Arch Manning versus Marcel Reed

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How about a Lone Star Showdown crossover edition coming up right now . You are Locked On College Crossover, part of the Locked On Podcast Network Our team every day . Yes, indeed, it is a locked on college crossover alongside Zack Dimmitt, one of the hosts of locked on Aggies. I am BK Brad Kellner, the host of Locked on Longhorns, plenty to get to on today's show. First and foremost, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. The biggest stage in world soccer is here. Let there be goals on Fandol. Visit F andool. com to get started now. We'll talk about who is the tougher schedule between Texas and Texas A and M. We'll have the classic Arch versus Marcel Reed debate and just go over some generic questions as we sit just over seventy days away from week one of the twenty twenty six college football season. Zack, it is right around the corner before we dive in, I'll just ask you, how are you? I'm doing great BK . It's good to see you man. It's good to talk some aggies and lawnhorns. Even though we're in the middle of summer and that game's at the very end of the season, you can never get enough of this rivalry. And so we got to do it. No doubt about it. And obviously big expectations in Austin and in college station this year. I'm just going to ask a generic question. Again, just over seventy days away from kickoff. What's the biggest question or maybe the biggest couple of questions facing Texas A and M as we inch closer to the start of the year . Yeah, I mean there's a few big ones you know, you could talk about Marcelle Reed. You could talk about the running backs being, a little bit inexperienced , but I think just in general, it's about Anim oti getting over the hump because Elko's first season right on the brink of SEC title. Of course Longhorns spoiled that in college station. Then last year, of course, you know, making the CFP they played bad against Miami for the most part still a chance to tie that game. So now it's about getting over the hump and winning the CFP game and then eventually contending not everyone's going to be Indiana where they can just come out of nowhere and just run the whole table . You know, you got to take baby steps. And so that's the next question for ANM taken the step and winning the CFP game and actually find that championship success further . Yeah, how are aggu fans feeling about Marcel Reed? I mean, it felt like for most of twenty twenty five, every A and M fan loved him and it's like, oh, he's our guy. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the conference and he's the real deal. And then the Texas game happened . He wasn't very good in Austin and he mentioned that playoff game where the Aggies failed to get into the end zone . A lot of good for Marcel Reid, but left some meat on the bone. Obviously Colin Klein is gone in comes home and Wiggins. I know he was a part of the staff last year, but now he's the full time offensive coordinator. What's the thoughts and expectations around Marcel Reed in twenty twenty six ? I feel like for the most part and M fans are on Marcel Reed'll re sidead, but of course you're going to have those who are frustrated and I totally get that , you know, but you also have to take the entire twenty twenty five season into context. He was on a Heisman , you know, finalist sort of run and then kind of fell off there at the end. I mean, you know, multiple interceptions in the Texas game and bad, bad throws against Miami. And so it the reasons he biased kind of played against him where it made you forget all of what all the good that he did during the season and AM obviously wouldn't have been anywhere close to the CFP if not for what Marcel Reed did. So I think for the most part, AM fans are on his side. You're going to have a few bad apples there. But there's no reason to to doubt him. He's going to take another step. He 's been taking steps throughout his career. And so I think for the most part, people feel pretty good about where he's headed . Yeah, you know, before some Longhorn answers to those same questions, you know, in politics, there's the approval rating, right ? Just kind of ask you about the approval rating for Marcel Reed for Mike Elco, I assume it's pretty close to one hundred percent. Again, oh and two against Texas. Aggie fans don't like that , but what a job he's done so far, keeping A and M in contention for the SEC title game in each of his first two years. Obviously making the CFP in year two after an eleven and one regular season feels like just about every A and M fan believes like they've got the guy, the right guy in charge, right? You have to feel that way if you're an ANM fan. I mean, you talk about the success on the field, but then how about, you know, twenty twenty seven recruiting Aggies are probably going to end with a number one cl ass. I would be surprised unless some of these teams go on a really hot streak, but talking about the recruiting, the on field success , already and head into year three and all that to talk about for Mike Elco. I mean, you could n't have asked for more . And so kind of different. We've seve Sarquesian, you know, it was a horrible first year for him at Texas, kind of took a little bit of time, made the CFP by year three. Elco made it in a year two. So , you know, where the Aggies headed in year three, you got to imagine they're going to keep moving forward and not take a step back under Elco because he's really proven himself as one of the best coaches in the SEC if not the country Yeah., you know it',s it's pretty funny because I asked you what's the big question around A and M and you're like, oh can they take that next step? It's kind of the same question for Texas, right? Can the line that next step? I guess maybe more direct, it's okay , the hype train is there again can they actually live up to the expectations? Obviously, Texas didn't last year preseason number one team in the country. Look, ten win season is not horrible, but when you're one of the favorites to win the national champions hip and you open up the year at number one to not even reach the CFP was definitely a disappointment. I don't know if Texas will be preseason number one this year Zach, but they're going to be preseason top three. They're one of the favorites doing it all. Arch Manning is the favorite on Fanduel to win the Heisman trophy here in late June . So okay, the noise is going to be there else is but more so with Arch Manning as the quarterback can Texas actually live up to it and achieve those expectations ? And look for the Longhorns, like they've been to the college football playoffs, semifinal twice. Obviously one of those years of fourteen playoffs or just by making it they got there, but twenty twenty four they won two playoff games to get there . I don't know if that's going to be enough for long horn fans to view this as a successful season. Obviously if Texas fails to reach the playoffs again, it is a failure, but even if Texas gets in , if they don't if they don't take that next step and maybe even get to a national title game, I know how crazy that might sound. There are a lot of folks around these parts who are thinking, wow, we really missed an opportunities Yeah, especially with Arch Manning potentially headed out the door. If you don't even at least make a national title game in Arch Manning's career , that is a bit a big disappointment. All things considered. I mean, obviously Texas is held a very high standard. And so, you know, making a national championship game for a lot of programs would be a massive success and not seen as a failure. It's just not the case for this year's Texas team in the archmanian era. Everything's lining up. This is Steve Sarquesian's team that he's been, you know, aiming towards in his career. And so it's now or never for Texas a much different situation than A and M where there's not that kind of pressure. And so you never know, they could get hot and then eventually that pressure will build as the seasons go on. But for Texas , man , talk about, you know , maybe a team under the most pressure in the country heading into the season. Yeah, does it feel like a title or bust kind of year for Texas football and year six for Steve Sharp Sarkesian. He's done a lot of talking, right? He's ruffled some feathers during the off season. To me, that means he's confident. He really believes in the guys that he has , but he's writing some checks and he better hope his team can cash them this year. But you know, I think a question I think Texas had more roster turnover than Anim in terms of the portal. Now the Aggies, I think it's four new offensive linemen . So there's there's obviously some newcomers there and I think every team in modern college football has to deal with the okay, how do the new guys fit in and how quickly can they gel? Texas has more than forty new players from last year. Now it's the third ranked portal class in the country and the only two schools that were ranked ahead of Texas were teams that brought in way more players than Texas . So all sorts of talent with Cam Coleman and Relik Brown and Hollywood smothers's and Rahim Biles in the list go es on and on. That's part of a question too with Ohio State in week two and we'll get to the schedule debate later, but how quickly can it all come together? Because last year's act, Texas was almost out of the playoff one month into the year. They lost their first two games against real teams and, you know, they were three and two but two against power competition and they had to play perfect the rest of the way. They went seven and one, but it wasn't good enough. They've got to make sure that unlike last year , they're they're ready to go and buttoned up for week one . Yeah, I mean, the changes that Texas made this off season were some of them were very shocking and some of them not too surprising. I mean , you fired Pete Kakowski, a very productive defensive coordinator, but going for a different sort of scheme with Will Mushamp , you know, Chad Scott, running backs coach. That one I could say I could have seen Cum becausemin that was one of the worst Russian attacks in Texas football history. I'm pretty sure. So you had to bring in Jabar Jaluk, you had to make changes at running back . A lot of these things were very, very important for Texas and it's clear that Steve Starquesian he's not going to wait around for Chad Scott to figure it out in year two. He was out the door after one season. So things like that , you know, very notable for Texas and then with A and M , multiple stap changes as well. I mean, we talked about Colin Klein, you talked about Holman Wiggins and then a defensive coordinator Lyle Hempill comes in Jay Bateman , you know, out the door. So a lot of questions surround Hingolman Wiggins, you know, former wide receivers coach, recruited Divante Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Jerry Judy, among others. I mean, that's an elite list right there. And now it's Kenny Call plays in this anim e. And so the lot of questions surround the aggies and lawn horns, which we'll get to more as the show goes on. No doubt. All right, well, let's get into the schedule conversation. That's always fun to have. Who is the tougher schedule in twenty twenty six? Is it Texas? Is it Texas A and M? That's coming up on a locked on crossover episode . But first a shout out to our friends at Fan Duel. 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Visit fandool. com to get started now . With the all new Audi Q three , the answer's always yes . Yes to adventure , yes to escape , yes to write now , the all new Audi Q three made for the Yes Life . All right, welcome back to a locked on c rossover episode, locked on your team every day. Be sure to follow and subscribe to Locked On Aggies and to Locked On Longhorns. So we talked Zach kind of big picture thirty thousand feet questions for Texas and Texas A and M as we sit just over two months away from the start of the season . Now we get into the schedule conversation, right? Always a big topic of conversation now in college football, not just across conferences, but within conferences as well. I guess I'll ask you the question in your eyes, who is the tougher path to get to the college football playoff in twenty twenty six? Is it Texas or is it Texas A and L ? Yeah, because this one was tough for me because you got to look at the opponents. You got to look at the timing of playing certain opponents, you know, road streaks, things like that all play into , you know, to affect there and also kickoff times, you know, if you're playing LSU at eleven AM for seven PM. That makes a big difference. So certain things like that. You got to factor in , but I will say that I'll give Texas the edge there with a tougher schedule . I mean, if you look at the some of the FBI analytics, Texas and AM, there's a big gap there with Texas being having a more difficult schedule . You know, these things can change throughout the season, of course, but just looking at it on paper, what we know about all these rosters, you know, currently, I'm going to give Texas the edge there . You do have the argument though , many many home games for Texas this season compared to last year where it felt like they weren't at home for like three months. It was only a month. They missed. They didn't play in home game all of October, which is pretty wild. And that was that's a tough stretch for a team who got the season started off on a kind of a wrong foot with lost to Ohio State and Florida. So I but I Texas you play Ohio state at home, go on the road to Tennessee , you know, three straight games in the middle of Octo ber. You may look at that and think, is that really tough though, but you're playing old miss, you're playing a rising Florida team and then back to you end the season three of your last four games on the road at Missouri at LSU A and M. That's a really, really tough end to the season despite the home games that you do have. So I'll give Texas that edge there. Things may change, but just looking at the opponents and on all that kind of stuff, I do think Texas has a slight edge over and M, which has you know, weaker non conference, Missouri state, Arizona state . And then of course get to host Texas. So yeah, you know, it's I'll say something nice about the Aggies and it's a weird thing to brag about , like, do you really want to brag about having a tougher schedule than somebody else? Like yeah, our path to get to the playoff and win a national championship is harder than yours. It's like okay that's kind of your fault like are you sure ? And of course, when all these non conference games were scheduled, we had no idea what the CFP was going to look like. And obviously college football has changed so much over the last few years that maybe in hindsight, Texas regrets scheduling some of the home and homes that they've scheduled. But look for A and M in their defense, they've got a tougher schedule in twenty twenty six than they did in twenty twenty five in conference play. Now they don't have a Notre Dame out of conference, right? Arizona state's not on that level and neither is Missouri State or the Citadel , but not breaking any news for anybody but in conference play look, everyone's got a tougher conference schedule because you have that ninth game, but ANM. They do finally have to play one of Alabama or Georgia. I have no idea why the SEC doesn't want us to see ANM play Georgia. Texas, Texas finally gets a break from that this year, but it feels like Texas has played Georgia more in their two years in the SEC than A and M has in their dozen plus years in the SEC . But I think you know, if you just look at conference games , you could maybe make an argument for an M. I still wouldn't. But obviously the thing that tips the scales is the Ohio State game. Like that is probably the toughest non conference game in the country. I guess outside of Ohio State because they have to travel to Austin. If the game was in Columbus, it'd be the other way around. But yeah, I mean, you've got the game against Ohio State. Arizona state's decent, but they just lost a bunch of great players to the transfer portal. They'll be breaking in a new quarterback. So yeah, because Texas has the bucks and AM doesn't have anybody close to that out of conference, I think and you talked about it. The FBI, the SP plus, all the analytics out there also back Texas, the Longhorns do have the more difficult strength of schedule in twenty twenty six . Yeah. And I think you made a good point that whenever some te of theseams are scheduling out in advance, certain things might look strong , certain things might not look as strong. And then those things can kind of flip as the seasons go on and rosters change. A and M, Arizona state was scheduled. That looked pretty good a few years ago if you're talking talking about Cam Scataboo and Jord Tyson being on the roster, but that's obviously not the case . It's still talented program the Big Twelve but we'll have to wait and see how that one goes . But yeah, I agree with you. The Citadel in Missouri state those aren't exactly moving me if I'm if I'm an A and M fan or those are games where I feel like the team can really show off what they can do in the ceiling that they have. These aren't games that really move me in non conference, but of course you're going to have every team's going to have those kind of games. So you wish the Arizona State game was kind of carrying a little bit more weight , but we'll have to wait and see what happens. A and M does have some tough road games at Alabama at South Carolina and at Oklahoma , not to mention LSU in the fourth game of the year. Yeah, I think the last five games of the year, you know, you mentioned Texas has to play three of their final four on the road, but you know, the Aggies last five games of the year. I expect them to be in the playoff contention going into that stretch or in playoff contention going into that stretch and potentially in the SEC championship game conversation as well, but at Alabama at South Carolina, versus Tennessee at OU and then the home game, the lone star showdown against Texas to wrap it up. Obviously big year for Kaylan de Boor, but Alabama's going to be good. They're always good winning Tus inc aloosa, not easy to do. South Carolina is interesting very, very interesting. They've got some talent. They've got Lenore Sellers who's very good. They've got Dylan Stewart who may you know is up there for best defensive player in the conference. That's not an easy place to win. Now, what was it last year or two years ago where the Aggies went in there and won? No, no, they lost two years. They lost yes. They got blast was a crazy comeback at home against South Carolina. I'm getting my getting my dates confused, but that Williams Bryce never an easy place to win as the Aggies found out two years ago. It's probably the point I should have made. You know, Tennessee's interesting. Like I'm glad obviously both Texas and A and M have to play the balls this year. Texas gets them early. That's the long horns SEC opener in week four. Tennessee breaking in a new quarterback . You know, I think the valls are going to be a lot better towards the end of the year when A and M has to play them. It is a game in college station. I'd still pick the Aggies to win right now, but I think that's tough. And then at OU 's another playoff team from last year, they're a contender as much as we hate saying nice things about them. And then of course Texas who's been a thorn in the side for the Aggies for a while. So the last five games for AM that's going to make or break. I think whether this is a team that gets back to the playoff and has a chance to take that next step that you were talking about . Yeah, absolutely. And I'll go back that Sou toth Carolina game because it's something we've talked about a lot over on lockdown Aggies is that that game is going to be kind of like the X factor of the season or the determining factor, I should say of, you know, how that's how the season goes for A M because South Carolina, there's a lot of hypes around them last year because of all the talent and they obviously did not meet those expectations at all. I can't imagine that they'll be as bad as they were last season. I just can't too much talent across the board some pretty sneaky transfer additions . So you know, Christian Clark, former Texas running back who I actually I liked watching him earlier in the year last year. He showed some nice explosiveness. He's on that South Carolina roster . You know, that's just one of the notable names there. That game is in Columbia . I just can't imagine that South Carolina is going to be as bad as they were. And so that game if I'm an AM fan, that one's kind of scaring me a little bit because that's one of those losses you can't really afford to take when you're also playing LSU in Texas and knowing that those might be two of the losses that you can really afford to have. So yeah, yeah, interesting game there. I wonder who's co aching South Carolina at that point survived the season. That's obviously a big question for those folks as well, but we'll let locked on gamecocks have that conversation. All right, we've got one segment to go on this locked on c rossover, Arch Manning or Marcel Reed. Obviously, passionate folks on both sides of the debate. Who's got the better quarterback? Zach and I will dive in coming up on locked on crossover Now but first a shout out to our friends at Odu. 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There's been a lot of back and forth in real life and on social media over the last couple of years, who's the better quarterback? Arch Manning or Marcel Reed. No debate. We know both of those guys are the starters for their respective squads here in twenty twenty six. I will ask you the question, Arch Manning or Marcel Reed and state your case . You know, it's really, really tough . I think it's a lot closer than some people think . Some people have a lot of doubts with Marcel Reid. Some people have doubts with Arch, but based on what we saw last season, I think you have to get the slight edge to Arch Manning, even though A and M fans may not want to hear that. That's just where things stand right now. This could obviously change and we could look back at this and think, man, what was Zack talking about? But that's just how I see it because Marcel Reed, the way he ended his season , I understand he was in the CFP and Archmanning was not. But the way they ended their respective seasons was a lot different from each other . It kind' ofs fl ipped. Arch got the season started off on really poor footing . Marcel Reed obviously wasn't super efficient but helped lead , you know, a massive win against Notre Dame on the road at the beginning of the year. And then Arch Manning kind of find kind of found his footing the end of the year last season where Marcell Reed is it's where he really fell off in those final few games. So if we're looking at it like that, the way they ended their seasons and then talk about the overall production, which is kind of similar between the two a little bit. I'm going to get the slight edge to Arch , but of course, you know, Marcia Reid was in the CFP and Arch Manny was not and that's something that fans will kind of hold on to and I totally understand that. But we're talking about a ten win Texas team had three top ten wins and Arch Manning was a major reason for that . Really, really came on late in the year. And then of course in the in that bowl went over Michigan highlight after highlight from him . So got to give the edge slightly to Arch Manny, but these things can change and you know, we'll have to wait and see what happens during the season especially early on. And I was ready to call you an idiot. Like I was ready to go to war on behalf of Arch Manning thinking you were going to tell me that oh there's no debate. There's no question Marcel Reed is the better quarterback of the two and you got it right good job Zack. Well done there s,ir. Look Marcel Re is a very solid player. He's talented, but I mean, I if you gave a hundred Aggie fans truth serum, I don't know how many of this would like publicly admitted, but if you gave them truth serum , I think like ninety five of them would tell you they'd rather have Arch Manning as their quarterback than Marcel Reed. There's a few who are crazy even with the true serum, it might not work against some of the aggie fans out there , but you can't tell me in your mind that you'd rather have Marcel Reed leading your team this year than Arch Manning. Again, Marcel's very good. I just think Arch Manning's better. He's got a better arm . I think I mean, Arch Manning can run too obviously Marcel reads a dual threat, but Arch Manning had ten rushing touchdowns last year. You saw his explosive running ability in the bowl game against Michigan and your point about the playoffs. Look , winning games matters, quarter wins or not a quarterback stat, but people do tie those two together . Like Anam's offensive line was so much better than Texas last year. I thought AM had two or three running backs that were better than anybody Texas had. I mean, KC Concepcion and Mario Kraver I think are better than any receivers that Texas had last year. So look, those guys in part looked good because Marcel Reed is good , but I think if you gave Arch Manning that talent or God forbid you put Arch Manning in college station, and M ceiling is exponentially higher. And I don't think Arch Manning would have played as poorly as he did. I mean, we saw him against A and M. He didn't play as poorly as Marcel or he did. I don't think he plays as poorly in that playoff game against Miami either. So I don't want to dog make it sound like I'm dogging on Marcel two too much, but I don't think there's much debate. I think most rational college football people , I know I got a Texas hat on, would tell you that Arch Manning is the right answer to the Arch or Marcel question. Yeah, and that's a that's an important point I forgot to mention and it's pretty obvious. The head to head and I understand that it's not like it's basketball where you can quite literally go you know against the guy you're being compared to quarterbacks don't have to defend each other. We understand all that. But you talk about the head to head, Arch has the advantage there . Texas obviously the last two wins. Archmanning even scored in the in the , you know, rivalry renewal in college station , Marcel Reed did not. So there's a few things there to look at , you know, interesting points to make. And I do think that Marcel Reed is maybe more on par with a quarterback like John Matiere kind of similar, you know, both dual threat guys and I think they both have issues with decision this decision making. We saw that with John Matir obviously in the Red River rivalry last year, some really important receptions Marcel Reed against Miami , really poor throws. I don't know if it was, you know, mechanics or if he was in his head , but it was just so much different watching Marcel Reed versus watching Arch Manion at the end of last year, just night and day difference. And so if that's the most recent thing that we're going off of , the answer is Arch Manning. But of course, like you said, there's going to be some fans of college station. And I and I get it. They're going to back their guys that are still going to go to bat from Marcel Reach is what it is. You're going to back your guy and also you're not going to praise your biggest rivals guy. You know what I mean?