Post Game Review: No. 3 Texas A&M 31, South Carolina 30

After 35 days away, 108,582 packed into Kyle Field to see Texas A&M’s highly anticipated return home.

Emotions ranged from excitement to despair back to pure elation as No. 3 Texas A&M pulled off the craziest comebacks ever seen in the history of college football, beating South Carolina, 31-30.

Now 10-0, the invincible Aggies never rolled over, but it didn’t come without a wild ride.

South Carolina’s opening effort kicked off an action-packed opening stanza, marching right into A&M territory with a rush-heavy drive. On third down, Cashius Howell almost intercepted LaNorris Sellers, forcing the Gamecocks to settle for a 36-yard field goal.

Nate Boerkircher got the offense going with a gain of 19 before a 43-yard bomb to KC Concepcion woke up Kyle Field like a shot of espresso. From there, A&M sputtered inside the red zone, tying things up with a 40-yard field goal from Randy Bond.

Howell’s presence continued to haunt LaNorris Sellers, breaking up back-to-back passes until LaNorris Sellers found his brother, Jayden, to move the chains. A chop block call wiped away the quarterback’s 20-yard keeper, but they quickly made up the distance and more with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Vandrevius Jacobs.

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LaNorris Sellers passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns, but he was sacked four times by the Aggie pass rush.

Concecpion continued to shine, snagging a short slant pass from Marcel Reed and turning into into a 40-yard play. Another short-circuited trip inside South Carolina territory sent out the field goal team, where Bond missed a 45-yarder.

With the help of two negative plays from the Aggie defense, the Gamecocks stayed on their own side of the field. Yet, the worst-case scenario became reality for the A&M offense. As Dylan Stewart sacked Reed, the ball was thrown backward, and Nick Barrett picked it up and ran it for a touchdown to end the first.

The embarrassment continued as the Aggies went three-and-out on their ensuing possession. The Gamecocks drove 66 yards and put more points on the board with a 41-yard field goal.

A tipped pass, a 2-yard run and a dropped pass were all A&M’s lifeless offense could muster up. Luckily, the Gamecocks handed it right back with their own uninspiring possession.

Reed appeared to look extremely rattled as nothing was going the Aggies’ way. The quarterback completed just one pass — and nearly had two picked off — before the home squad punted again.

Dalton Brooks provided an incredibly needed spark, intercepting LaNorris Sellers and returning it 39 yards to the 6-yard line. Yet, the offense could not gain a single yard, sending out Bond & Co. to kick a field goal. Bad turned to worse as Bond missed the 24-yarder.

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After impacting last week’s win at Mizzou, Dalton Brooks intercepted a pass and pressured LaNorris Sellers multiple times.

After a 24-yard pass to Rueben Owens II, Reed threw a pass right to South Carolina’s Vicari Swain. Horror heightened when LaNorris Sellers hit Nyck Harbor for an 80-yard touchdown.

Down 27-3 in their own building, A&M’s struggles stacked. Reed threw another interception, and South Carolina turned it into points as Joyce knocked through another field goal, 30-3.

Needing a fourth down conversion to do so, A&M finally found the end zone on their first drive out of halftime. Just after Reed moved the chains with his legs, he threw to Izaiah Williams for his first touchdown catch of his career.

Conversely, South Carolina failed to convert on fourth down at A&M’s 30. 

It took another fourth-down conversion for A&M to continue to chip away. A 11-yard pass to Terry Bussey moved the sticks, setting up a 39-yard touchdown pass to Ashton Bethel-Roman.

A three-and-out from South Carolina is just what the doctor ordered, so was a 76-yard explosive play from Bethel-Roman.

The redshirt freshman receiver sped away to place the Aggies inside the redzone. A play later, Nate Boerkircher caught a pass and powered his way into the end zone.

Polar opposite to the first half, A&M’s defense kept getting stops, and A&M’s offense kept finding answers. Backed up at their own 1, the Aggies moved right along with three chunk plays as Reed surpassed his career-high in passing yards. Concepcion’s 31-yard snag thrust A&M near the goalline, and EJ Smith capped off the march for a 4-yard scoring run to put A&M up 31-30.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

EJ Smith’s fourth-quarter (and game-winning) touchdown was the seventh of his collegiate career.

Momemtum remained with the Aggies as back-to-back sacks sent South Carolina’s offense off the field rather quickly. A&M proceeded to drive the ball 38 yards but fumbled right outside the end zone on third down.

On fourth down, LaNorris Sellers completed an 18-yard pass to Harbor. South Carolina’s late pursuit continued, but the Aggie pass rush stood tall. The nation’s most-sacked quarterback, the Gamecock signal-caller was dropped twice on second and third down before scrambling for far too little on fourth down.

As Reed took a knee, the Aggies clinched their first 10-win season since 2012.

RUMBLED: What a comeback. For sure, the greatest by a Southeastern Conference team in 20-plus years. Since 2004, teams were 0-286 in SEC play when trailing by 27 points or more. The lone exception? The 2025 Aggies. A&M put up 28 unanswered to secure its 10th win and likely a spot in the College Football Playoff.

STUMBLED: The first half was far and away the worst of the year. After South Carolina’s second touchdown of the day came from a costly mistake by the A&M offense, the Aggies only gained 26 yards on the next four possessions. Brooks came up big with a huge turnover, which led to no points because of a Bond miss. As if the flames couldn’t get higher, Reed threw interceptions on back-to-back possessions, and South Carolina took a 27-point lead into halftime.

TURNING POINT: Trailing 30-3 at the half, it was going to take near perfection for the Aggies to make up the deficit. In the third quarter, the Aggies’ offense posted 21 unanswered, and the defense held LaNorris Sellers & Co. quiet. Taking the lead in the fourth, it was the third-quarter efforts that propelled the Aggies to victory.

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How about those Mike Elko second-half adjustments?

UNSUNG HERO: Izaiah Williams made the most of his opportunity. The redshirt freshman wide receiver hauled in three catches for 50 yards, including a third-quarter touchdown that jump-started A&M’s tremendous comeback.

KEY STAT: When they needed them most, the undefeated Aggies put up 372 yards in the third quarter and three scores to leave the Gamecocks stunned. Erasing a 27-point hole, it represents the largest comeback victory in school history.

Scoring Summary

First-quarter

SC: 11:10 - William Joyce 32-yard field goal. Drive: 10 plays, 57 yards. TOP 3:50. South Carolina 3, Texas A&M 0

A&M: 7:55 - Randy Bond 40-yard field goal. Drive: 7 plays, 52 yards. TOP 3:15. Texas A&M 3, South Carolina 3

SC: 5:28 - LaNorris Sellers 50-yard touchdown pass to Vandrevius Jacobs. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards. TOP 2:26. South Carolina 10, Texas A&M 3

SC: 0:00 - Nick Barrett 17-yard fumble recovery. South Carolina 17, Texas A&M 3

Second-quarter

SC: 9:32 - William Joyce 41-yard field goal. Drive: 8 plays, 66 yards. TOP 4:05. South Carolina 20, Texas A&M 3

SC: 0:53 - LaNorris Sellers 80-yard touchdown pass to Nyck Harbor. Drive: 1 play, 80 yards. TOP 0:13. South Carolina 27, Texas A&M 3

SC: 0:02 - William Joyce 35-yard field goal. Drive: 3 plays, 6 yards. TOP 0:31. South Carolina 30, Texas A&M 3

Third-quarter

A&M: 11:26 - Marcel Reed 27-yard touchdown pass to Izaiah Williams. Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards. TOP 3:28. South Carolina 30, Texas A&M 10

A&M: 4:18 - Marcel Reed 39-yard touchdown pass to Ashton Bethel-Roman. Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards. TOP 2:55. South Carolina 30, Texas A&M 17

A&M: 2:04 - Marcel Reed 14-yard touchdown pass to Nate Boerkircher. Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards. TOP 0:38. South Carolina 30, Texas A&M 24

Fourth-quarter

A&M: 10:47 - EJ Smith 4-yard rushing touchdown. Drive: 10 plays, 99 yards. TOP 4:13. Texas A&M 31, South Carolina 30