It was a night in Columbia, SC they won’t soon forget.
The South Carolina Gamecocks came into Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday night and delivered a stunning 44-20 win over the No. 10 Texas A&M Aggies. The loss saw the Aggies' undefeated run in the SEC come to a sudden halt. Texas A&M arrived with confidence, hoping to secure their dominance atop the SEC standings, but the Gamecocks had other plans from the start.
South Carolina wasted no time, surging to a quick 14-0 lead with back-to-back scoring drives. The early setback was compounded when Texas A&M’s star running back, Le'Veon Moss, left the game with an injury that could sideline him for the remainder of the season, but we have no updates on his status at this time.
In his absence, the Aggies found some rhythm in the second quarter, led by new starting quarterback Marcel Reed, whose performance helped Texas A&M rally to tie the game at 20 heading into halftime.
The momentum, however, would not last. South Carolina regrouped after the break, shutting down Texas A&M’s offense and limiting them to just 81 total yards in the third quarter. The Gamecocks seized control, adding 10 points to their score while keeping the Aggies from mounting any significant response.
Amari Daniels stepped up in Moss’s absence, tallying 83 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Reed finished with 206 passing yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Yet, their efforts weren’t enough to overcome South Carolina’s impressive 530 yards of total offense, led by running back Raheim Sanders, who racked up 144 rushing yards and two touchdowns of his own.
With the loss, Texas A&M now heads into a bye week, hoping to regroup before facing New Mexico State on November 16. The Aggies' loss also makes things very interesting in the SEC standings, which now sees five teams with one loss in conference play.
South Carolina (now 5-3, 3-3) will travel to Vanderbilt and then host Missouri. Then, the Gamecocks will finish out the season with Wofford at home and then travel to Clemson.