šØ Maroon Mindset Week Two Recap šØ
šš¬ Xās, Oās, and Film Rolls | Aggies 44 ā Utah State 22
Howdy All!
Two games in, two statements made. But Week Two wasnāt just another win ā it was a course correction. Texas A&M didnāt just handle Utah State, they reshaped their identity in real time.
Week One, the Aggies looked electric through the air but thin on the ground and leaky on defense. Week Two? They lined up, ran the football with authority, and unleashed a defense that looked meaner, nastier, and hungrier than weāve seen so far this year.
This wasnāt pretty-boy football. This was trench warfare with fireworks on the edges.
š¬ Marcel Reed: Captain, our Captain
Letās get one thing straight: Marcel Reed is QB1, full stopā¦ there is no C on his chest, but he is leading like there is!
He didnāt post videogame numbers like Week One, but he controlled this game like a seasoned conductor. 19-for-28, 220 yards, 3 touchdowns through the air. Add 66 rushing yards and another score on 10 carries, and youāve got a stat line that says balanced and lethal.
But it wasnāt just the numbers. Reedās presence, his confidence, his timing ā it all screamed leadership. Even when he exited late in the 3rd quarter after taking a hit on a scramble, the Aggies were already firmly in command. Elko expects him to be back next week, and Aggieland can exhale.
Bottom line: Reed isnāt just filling the role, heās owning it. The offense flows with him.
I love to see Reed stand in here and be patient to let this route developā¦ great job by the goons up front too. Instead of running, Reed waits for Craver to clear into a opening in the zone and fires a dart for a big gain.
Pretty play design here, but the ball placement here by Reed maximized the success of the play. To see Reedās confidence grow week to week is so exciting and this may not look like a big throw but anyone that has played, these out breaking routes and timing routes are all about the right placement. Reed but the ball on Bethel-Roman in such a way, he never had to slow down and was full throttle for a big gain.
š ļø The Identity Shift: Run the Dang Ball
Last week, A&Mās run game was background noise. Thirteen carries total. Forgettable.
This week? 30 carries, 183 yards, and tone-setting physicality.
LeāVeon Moss powered for 68 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line, challenged all week in practice, showed up with nastier intent. Holes opened, backs hit them with conviction, and suddenly this offense wasnāt one-dimensional anymore.
That balance changes everything. Reed didnāt have to force throws. Play-action bit harder. The defense had to respect all 53 yards of width.
It feltā¦ old-school. Aggie football should come with bruises, and this Saturdayā¦ Utah State wore every one.
Moss looked like his old self on Saturday, a bowling ball with knives running down hill and scaring defensive players! This play was perfect, great vison, acceleration, and a violent stiff arm before scoring his first TD of the 2025 campaign.
Got to give some love to the freshman, Jamarion Morrow, aka the next name you need to know and future star RB. This young man has balance, vision, and a burst that will make opposing defensive coordinators head hurt!
š Defense Unleashed: Stuff the Run, Kill the Pocket
If Week One was ābend but survive,ā Week Two was ābend āem backwards and bury them.ā
72 total rushing yards allowed on 34 carries (2.1 per).
Six sacks on the night.
A strip sack and recovery from UGA transfer Sam MāPemba to close the curtain.
Sam MāPemba showed great speed and bend from the edge to create the first turnover of the year!
Then there is the absolute chaos machineā¦ Cashius Howell. Three straight sacks on three straight plays. Kyle Field roared like a jet engine, and Utah Stateās quarterback probably still hears footsteps in his sleep.
Howell was in his bagā¦ first play was a bull rush and power move to rip free, second play a beautiful move to slip inside, then the last sack was straight speed rush around the poor offensive tackle. As a former offensive lineman, I feel for the Utah State tackle and shame on their coaching staff leaving that poor kid on an island against the pass rushing specialist that is Howell!
This wasnāt just pressure. This was dominance. Gap control, pursuit angles, finishing plays ā all of it leveled up in one week. Elkoās defense looked like it finally found its claws. I also love the fiery intensity of Coach Elkoās accountability we see on this defenseā¦ at no point did this game feel like it was in danger, but Elko was not ok with momentary lack of focus or intensity. It looked like Nick Saban screaming at his defensive backs with 1:23 left in the fourth when Bama was up by 50. Greatness starts with accountability and commitment, and Elko is holding his defense to that standardā¦ itās not there yet but he wont ever let them feel like they have arrived.
šÆ The Playmakerās Ball: KC, Craver, and Bussey Take the Stage
Forget the stat sheet for a second ā letās talk about what it felt like. Every time the Aggies needed a jolt, one of these three lit the fuse.
KC Concepcion ā 6 grabs, 73 yards, 2 touchdowns. Heās the spark plug, the guy who takes routine plays and flips the field with electricity. His route running is butter-smooth, his YAC is nightmare fuel, and heās clearly Reedās quick-strike weapon.
Conception has such great ball skills, he seems to have unshakeable poise. I think we are going to love that when the opponents get tough and the margin for error is gone. He will be the go to target.
Mario Craver ā back-to-back 100-yard games, this time with 114 yards and a score on 5 catches. Heās the chain mover and the closer. Tough catches, contested balls, sideline artistry ā Craver is the security blanket wrapped in fireworks.
Craver is just straight speed on this big play, not double moves, no fluff, just the old and true adage that speed KILLS. Alsoā¦ what a dime from OāNeill, he stepped in when Reed went down and showed off some impressive arm talent.
Terry Bussey ā the wild card, the X-factor. Bussey didnāt lead the box score, but his fingerprints were everywhere. Jet sweeps, underneath routes, forcing Utah State to defend every blade of grass. Heās the guy you circle on film because he stresses defenses just by being on the field. Opened up the scoring and made plays most the day.
Bussey seemed like the forgotten weapon last week with all the other shinny new toys doing their thing, but Bussey had a day on Saturday. Great play design that tested the eye discipline of the fake aggies defense, they failed the test and Bussey did the rest!
Together, these three form a nightmare trio: Concepcion the spark, Craver the hammer, Bussey the chaos. Pick your poison. Reed doesnāt care ā heāll feed whoeverās open, and odds are one of them is cooking.
šµļø The Good, the Bad, the Reality
The Good: Balance on offense. Aggie defense rediscovered its bite. Playmakers are living up to the hype.
The Bad: Injuries. Reed and Trey Zuhn both left the game banged up. Early word is positive, but the SEC waits for no one.
The Reality: The Aggies played with purpose. They corrected Week Oneās flaws in one weekās time. But the bar goes up next Saturday in South Bend.
š My Final Verdict
Week Two was a message game. A&M didnāt just beat Utah State, they fixed themselves.
The run game found teeth. The defense rediscovered cruelty. And the trio of KC, Craver, and Bussey gave Reed the kind of weapons that make every snap dangerous.
The Aggies walked off Kyle Field with a 44ā22 win, but more importantly, with an identity.
Next week? Notre Dame. In South Bend. Prime time.
If the Aggies bring this version of themselves ā balanced, mean, and explosive ā the Irish are going to have a fight on their hands.
This is the Maroon Mindset: relentless, physical, explosive. And folks, it just clicked into place.