Mike Elko previewed the Texas A&M Aggies’ trip to the No. 23 South Carolina Gamecocks at his Monday press conference, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. ET on Saturday on ESPN. The quarterback question that has followed A&M for two weeks came up anyway, when he was asked if backup Brady Hart has been getting more first-team work in practice.
A&M is 4-4 and 1-4 in the SEC, and the staff came close to making that change on Oct. 24. Starter Marcel Reed threw two interceptions on his first three attempts in the 31-20 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, and Elko explained afterward where that left him.
“Obviously, it couldn’t continue to go that way and so we were ready to do that. … I just still believe [Reed’s] our best option, so that’s kind of where that’s at,” Elko said.
On Monday, he walked through how A&M divides its practice work before he got to Hart.
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“We’re probably more balanced than most people in terms of how we rep things. We don’t have that 1s and 2s thing the way other people talk about it. There’s a lot more of 1.5 reps where all of your guys in the two-deep are rotating through. We feel Brady gets a ton of opportunities to show where he’s at… The challenge to him has been, if you want opportunities, there’s a level that we need to see in order to feel comfortable about doing that,” Elko said.
That answer leaves the job where it was and puts the next move on Hart himself. Elko sees him every day and nobody outside that building does, so he gets some benefit of the doubt here. It’s still a tough thing to ask of people watching a 4-4 team, especially after what he said about making changes in October.
“Everything has to be on the table. We’re at that point, for sure,” Elko said in October.
Noah Ruiz of Texas A&M On SI had Hart at 57.1 percent on 21 attempts, just above Reed’s 56.8 percent, the lowest among eligible SEC starters. Most of that work came in an 8-of-12 outing for 107 yards and a touchdown against The Citadel Bulldogs, and his lone pass at the end of the loss to the LSU Tigers was intercepted. Reed has 11 total touchdowns and eight interceptions, and a sample that small gives neither side of the argument much to work with.
Reed said after the Alabama loss that he would back the move if it came.
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“If they decide that they want to go with Brady, then I’m right behind them, supporting him, because I know how good a quarterback he is, as well. We practice and feed off of each other every single day. So, I’ve just got to make sure that I’m doing what I’m supposed to do and if not, then that’s a coach’s decision,” Reed said, according to Travis L. Brown.
A&M needs two wins in its last four games to reach a bowl. After South Carolina come the Tennessee Volunteers on Nov. 14, a trip to the Oklahoma Sooners on Nov. 21 and the Texas Longhorns on Nov. 27.
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