Texas A&M benches QB Marcel Reed vs. Tennessee, backup Brady Hart enters

Texas A&M backup quarterback Brady Hart has replaced Marcel Reed in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game between the Aggies and No. 8 Tennessee. The move comes after Reed completed just 9/22 passes for 71 yards and one interception across the first three-and-a-half quarters of play. After replacing Reed, Hart’s third passing attempt was intercepted. Reed led the Aggies to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history last season, and was tabbed as one of the top returning quarterbacks in the SEC heading into this season. His third and final campaign as A&M’s starting quarterback, however, has been nothing short of a nightmare. After opening the season ranked No. 8 in the Preseason AP Poll, A&M will fall to 4-6 on the season with a loss to the Volunteers on Saturday. $39.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage Through 10 games this season, the Nashville native has passed for 1,712 yards and eight touchdowns with nine interceptions. Entering Saturday’s game, Reed boasted a 45.1 QBR. That ranked 16/16 in the SEC among qualified quarterbacks, just behind Arkansas‘ KJ Jackson and Vanderbilt‘s Jared Curtis (52.6). Hart, a freshman who was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2026, enters his fourth game of the season. In appearances against Missouri State, LSU, and The Citadel, Hart completed 12/21 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Mike Elko on Marcel Reed last month: ‘We believe in him’ Following A&M’s 34-7 drumming of Arkansas on Oct. 3, A&M head coach Mike Elko seemed confident in Reed as the program’s starting quarterback going forward. The win over the Razorbacks is A&M’s lone victory over an SEC team this season. “When you go into battle with somebody, we’re not building a team, we’re not building a culture, we’re not building men who just turn their back on people the first sign of adversity,” Elko said. “So I’m not sure that I’d be a good leader, we’d be a good team, we’d be a good program if the first time our quarterback started to struggle, my immediate reaction was to turn my back on him.” “He’s our quarterback. We believe in him. We know what he’s capable of. We also are aware of how it’s going. We’re not blind. But we believe that there’s a path to him playing better football, and our job as coaches is to find it.”