Positional Matchups: Texas A&M Football vs. South Carolina

Texas A&M Football vs. South Carolina: Aggie Pass Game vs. Gamecock Pass Defense

The Aggie passing game, outside of the scripts that Bobby Petrino has whipped up for the first drive of each game, has really struggled over the past two weeks. Part of that has been Max Johnson struggling to hit his reads downfield, and part of it has been the inability of the offense to consistently stay ahead of the chains. It feels like a bit of a cop-out to say the success of the passing offense will hinge on the success of the passing defense, but in this case, it is true. When it comes to man-to-man defense, though, the Gamecocks just don’t have anyone who can cover the big Aggie receivers. If Max feels confident enough to pull the trigger when he needs to, then the Maroon and White will have success. That said, even though this isn’t a great defense, I can’t put my full confidence in the Aggies given what they’ve shown me so far with Max.

Advantage Score: Aggies by 1

Texas A&M Football vs. South Carolina: Aggie Run Game vs. Gamecock Run Defense

A&M hasn’t found a huge amount of success on the ground this season, and particularly in the last two games. Those last two games were against the two best rush defenses they’ll see this year, though, and South Carolina hasn’t shown near the same aptitude against opposing ground games as either Alabama or Tennessee thus far. Combined with the fact that this game will be at home, I have to lean towards A&M here—though, as before, I can’t go all out due to the fact that I just haven’t seen it in action from the Aggies yet, even if I know the potential is there.

Advantage Score: Aggies by 3

Texas A&M Football vs. South Carolina: Aggie OL vs. Gamecock Pass Rush

The Gamecocks are not a team that creates very much pressure against opposing quarterbacks. The Aggies allow a lot of pressure, but have been decent at preventing sacks, which speaks to both Conner and Max’s ability to not take those deleterious plays. Conner dealt better with pressure overall than Max does, though, and Max sometimes brings it on himself by just holding the ball way too long. With that in mind, though, I still think it’s very realistic that Texas A&M football gets out of this one without allowing a sack, just as they did against Arkansas (who is more than decent at getting to the QB).

Advantage Score: Aggies by 3