Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said Monday that his belief in quarterback Marcel Reed has not wavered after Saturday's 31-21 loss to Kentucky.
"I have a lot of confidence in Marcel," Elko said. "I believe in Marcel. Marcel's our quarterback."
Reed struggled at home against the Wildcats, going 26-of-49 for 236 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, including missing several short throws.
"I think you saw him at times look the way we want him to look. And again, that inconsistency showed up," Elko said. "So I think we continue to evaluate the best way to put him in the positions for him to be the most successful that he can be."
Reed is 20-of-23 on passes at or behind the line of scrimmage this season, according to ESPN Research. On throws one or more air yard beyond the line, Reed is 42 of 81, completing just 52% of his throws. Overall, Reed ranks 99th nationally in completion percentage (59.6%) this season.
Reed is a dangerous runner, including rushing for 80 yards and a touchdown against Kentucky. But Elko said keeping his 6-foot-1, 185-pound quarterback healthy is a concern when considering adding more schemed runs for him.
"I think you're always walking the fine line of health and effectiveness," Elko said. "Over his time here, he's not a guy who you design a lot of quarterback runs like you've seen from some of the 225-, 230-pound quarterbacks over the years. He's a guy that gets on the edge and gets around and gets loose. Some teams allow him that opportunity and some teams take that away from him."
The Aggies' offense, under new offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins, is currently 75th in the FBS, averaging 394.3 yards per game.
Elko knows the next game, against No. 10 LSU, will be a challenging environment. The Aggies are playing in a night game at Tiger Stadium (7:30 ET, ABC), for the second straight year. Last season the then-No. 3 Aggies handed the Tigers just their fifth home loss at night since 2000. In that game, Reed threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in a 49-25 win that started the spiral for LSU coach Brian Kelly.
But counting last year's A&M victory, LSU is 120-17 in night games at home since 2000.
"The challenge on us now is to respond. And we've got a great opportunity this week to go on the road and play a top-10 team in an environment that's going to be electric and we have to respond," Elko said. "And that's what this program was built on. And certainly that'll be the challenge that's been laid out to the staff and the guys this week and to myself. And I fully expect that we'll go out in Tiger Stadium and do that."
