Texas A&M's 2026 season opener vs. Missouri State kicks off on Saturday night, and for the Aggie fans who, no matter how hard they try, can't avoid looking ahead to the Aggies' regular-season finale vs. rival Texas, USA TODAY Sports writer Blake Toppmeyer's recent piece detailing Texas A&M starting quarterback Marcel Reed is for you.
Entering his second full starting season under center, Marcel Reed's 2025 season ended in misery after back-to-back losses to Texas in the regular season and Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoff, which included four of his career-high twelve interceptions.
Combined with our own reporting this offseason, Toppmeyer's article details Reed's offseason work at the D1 Training facility in Nashville with Cliff
Marshall, who praised the Tennessee native's preparation and work ethic, noting that working with Reed was "almost like I was training a professional athlete," which is quite the compliment.
However, words are words until the games are played. Two months before Texas A&M's appearance at SEC Media Days, which Reed attended, the veteran signal caller's tune changed when discussing the Texas Longhorns, while his earlier comments regarding the Lone Star Showdown were revealed on Tuesday.
Back in April, Marcel Reed's true feelings about Texas A&M's arch rival came out, and agreeing with Toppmeyer that Reed "blurs the line between confidence and cockiness," this is the mindset every Texas A&M and Texas player should have when discussing their rival.
“I hate the color orange,” Reed stated to Toppmeyer. “The colors just look so ugly. Everywhere you go (in Austin), you see that color orange. Burnt orange? Who likes burnt orange? Texas, it’s the rival, bro. You gotta hate them.”
Compared to his toned-down SEC Media Days comments, Reed kept throwing haymakers at the Longhorns, telling Toppmeyer that "Nashville is way better" than Austin, Texas, but after consecutive losses to Texas, it's clear that off-the-field hate needs to be bottled up before Friday, November 27.
“We don’t like Texas. I don’t like Texas,” he told Toppmeyer. “It sucks that we’ve lost to them twice. But, they’re coming here this year, so they’re gonna have to pay. I’ve got something for them, for sure.”
Texas A&M will host Missouri State on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 6:00 p.m., and the game will air on ESPN.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: 'I hate the color orange': Texas A&M QB tears into the Texas Longhorns
