FULL PREVIEW – Texas A&M Football vs. South Carolina

Final Thoughts and Prediction on Texas A&M Football vs. South Carolina

The Aggies desperately need this win. So do the Gamecocks, in certain ways, but the fact that this is an Aggie team seeking to gain momentum for the latter half of the season rather than one who might be caught sleeping makes me lean towards the Maroon and White having an advantage here. Well, that and practically every metric pointing to this being a favorable matchup for Texas A&M football.

So how might the Aggies lose this game? Well, special teams is the first issue. When you’re coaching against a Beamer-led team, you have to be sharp in the third phase—and the Aggies have not been thus far this year. On offense for the Gamecocks, Spencer Rattler would have to connect on some long bombs, and on defense, they’d have to generate turnovers and stops in the red zone. Pretty much the same way that the other teams have beaten A&M this year. But I don’t foresee that happening, due to the disparity in talent and performance of each individual unit thus far.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens in Columbia if the Gamecocks drop to 2-6. A quick peek at the rest of their schedule reveals that 2-2 in the last four games is highly likely, as they have contests versus Jacksonville State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Clemson all left on the docket. The latter two are more so defensive stalwarts than offensive juggernauts, so a big game by the offense could be possible, and both are at home, but a loss here would have the Carolina faithful considering the imminent possibility of a 4-8 season in year 3 for Shane Beamer. That’s definitely not what was envisioned for this season, especially after how last year concluded.

I do find an Aggie win likely here, though. I think it will be exceedingly difficult for the Gamecocks to move the ball, and the ferocious Aggie pass rush will make life tough on Rattler more often than not. I think it’s very possible we see another 7 or 8 sack and double-digit TFL game out of this Aggie front, and the offense should have enough going that they can control things on that side of the ball. I’ve got this one at a 33-10 final score in favor of A&M, and I think even that score will look closer than the game will feel.