Post Game Review: South Carolina 44, No. 10 Texas A&M 20

On Saturday night in Columbia, No. 10 Texas A&M dropped its first Southeastern Conference game of the year to South Carolina, 44-20.

Mike Elko’s defense took the field to open the contest. LaNorris Sellers attempted to air it out to open up the ball game, and a 20-yard completion on second down propelled the Gamecocks forward. After moving across midfield, South Carolina running back Raheim Sanders converted on fourth down, and a plethora of missed tackles allowed LaNorris Sellers to take it in himself for an opening-drive touchdown, 7-0.

In his fourth start in his collegiate career, Elko handed the reins to redshirt freshman QB Marcel Reed. A pair of carries from Le’Veon Moss kicked off the initial march, where the Aggies’ found themselves in a fourth-and-1 situation. Electing to go for it, Reed held on it it, coming up just short of the line to gain and resulting in a turnover on downs.

Taking over on A&M’s 34-yard line, an offsides penalty gifted the Gamecocks another five yards, and a play later, Sellers found Joshua Simon in the endzone to give South Carolina a 14-0 advantage with 8:24 left in the first quarter.

Reed’s first completion of the day was a 20-yard gain to Moss, who caught it in the flat and scampered down the sideline, receiving a massive blow to his right knee. He was helped off the field shortly after and did not return. The Aggies progressed into Gamecock territory for the first time, courtesy of Amari Daniels, but settled for a Randy Bond 52-yard field goal to get them on the board, 14-3.

A&M’s tackling woes continued as Sellers found the Gamecocks’ initial first down; however, the ags quickly recovered and forced a three-and-out. A&M’s next drive backed up inside their own 12 saw an incomplete shot downfield, a Terry Bussey fumble recovered by Bussey and a 6-yard keeper from Reed. Tyler White punted it away, placing it on South Carolina’s 47-yard line.

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LaNorris Sellers was not sacked once on Saturday. A&M was credited with just one quarterback hurry.

A&M’s defense provided a spark as Will Lee III punched out a reception from Sanders, and the ball fell into BJ Mayes’ hands, in the perfect position to grab ahold of the fumble. Back-to-back 10-plus yard passes to Jabre Barber provided some life to the passing game. That continued as Cyrus Allen hauled in a 22-yard reception, but the offense sputtered again. Bond kicked a 55-yarder right down the middle, 14-6.

South Carolina pounded the ground game against the Ags as Sellers, Sanders and Oscar Adaway III used their feet to power past the Ags and right into the redzone. A&M’s defense stepped up, holding the Gamecocks to a 25-yard field goal and looking for a response from the other side of the ball.

They received just that.

An electric 56-yard touchdown rush from Amari Daniels gave the Aggies the answer they were looking for.

The Gamecocks tried to punch right back, beginning with a 27-yard rush from Adaway, but the Aggie defense made some noise, literally. Shemar Stewart’s massive takedown forced an incompletion, and Lee lit up Jared Brown to prevent a first down. On fourth-and-2, a Jaydon Hill PBU gave the ball back to the visiting squad.

Reed connected with Barber and Tre Watson to move the sticks and weaved his way for a pickup of 20. Facing third-and-1, Reed threw incomplete to Noah Thomas, and going for it on fourth down, Daniels bulldozed through the trenches to give A&M a new set of downs on South Carolina’s 7-yard line. On second down, Reed hit Barber, as he leaped to grab the two-yard touchdown pass, giving the Aggies their first lead, 20-17.

With 1:08 remaining in the half, a roughing the passer call, 10-yard pass and pickup of nine put South Carolina inside A&M’s 40. A holding call against Mayes negated a fumble recovered by Cashius Howell, and the Gamecocks kicked a 44-yard field goal to tie things up at 20 a piece at the half.

Failing to click on A&M’s first offensive drive of the half, South Carolina continued to rumble on the ground. Sanders strutted 52 yards in the end zone to steal back the Gamecocks’ lead.

After a four-yard rush by Daniels, Allen’s reception was barely short of the line to gain. Daniels could not make his way past, resulting in a momentum-shifting turnover-on-downs. Yet, some of that was shifted back to A&M’s sideline when the Gamecocks were held to a field goal.

A lackluster offensive drive for A&M followed, going three-and-out and searching for some kind of identity to move the sticks.

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Amari Daniels led the A&M ground attack with 83 yards. Fiftty-six of those came on one carry. On his other 12 totes, he averaged just 2.25 yards.

What appeared to be a quick stop by A&M’s defense quickly turned on its head as a holding call gifted the Gamecocks 10 yards. The Aggies stood firm on the next few downs, forcing the home squad to give the ball right back.

Reed began to find his receivers downhill with consecutive 13-plus yard gains to Allen and Barber as the third quarter ticked away. Yet, Reed’s first career turnover was costly. The quarterback was intercepted by Fortune O’Donnell, who, at first, returned it for a touchdown but, in reality, stepped up on the Gamecock 16-yard line. Simon’s 40-yard reception vaulted South Carolina across midfield. Yet, nothing came from the possession.

Back with the ball, on a crucial third down, A&M failed to punch it across the line to gain with 11:47 to go. A 36-yard deep ball was all South Carolina’s offense could muster up, punting it away, giving the Aggies a massive opportunity beginning on their 11-yard line.

Back-to-back-to-back first downs began to chip away at the yardage ahead as A&M sped things up, but the Gamecocks’ pass rush suffocated the drive as the Aggies’ chances of victory shrunk tremendously.

After South Carolina constructed yet another touchdown drive, the Aggies turned the ball over once again as Reed fumbled, and USC’s Kyle Kennard was there to fall on it.

Two plays later, Sanders ran it to the house for his second score of the day. The Aggies ran the ball to expire the clock and enter the bye week with a loss.

RUMBLED: Give credit where credit is due. Before Saturday’s matchup, A&M, on average up 104.5 rushing yards per game. South Carolina punished A&M on the ground, rushing for a gaudy 286 yards. With the attack led by Raheim Sanders, mobile quarterback LaNorris Sellers followed suit. The duo recorded 144 and 106, respectively, and scored a trio of touchdowns on the ground.

STUMBLED: Texas A&M could not capitalize on late downs. The Aggies went 4-for-15 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down. The lack of conversions and extremely poor tackling haunted A&M all night. In addition, the Aggies gave up seven passing plays of 15-plus and eight rushing plays of over 10-plus.

TURNING POINT: With 12:44 and 8:44 left in the fourth, A&M had two golden opportunities to silence the Williams-Brice Stadium crowd and pull within one score. A&M’s attempt to strike was a drive with one positive yardage play, and after finding a groove through the air, the Aggies gave up two sacks to kill any chance of constructing a comeback.

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Going 2-for-2 on the night, Randy Bond is now 16-for-18 on the year with a new long of 55 yards.

UNSUNG HERO: Without Randy Bond’s lengthy field goals in the first quarter, this one would not have been within reach in the fourth quarter. Bond’s 52- and 55-yarders added six when the rest of the offense could only put up 14. In addition, Bond has been ultra-reliable in 2024, making 14-of-16 field goals this season.

KEY STAT: Texas A&M lost the penalty battle (7-68, 3-25), turnover battle (2-1) and big play battle. In front of a rowdy crowd in Columbia, South Carolina simply outplayed the Aggies.

Scoring Summary

First-quarter

SC: 10:46 - LaNorris Sellers 23-yard rushing touchdown. Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards. TOP: 4:14. South Carolina 7, Texas A&M 0

SC: 8:24 - LaNorris Sellers 15-yard passing touchdown to Joshua Simon. Drive: 2 plays, 34 yards. TOP: 0:47. South Carolina 14, Texas A&M 0

A&M: 5:15 - Randy Bond 52-yard field goal. Drive: 7 plays, 41 yards. TOP: 3:09. South Carolina 14, Texas A&M 3

Second-quarter

A&M: 13:12 - Randy Bond 55-yard field goal. Drive: 8 plays, 42 yards. TOP: 2:46. South Carolina 14, Texas A&M 6

SC: 8:45 - Alex Herrera 25-yard field goal. Drive: 10 plays, 68 yards. TOP: 4:27. South Carolina 17, Texas A&M 6

A&M: 7:29 - Amari Daniels 56-yard rushing touchdown. Drive: 3 plays, 65 yards. TOP: 1:16. South Carolina 17, Texas A&M 13

A&M: 1:08 - Marcel Reed 2-yard passing touchdown to Jabre Baber. Drive: 10 plays, 60 yards. TOP: 4:30. Texas A&M 20, South Carolina 17

SC: 0:02 - Alex Herrera 44-yard field goal. Drive: 6 plays, 49 yards. TOP: 1:06. Texas A&M 20, South Carolina 20

Third-quarter

SC: 9:19 - Rahiem Sanders 56-yard rushing touchdown. Drive: 5 plays, 83 yards. TOP: 2:16. South Carolina 27, Texas A&M 20

SC: 6:50 - Alex Herrera 43-yard field goal. Drive: 4 plays, 6 yards. TOP: 0:50. South Carolina 30, Texas A&M 20

Fourth-quarter

SC: 3:24 - LaNorris Sellers 57-yard passing touchdown to Joshua Simon. Drive: 5 plays, 85 yards. TOP: 1:48. South Carolina 37, Texas A&M 20

SC: 2:22 - Rahiem Sanders 7-yard rushing touchdown. Drive: 2 plays, 13 yards. TOP: 0:53. South Carolina 44, Texas A&M 20