinator Collin Klein’s scheme. After passing for a career-high 360 yards against Notre Dame, he has thrown for 1,324 yards, 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in conference play. His most recent scoring pass, a 48-yard catch and run by KC Concepcion, came after Reed audibled at the line in response to what he saw from the Missouri defense.
“I saw the safety roll down, and, you know, it’s obviously we’re overloaded. We can’t block every single person,” he said. “Sometimes they don’t always bring all seven, but that time, fortunately, they did bring all seven. And we got, you know, all our guys through on the whole line got KC the ball out quick, and, you know, he went out for 48.”
Reed explained that his knowledge and understanding of the offense and looks opposing defense has increased as the year has gone on thanks to his work with offensive coordinator Collin Klein.
“It all just comes with extra preparation,” he said. “As the year’s went on, (I) started to get more and more and more heavy on, you know, just going in and sitting down with Klein and understanding the game plan. ‘When we see this look, what are we trying to get into? What we don’t want to run against this look.'”
The Aggies ran into a brick wall in Columbia, S.C., last year when South Carolina dismantled Texas A&M 44-20. Reed made it clear that there is a desire for payback in the A&M locker room for that humiliation.
“Obviously you can’t look back at last year and try to bring that type of energy into it, but it is personal,” he said. “You know, they were one of the teams that kind of got us out of getting into the playoffs last year, and took us out of that conversation. So, I mean, it’s just a 1-0 mentality. And like I said, we have South Carolina, and that’s what our focus is on. And we’re just going out there to get another win. They’re in our way, just like every other team. So we’re just gonna go handle businesses.”
In recent weeks, Reed has drawn attention not just for the chants of his name and his play, but his nickname: The Gingerbread Man, since nobody can catch him.
“I call myself the gingerbread man … probably since about fifth grade,” he said. “I called myself the dragonfly at one point. I don’t know if you guys ever tried to hit a dragonfly. It’s pretty hard to do.”
Aggies everywhere hope that the man they’re chanting for isn’t caught anytime soon.
