\n<\/p>\n
Five days removed from the 13-year anniversary of Johnny Manziel delivering the most iconic performance in Texas A&M football history, Marcel Reed gave Mr. Football a run for his money.<\/p>\n
Certainly, Manziel\u2019s legendary 253-yard passing, 92-yard rushing, and two-touchdown day on Nov. 10, 2012, came against a more noteworthy opponent. After all, Manziel ran circles against a Nick Saban-coached Alabama team at the height of its dynasty \u2014 not a sub-.500 South Carolina squad underperforming preseason expectations.<\/p>\n
Texas A&M also had to endure 30-plus minutes of bad football to set up its crescendo to the largest comeback in program history from down 27 points. Included in that stretch was Reed throwing two interceptions, both of which the Gamecocks converted into points.<\/p>\n
However, Reed\u2019s 439 passing yards and three second-half touchdowns in Saturday\u2019s 31\u201330 win may carry more long-term significance than even Manziel\u2019s performance in 2012. With this rally against South Carolina, Texas A&M all but secured a place in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.<\/p>\n
Yes, the Aggies still need to beat Samford in next week\u2019s customary SEC pre-Thanksgiving cupcake matchup. Six SEC teams face opponents from either the Group of Five or FCS, and Texas A&M draws the most overmatched of the bunch in the SoCon\u2019s one-win Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
That means reaching 11 wins \u2014 a virtual golden ticket to the Playoff \u2014 is essentially a formality. Texas A&M will head into the postseason with some unique insight into its mettle and character as a team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an identity of who we are,\u201d Aggies coach Mike Elko<\/a> said in his postgame press conference. \u201cIf we play to our identity, we\u2019re a good football team. \u2026If we start trying to play a different way, that\u2019s not us. That\u2019s not who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n So who is Texas A&M? That\u2019s a question that has long loomed over a program without a national championship since 1939.<\/p>\n Manziel\u2019s tenure gave Texas A&M an identity built on swagger \u2014 an exceedingly difficult trait to fake. Just ask the Miami Hurricanes in their many failed efforts to recapture the glory days of the 1980s and early 2000s.<\/p>\n Because swagger is tough to manufacture, Texas A&M teams in the last decade have often lacked a real identity. That isn\u2019t to say the Aggies didn\u2019t find success under Jimbo Fisher, but they frequently embodied the label \u201calso-ran.\u201d<\/p>\n Even with the bravado that captured public imagination, the Manziel years never produced an SEC Championship Game appearance.<\/p>\n The 2025 Aggies\u2019 place in the program\u2019s first SEC title game isn\u2019t yet guaranteed, but moving to 7\u20130 on the same day Alabama suffered its first conference loss and rival Texas was all but eliminated positions them favorably.<\/p>\n On the precipice of a first-ever SEC Championship opportunity, Texas A&M can now say it has an identity \u2014 one Elko defines as \u201cblue collar.\u201d<\/p>\n