Marcel Reed's buzz takes a nosedive with back-to-back interceptions

The Texas A&M Aggies are having maybe the most unexpected day thus far. At halftime, the Aggies are currently trailing South Carolina 30-3. After going up 10-3 by conventional means, South Carolina edge Dylan Stewart sacked Aggies quarterback and defensive tackle Nick Barrett returned that fumble.

Four Texas A&M punts later, Marcel Reed is intercepted by Vicari Swain and was ruled a touchback. One play later, LaNorris Sellers connects with Nyck Harbor for an 80-yard touchdown, putting the Gamecocks up 27-3.

It took exactly 0:20 seconds, excluding the kickoff for South Carolina to intercept Reed for a second time in the half. A fourteen-yard run and a ten-yard offensive holding penalty later and South Caroline kicks a field goal with 0:02 remaining to put the Gamecocks up 30-3. Against an Aggies team that many across the country have argued in the last couple weeks should be the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

This situation the Aggies find themselves in has two different implications. The first is playoff seeding and Top 25 rankings. If Texas A&M wins out, they control their destiny and like could get a first round bye in the playoff. However, if they lose this game and Georgia beats Texas, Georgia can clinch an SEC title game appearance.

The second issue is with Reed’s Heisman candidacy. Heading into this week, according to CBS Sports, Reed had leapfrogged over Ty Simpson and had the 3^rd best Heisman odds behind Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. Giving up two interceptions in under a minute and losing to an unranked South Carolina team will dramatically impact his odds moving forward.

As this game approaches the end of the third quarter, Texas A&M has scored. A 39 yard touchdown pass from Reed to Bethel-Roman and narrowed the gap to 30-16. The Aggies are going to need to put up more scoring drives and hope their defense can basically stop South Carolina or the top 10 of the rankings is about to get shuffled.

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