Texas A&M Football: 3 Takeaways from the Loss to South Carolina

A&M’s defense is doing its part

For all the problems on the offensive side, the defense has really performed admirably this year, given what they’ve had to deal with injury-wise.  That trend continued on Saturday, with the defense posting some good numbers, both in traditional and advanced stats.  In fact, they did more than enough to give the offense a chance, turning over South Carolina twice in the game.

South Carolina finished with under 300 yards offensively (some of that, of course, due to short fields and a special teams touchdown).  However, they only gained 6.7 yards per pass attempt (86.2% of their average) and 3.4 yards per carry (81.6% of their average).

The Aggies did a good job of making the Gamecocks very inefficient, as well: success rate, an efficiency metric that accounts for down and distance (meaning you gain 50% of the yardage required to convert on 1st down, 70% on 2nd down, or 100% on 3rd and 4th) also painted a favorable picture for the Aggies.  Only 38% of South Carolina’s plays were successful in the game, their third-lowest mark of the year, as they average 43%.

Those are encouraging numbers, but the defense broke at some inopportune moments, giving up a long touchdown drive that put the game out of reach right at the end.  However, they should never have been in that position, as, once again, the offense did nothing but sputter for most of their drives.  The Aggies will need their defense in peak form next week as they go up against the potent rushing attack of Ole Miss.