After Marcel Reed was officially named the Texas A&M Aggies’ starting quarterback for the remainder of the season following a second-half meltdown against South Carolina, the freshman got another chance at a full game with Conner Weigman backing him up.

The result? A blowout victory at home over New Mexico State.

“I think we came out strong,” Reed said following the contest. “We executed where we were supposed to.”

On the evening, Reed finished with 268 yards, a pair of touchdowns, and an interception. Both Weigman and Aggies third-stringer Miles O’Neil got playing time in the second half as Texas A&M used the game to fine-tune some of its game plan.

Ironically, a 35-point margin of victory wasn’t enough to cover the spread, and all things considered, wasn’t as high as it could have been. Reed was the first to acknowledge that.

“I got sloppy in the second quarter,” he said. “I should have thrown that pick out of bounds, but you have to live with it.”

Between finding Moose Muhammad III and handling business enough to keep New Mexico State at bay, Reed played to his strengths — including a few he’s worked on over the past few weeks.

“Being able to read the defense,” Reed said of what he’s improved on. “Being a vocal leader and being able to command the offense.”

As the Aggies look ahead to their two-week conference stretch, Reed will play a big role in their success and will have to continue to step up in order to keep them tied atop the SEC.

What was on display on Saturday, however, wasn’t anything that worried him, or Mike Elko.

That was perhaps the biggest positive.

“No,” Elko said when asked if he was concerned at the win.” You go into this game wanting to handle business. You do what you have to do.”

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The Texas Longhorns squeaked out a somewhat uncomfortable win in Fayetteville over the weekend, even if starting quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for a season-low 176 on 20 out of 32 passes, including two touchdowns. And despite the commendable, albeit at times slow, performance on Ewers’ part, the college football hyper online insist on busting his chops.

Luckily, the team stands firmly behind Ewers.

That much was evidence in starting defensive back Jahdae Barron’s recent comments on Ewers.

Emphasis on the love part, at least from Ewers’ teammates, it seems.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian backed up his quarterback in his post-game comments.

“Thought he played pretty efficiently,” Sarkisian said, according to Sports Illustrated. “They were going to play it in a manner, in a style, where they were going to try to keep the ball in front of them and make us work the ball down the field. … And what a play for him there on the fourth down to kind of seal the game. So I was proud of him for that.”

Latinos, long considered a foundational component of the Democratic Party’s prospects in the Lone Star State, abandoned the progressive ship in mass during the 2024 election.

Overall, Republicans saw a 28 percent gain among Texas Latinos from 2020 to 2024.

In men, that number was 40 percent.

Republicans hope the staggering shift away from Texas Democrats is permanent.

State Rep. Mano DeAyala, R-Houston, talked with FOX 26’s Greg Groogan about the GOP’s gains.

READ MORE: What went wrong for Democrats on election night? | Texas: The Issue is

Rep. Mano DeAyala: “We’re seeing the voters coming out in droves. For the first time in modern history a Republican president has won the Hispanic vote statewide. That’s amazing.”

Greg Groogan: “That is cataclysmic for the Democrats. It’s landscape changing for Republicans. Is it a one and done? How do you hold that?”

DeAyala: “Well, that’s the concern, is this a one and done? Did the stars align in so many reasons to make this happen? Or is this a progression that we see continuing? I think it’s the latter.”

Groogan: “The Democrats presented a message heavily weighted on abortion rights and failed to defend their policy on the border, failed to defend their policy on transgender issues.”

DeAyala: “It’s this welfare state mentality. It’s this, what am I going to do for you? Not what I can help you do for yourself. It is the, let’s go focus more on those that are here undocumented than the people that are citizens and residents here and the list goes on. All of that resonates. If you have the message and the right message. The truth ultimately prevails, and I think in this election cycle it did.”

Groogan: “Folks would much prefer an environment in which they can thrive and prosper on their own, versus asking for some type of support, aid or handout from the government. Do you agree with that?”

DeAyala: “A vast majority of Texans agree with that. It’s basically when you define American exceptionalism, that’s really what it is. I look in the mirror, I don’t look to the government and that is how I’m going to have my livelihood. The government’s job is to get out of the way and let opportunity abide for us to prosper and succeed. There’s a few, and I called them the kind of the super-educated elite, that feels like they have to play the parent and say I know what’s best for you. Let me let government do this for you. That’s a Band-Aid that’s temporary and usually causes more harm than good.”

READ MORE: 2024 Presidential Election: How Texas voted by county

Groogan: “Our mutual friend Bill King met with some Mexican-American lawmakers from South Texas who felt compelled to remain in the Democratic Party for a while, but said they were tolerated. Their pro-life positions were tolerated within a party that looked down on them because of that. Do you think this opens up an opportunity that [Rep.] Ryan Guillen took?”

DeAyala: “Ryan Guillen didn’t leave his party necessarily, his party left him. And you hear that over and over, you have [Houston State Rep.] Shawn Thierry, who left the Democrat Party and other. What you’re seeing here are are Democrats, especially in South Texas, in the valley, that say, you know what, I align more with the Republican Party, you’re not seeing it the other way around.”

Groogan: “Are Latinos in Texas just tired of waiting?”

DeAyala: “If we as a party do not capitalize on these gains that we had this last cycle, and I don’t mean next election cycle, I mean tomorrow. If we don’t continue to build on that, shame on us.”

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