Texas A&M’s offense has reached the point where the excuses just don’t hold up anymore.
After four weeks of the 2026 season, the Aggies sit at 2-2 and are riding a two-game losing streak, a sharp fall from the expectations that surrounded this team entering a season that was supposed to matter for Mike Elko’s program. Instead of building on last year’s historic success, Texas A&M is spending its weeks trying to figure out what this roster actually is.
The biggest target for frustration has been quarterback Marcel Reed, and that reaction is understandable. Reed is a returning starter who has been in the program for multiple years, and at one point during the 2025 season, he was in consideration for the Heisman. But the problems go well beyond one player.
The design around Reed has not made life easier. In the loss to LSU, there was a play where Reed took far more than a three-step drop, which gave the defensive ends a clear path to chase him downfield and turned a seven-yard pass into a 14-yard play.
That kind of thing cannot happen, especially with a quarterback already dealing with accuracy issues. Making the throws harder is the wrong direction, and offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins and quarterbacks coach Joey Lynch have not done enough to lighten Reed’s load.
And even if the passing game were cleaner, Texas A&M still wouldn’t have a reliable ground attack to lean on. The running game, which was a major part of last season’s success, has not carried over. The Aggies rank 50th or worse in several key rushing categories, including No. 72 in yards per rush, No. 50 in rushes per game, and No. 62 in rushing yards per game.
That lack of balance has made everything tougher. A struggling passing game needs help from the run game, and Texas A&M hasn’t gotten it.
The offensive line has also been part of the issue, and Reed is being sacked 5.44 percent of the time, which ranks No. 61 nationally. That makes it even harder to create any movement at the line of scrimmage.
Texas A&M has a long list of issues, but Reed cannot take all the blame. The season is already one-third complete, and the message is simple now: the excuses are gone. Either the offense gets fixed, or this is what the Aggies are for the rest of 2026.
In Other News...
Texas A&M's New SEC Academic Rank Will Spark Rivalry Debate
The latest U.S. News Best Colleges Report brought a fresh shakeup to the academic pecking order, and Texas A&M was among the programs feeling it. The 2027 rankings dropped the university eight spots from its previous place, with the new formula factoring in the 2025 Carnegie Classification system and earnings by major, two changes that can alter how schools stack up from year to year.
Around the SEC, the release is likely to fuel the kind of debate that never really stays academic for long. Alabama posted the biggest rise among conference schools, while Texas also moved up, giving Aggies fans another reason to measure themselves against familiar rivals and wonder how much of this new order reflects substance, perception or just the latest adjustment in the numbers. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M's LSU Loss Put One Crucial Recruiting Test In Focus
The lopsided loss to LSU did more than dent Texas A&Ms standing in the SEC, it also sharpened the spotlight on the kind of recruiting test every struggling program eventually faces. Mike Elkos team has been under scrutiny for both talent and coaching after the 35-6 defeat, but the immediate concern for the Aggies is whether the slide on the field starts to ripple into the class-building work that still has to carry the program forward.
For now, one notable answer has been steady: four-star recruit Kaden McCarty has reaffirmed his commitment to Texas A&M despite the recent losses. Sources also expect little movement among the 2027 class heading toward Early Signing Day, which at least gives the staff some breathing room as it tries to stabilize the bigger picture. The next chance to change the mood comes Saturday night against Arkansas, with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. on ESPN2. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Suddenly Has A Bigger Problem Than The Rankings
A rough September has left Texas A&M with more to fix than its place in the polls. The Aggies were handled 35-6 by LSU, falling to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in SEC play as the offense continued to search for answers, and the early results have pushed them out of the major college football rankings.
Marcel Reeds development has become part of the conversation after his uneven start compared with where he was a year ago, and that puts even more pressure on the next stretch of the schedule. Arkansas is up next, and despite being a 14-point favorite, Texas A&M needs the kind of response that restores confidence before the standings become the least of its concerns. [Read more 🡒]