Texas A&M heads to South Carolina in Week 10 with a tough assignment waiting in Columbia, where the No. 21 Gamecocks have turned into one of college football’s hottest teams.
This is a much different South Carolina group than the one the Aggies saw in College Station last season. The Gamecocks are 5-3 overall and 3-3 in SEC play, and they’re riding three straight conference wins over then-ranked No.
16 Florida, No. 11 Tennessee and Oklahoma.
Those victories over Florida and Tennessee gave South Carolina its third set of consecutive top-25 wins under Shane Beamer.
A lot of that surge has come from senior quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who turned in his fifth career 300-plus-yard passing game against Oklahoma in Week 9. Texas A&M’s defense showed some life in the 31-20 loss to No.
13 Alabama, picking off two passes and matching its season high with two sacks, but slowing South Carolina’s offense is a much bigger challenge. The Gamecocks enter Saturday ranked No. 2 in the SEC on that side of the ball.
For the Aggies, the road to an upset starts with Sellers.
Sellers has been rolling through October, throwing for more than 200 yards in every game and posting a season-best 301 yards in South Carolina’s 42-25 win at Oklahoma. He’s also added back-to-back games with 90-plus rushing yards, a reminder of how dangerous he is when plays break down and when he decides to take off himself. At 6-foot-3 and 238 pounds, he brings the kind of size and power that can wear on a defense.
Texas A&M’s defensive line has to make him uncomfortable. Pressure is the key.
If the Aggies can collapse the pocket and force hurried decisions, they can create chances for the secondary, especially with Sellers tied for second in the SEC with seven interceptions. Lyle Hemphill’s group needs physical tackling up front and a pass rush that keeps Sellers from settling in.
The matchup on the other side of the line is just as demanding for Texas A&M.
South Carolina edge rusher Dylan Stewart is one of the most feared pass rushers in the country. Since Beamer benched him after the Gamecocks’ Week 9 loss to Alabama, Stewart has put up seven solo tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, his speed and power have made him the leader of the 2027 NFL Draft class in pass rush efficiency.
That means Texas A&M’s offensive line has to hold up, because the Aggies can’t afford to let Stewart wreck the pocket against Marcel Reed or Brady Hart.
And then there’s the quarterback situation in College Station, which has become its own storyline. Reed is tied for first in the conference with eight interceptions, and the issues have come from shaky decision-making and inconsistency in the short passing game. That has fueled calls from Aggie fans for a change to the backup sophomore.
The formula is simple enough: offenses only go as far as the quarterback can carry them. If Reed doesn’t sharpen his reads and deliver the ball more accurately to Texas A&M’s group of wide receivers, the Aggies could be in for a long afternoon.
In Other News...
Mike Elko Just Framed Texas A&Ms Final Four Games Differently
Mike Elko spent his weekly media availability doing what plenty of coaches eventually have to do in a season like this, confronting the gap between expectation and reality. Texas A&M entered the year with bigger hopes than a 4-4 record and a 1-4 mark in SEC play, and Elko acknowledged the Aggies have not lived up to those preseason standards as the offense and defense have both struggled to find consistency.
Even with the disappointment hanging over the season, Elko pushed the focus toward what comes next, stressing that there is still plenty on the line in the final stretch. Marcel Reeds regression at quarterback has been part of the problem, but the larger question for A&M is whether the team can turn the last four games into something more than damage control. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Heads To South Carolina With Two Key Pieces In Doubt
Texas A&M heads into Saturdays trip to South Carolina with a little more uncertainty than it would like this late in the week. Running back KJ Edwards and linebacker Noah Mikhail were both listed as questionable on the SECs initial availability report, adding some intrigue to a matchup that kicks off at 2 p.m. CT in Columbia and will be shown on ESPN.
The Aggies also already know they will be without three other players because of injuries, so the availability picture is not exactly settling in their favor. For a team trying to manage the grind of the SEC schedule, the status of Edwards and Mikhail matters on both sides of the ball, and the next update will tell a lot about how Texas A&M plans to handle this one. [Read more 🡒]
South Carolina Could Hit Texas A&M With A Bigger Loss Saturday
With Texas A&M and South Carolina set to meet this weekend, the recruiting subplot around Frederick Ards III adds another layer to a game that already has plenty of attention. The four-star edge rusher has been committed to the Aggies, but his recent visit to South Carolina has put him squarely in the middle of a familiar late-cycle tug-of-war between SEC programs.
Ards is one of the more highly regarded 2027 prospects in the country, and his offer sheet reflects how many major programs are still chasing him. South Carolina is reportedly trying to get him to rethink his commitment, which means this matchup could carry some off-field significance for Texas A&M beyond the scoreboard and the usual conference stakes. [Read more 🡒]