South Carolina heads back home riding real momentum, and the next test comes with Texas A&M arriving in Columbia for an SEC matchup on Saturday.
The No. 23 Gamecocks are 5-3 overall and 3-3 in conference play after a third straight win, a 42-25 road statement at Oklahoma. Texas A&M comes in at 4-4 and 1-4 in the SEC after a bye week and a 31-20 loss to Alabama in its most recent game.
Kickoff is set for Saturday, Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium, with ESPN carrying the game.
The betting market opened with South Carolina as a 6.5-point favorite over Texas A&M on DraftKings and VegasInsider.
This one also carries a notable series wrinkle. Texas A&M leads the all-time matchup 10-2, though the teams have split the last four meetings.
The Aggies pulled off a wild one last year, erasing a 30-3 halftime deficit to beat South Carolina 31-30 in College Station - the biggest comeback in Texas A&M history. The Gamecocks got the last word in Columbia in 2024, rolling to a 44-20 win behind quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who threw for 244 yards, ran for 106 and accounted for three touchdowns.
South Carolina has climbed into the AP Top 25 at No. 23 and is chasing its first four-game winning streak since 2024. The offense has been humming, too. Against Oklahoma, the Gamecocks piled up 521 total yards, their second-highest output of the season behind the 645 they posted in the opener against Kent State.
The numbers say this is a team that can move the ball in a hurry. South Carolina leads the SEC in rushing at 217.5 yards per game and ranks second in the league in total offense at 464.1 yards per game, trailing only LSU.
Sellers is at the center of it all. He delivered one of the best performances of his career against Oklahoma, throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns while adding 96 rushing yards and two scores. That made him the first USC quarterback in the last 30 years to post three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in the same game.
Over South Carolina’s last four conference games, Sellers has thrown for 1,016 yards and rushed for 359 more, with 15 total touchdowns. He ranks 12th in the FBS in total offense at 306.5 yards per game.
The defense has had its own steady contributors, and Fred “JR” Johnson is one of them. The junior linebacker has three double-digit tackle games over his last four outings.
Against Oklahoma, he finished with 11 tackles, including one for loss, plus a sack. He is second on the team with 59 tackles and also has 1.5 sacks and three quarterback hurries.
Texas A&M’s season has gone in a different direction than expected. The Aggies entered the year ranked No. 8 in the preseason AP Top 25, but they dropped back-to-back SEC games to Kentucky and LSU to open conference play.
Road games in the league have been a problem. Texas A&M has failed to score touchdowns in two of its three SEC road games, and quarterback Marcel Reed has had an uneven year.
He is completing 56% of his passes and has eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. Coach Mike Elko said he considered replacing Reed during the Alabama game, but ultimately decided Reed was the team’s best option.
The Aggies’ defense has held up better overall, allowing 18.8 points per game, though that number jumps to 26.6 in SEC play. Texas A&M has also produced only seven sacks this season.
One of the key names on the Aggies’ side is receiver Mario Craver. The preseason All-SEC first-team selection has been slowed by injuries this month and has just one 100-yard receiving game this season, which came against Kentucky.
Still, Elko said that “Craver is a guy we rely on.” Craver leads the team with 30 catches, ranks second with 286 receiving yards and is one of three Aggies with three touchdown receptions.
Kicker David Olano has been a bright spot. The Illinois transfer is ranked by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 2 kicking prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft.
Olano is perfect this season, going 26 of 26 on extra points and 13 of 13 on field goals, including three from 50 yards or longer. For his career, he is 50 of 56 on field-goal attempts.
South Carolina’s schedule has already featured a wide range of results, from a 57-0 win over Kent State on Sept. 5 to a 49-18 loss to Alabama on Sept. 26, and now the Gamecocks will try to keep the streak going against another SEC opponent.
In Other News...
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Nitro Tuggles South Carolina Absence Says Plenty About His Standing
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Now the challenge gets a little more interesting. South Carolina is set to host Texas A&M on November 7, and the Gamecocks are carrying both a rising ranking and a growing sense that this stretch could mean more than just a nice run in the standings. The question is how far this surge can carry them once the next SEC test arrives. [Read more 🡒]