Texas A&M football will leave 2024 with a sour taste following their collapse against USC in the Las Vegas Bowl.
All the momentum after the 24-7 Aggie lead just shifted in USC's favor, and it seemed like the Aggie defense had no answer for Jayden Maiava.
There's plenty of blame to go around here. There are a lot of reasons that the Aggies ended up falling in the end— and some players in particular that contributed to that fall.
Even so, there are still some positives to take away. Some players played up to their potential and could have delivered the game if things had broken slightly differently.
Here are two players that flourished and three that faded in the game.
Faded: Dezz Ricks
It seemed like the razor-thin secondary caught up with the Aggies last night.
Dezz Ricks left too much space to Trojan receivers in the second half, helping their USC comeback dream come true. He was in coverage when Kyle Ford caught the game-winning touchdown pass.
He was unable to deal with the imposing Ja'Kobi Lane in the second half. The physicality looked like it was too much for a guy who should be in his first year out of high school.
The secondary for the Aggies was going to be watched all night, but they collapsed at the worst time. It seemed like Ricks unfortunately was the biggest piece of that.