This painful statistic shows exactly why Texas A&M football fell to South Carolina

Texas A&M football's loss to South Carolina is the result of this one embarrassing statistic

Texas A&M football just had a seven-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Though the Ags came in as favorites, they looked like they were far outmatched in the second half.

All this despite the fact that the Aggies nearly took a lead into the second half. Of course, they didn't—and things snowballed from there.

Part of the reason that things snowballed—and part of the reason that things were that close to begin with—was the remarkably poor play by the defensive side of the ball. The Aggies have been very strong in that piece of things this season, which is why it was just so shocking to see the defense routinely play poorly throughout the game.

This statistic from Pro Football Focus really sums up just how badly the Aggies played on defense in this one.

It's no coincidence which two games have the highest numbers there.

The missed tackles were an absolute plague for the Aggies in this game. A&M whiffed far too regularly for a team as skilled as they are, including on what would have been north of five sacks of LaNorris Sellers.

Instead, both Sellers and Rocket Sanders kept getting loose after contact for big gains on the ground. Most of Carolina's rushing yards came after contact, which showed just how different of a game this would have been had the Ags actually finished on their tackles.

The good news is that this is uncharacteristic of the A&M defense. Hopefully, the Ags can have this tightened up for the final three games of the season.