Texas A&M spent Saturday on a bye, but the Aggies still got a clearer picture of what the stretch run might look like after watching a couple of future opponents take the field.
The biggest result came in Norman, where South Carolina walked into Oklahoma and left with a 42-25 win that turned plenty of assumptions upside down. The Sooners had been trending the right way after beating Mississippi State in Starkville, and they were coming off the win over Texas as well, which helped explain why they were favored. None of that mattered once Shane Beamer’s team got rolling.
For Texas A&M, that result changes the outlook on the trip to Columbia in a major way. The Aggies head there this coming weekend, and South Carolina now looks like a team carrying real momentum into that matchup. LaNorris Sellers and company are coming off a statement performance, while A&M is still trying to find some of its own rhythm.
The Gamecocks’ showing also made one thing pretty clear: this is not the same South Carolina team that was showing up earlier in the season. That matters because the Aggies are heading straight into that environment, and the road game now looks like a much tougher assignment than it may have seemed before Saturday.
The matchup itself doesn’t help Texas A&M much, either. South Carolina’s pass rush, led by Dylan Stewart and freshman Julian Walker, looks capable of creating real problems for Marcel Reed, especially with Aggie tackles having had issues in pass protection at times. The concern is obvious after what LSU did to A&M in Death Valley.
On the flip side, the Oklahoma result gives Texas A&M a reason to feel better about what comes next after Columbia. Brent Venables didn’t hide his frustration after the game, saying there was a lack of effort from his defense, and that’s the kind of thing the Aggies can try to exploit.
Normally, Oklahoma’s defense would be the part of the schedule that jumps off the page at Texas A&M fans. But South Carolina’s ability to carve it up Saturday should give the Aggies some confidence heading into that trip to Norman. It’s also an early kickoff, which removes the night-game wrinkle from the equation.
The Sooners’ collapse was the most points they’ve given up all season, even more than when they played Georgia, and it left A&M with a much more favorable view of that matchup. In other words, the Aggies may have come out of the bye with one game looking like a loss and another looking more winnable than before.
That lines up with the prediction I laid out before Saturday’s games, when I had Texas A&M losing in Columbia and beating Oklahoma. After this weekend, that outlook feels even stronger. But, as always, the games still have to be played.
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Texas A&M Road Struggles Keep Putting Mike Elko Under Pressure
Texas A&Ms uneven season has left Mike Elko trying to steady a team that has not found much traction away from home. The Aggies sit at 4-4 overall and 1-4 in SEC play after the loss to Alabama in Week 8, and the road results have been especially hard to ignore after lopsided defeats at LSU, Missouri and Alabama.
Elko has kept backing senior quarterback Marcel Reed despite the questions around his play, while also leaning on first-year offensive and defensive play-callers Holmon Wiggins and Lyle Hemphill to help sort out the issues. With the schedule turning and the margin for error shrinking, Texas A&M still has to prove it can travel better before the pressure around this staff eases. [Read more 🡒]