Texas A&M heads into Saturday’s trip to South Carolina with a couple of major names still in limbo, and that’s not exactly what the Aggies wanted coming out of the bye week.
Running back KJ Edwards and linebacker Noah Mikhail were both tagged as questionable on the SEC’s initial availability report Wednesday evening. Texas A&M has already ruled out three other players, while South Carolina is dealing with a longer injury list of its own.
The Aggies’ status report looks like this:
Out: WR Terry Bussey, WR Kelshaun Johnson, OL Blake Ivy
Questionable: RB KJ Edwards, LB Noah Mikhail
Edwards is the biggest offensive question mark. The freshman has been Texas A&M’s leading rusher with 360 yards and two touchdowns, and he’s averaging 6.5 yards per carry.
But he was hurt in the Aggies’ 31-20 loss to Alabama on Oct. 24, and his workload dropped sharply after that. Mike Elko said after the game that Edwards had been leg-whipped in the first half and had trouble getting back to full strength.
He finished with only three carries for 6 yards after a strong opening quarter.
Mikhail’s situation matters just as much on the other side of the ball. The sophomore linebacker has 36 tackles in seven games, including six against Alabama, and he’d be a key piece in trying to slow South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
That’s no small assignment. The Gamecocks lead the SEC with 217.5 rushing yards per game, and Sellers has piled up 603 rushing yards and six touchdowns. If Mikhail can’t go, Texas A&M’s defense will have even more to manage in a matchup that already asks plenty of it.
Bussey, Johnson and Ivy are all out with season-ending injuries, and all three were also unavailable against Alabama. Johnson is still sidelined, while Bussey and Ivy have already been shut down for the year.
South Carolina comes in at 5-3 and has won three straight, with victories over Florida and Tennessee among them. Texas A&M has dropped four of its first five SEC games and still needs two more wins to become bowl eligible. Another loss would tighten the margin for error even further.
The last time the Aggies played at Williams-Brice Stadium, they came away with a 44-20 defeat in 2024. A win this time would give Elko’s team its first road victory of the season and a chance to make the final month look a lot better than the first two.
Texas A&M and No. 21 South Carolina kick off at 2 p.m.
CT Saturday in Columbia. ESPN will carry the game, with Roy Philpott, Brock Osweiler and Stormy Buonantony on the broadcast.
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Jabree Coleman, Christian Clark and Isaiah Augustave handled the load in Fullers absence, giving the staff some immediate answers as the group prepares for what comes next. Fuller has still been around the program, attending team meetings and practices as a spectator, but the bigger question now is how South Carolina sustains that backfield production over the next stretch without one of its more reliable options. [Read more 🡒]