Texas A&M football has won three straight and faces South Carolina in a Week 5 tilt. Here’s why the Aggies are a lock to beat the Gamecocks and move to 4-1.
Rather than start 5-0 and crumble after September had finished the Aggies opted to get their first loss out of the way early in 2017. Since their Week 1 loss to UCLA the Aggies are a perfect 3-0, albeit with wins in some very imperfect manners. Still it’s the boxscore that counts, not how they got there.
South Carolina comes into this game also 3-1, but with a decidedly different narrative. Kevin Sumlin needs this win to cool his seat down. That’s going to be true of every game the Aggies play under Sumlin for the rest of the year, but it’s particularly true against an opponent that Texas A&M should beat with relative ease.
Texas A&M is a home favorite over South Carolina. Here’s why the oddsmakers have it right and five reasons the Aggies will dispatch of the Gamecocks and move to 4-1.
1. Health
South Carolina has a fairly deep receiving corps, but they haven’t recovered from the loss of Deebo Samuel. That was painfully obvious last weekend. South Carolina trailed Louisiana Tech 13-0 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It would take a 31-yard field goal with time ticking off the clock for the Gamecocks to sneak away with the victory.
The Aggies are, of course, without the services of quarterback Nick Starkel. However, his season ending injury happened on opening night, and Texas A&M has adjusted their offense accordingly. It was a painful process to get there, as evidenced by the games against Nicholls State and Louisiana-Lafayette, but the Aggie offense has arrived to a steady state. That’s more than can be said for South Carolina.