No. 3 Texas A&M’s game against South Carolina on Saturday wasn’t exactly circled on the calendars of many college football fans.
Heading into the game, the Aggies were 17.5-point favorites over the Gamecocks, and appeared to have only a showdown with No. 10 Texas at the end of the year standing between them and an undefeated regular season.
No one told the Gamecocks they were underdogs however, and South Carolina jumped out to an astonishing 30–3 lead heading into halftime.
Mistake after mistake undid Texas A&M. Quarterback Marcel Reed went just 6-of-19 passing in the first half, and threw two interceptions. He also had a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by the South Carolina defense.
Meanwhile, Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers, threw two dream passes that resulted in touchdowns from 50 yards and 80 yards out.
Heading into the game, the Aggies had only trailed for 31 minutes all season. Now, they enter the second half needing to erase a deficit of four touchdowns. In his interview before halftime, coach Mike Elko didn’t have much good to say about his team’s performance.
“We’ve got to find some easy throws for him,” Elko said of his quarterback Reed. “We’ve got to create separation. We’ve got to catch the football. We’ve got to be able to run the football. A lot of things we’ve got to fix.”
Making matters even more awkward was the fact that news of a massive extension for Elko, which would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football, broke just hours earlier.
Online, fans were simply stunned by the first half, with the Gamecocks—just 3-6 on the year and 1-6 in SEC play—looking absolutely dominant.
There’s still 30 minutes of football to play, but the Aggies are going to need to pull off something special if they’re to get back in this one.
