Reacting to Texas A&M Football 2024 Schedule Reveal: Breakdown and Preview

November 2, 2024: Texas A&M Football @ South Carolina Gamecocks

Yet another edition of this bitterly-contested rivalry will return in 2024, as the Aggies return to the site of what happened two years ago: their first defeat at the hands of the Gamecocks since joining the SEC in 2012.

Many remember the first ever game between these two squads: the kickoff for the SEC Network and the college football season, August 28, 2014. A top-10 Carolina squad that would end the year 7-6 and Independence Bowl champions was shellacked by a 21st-ranked Aggie team that would end the year 8-5 after a Liberty Bowl win over West Virginia.

It seemed monumental at the time.

Since then, this has largely been a record of either close calls by the Aggies or name-your-score affairs at the expense of the oft-downtrodden Gamecocks. Texas A&M football stomped Carolina, 48-3, in 2020 and put up 44 points unanswered in 2021 before allowing a couple of late TDs to the Gamecock backups.

2022, however, was a different story. After a narrow loss in Tuscaloosa and a bye week, the 3-3 Aggies gave up a kickoff return touchdown to Xavier Legette and ended up losing by 6 in Columbia. This was a huge moment for the Gamecock program, and a real lowlight for Texas A&M football.

The fact that in 2024 this is the second road game in 3 weeks should be noted, especially when the road environs are that of Starkville and Columbia: both underrated and highly rowdy scenes. This is a sneaky game for the Aggies; though the Gamecocks will be without Spencer Rattler, true freshman LaNorris Sellers showcased some serious skills in mop-up duty this year. With the aid of former five-star and athletic freak Nyck Harbor at wideout, and some big time reinforcements in the trenches coming in for the Gamecocks, the Aggies will need to stay frosty ahead of this game.