As the South Carolina faithful stormed the field, the Texas A&M fans could only look on in shock as the No. 10 Aggies fell to the Gamecocks, 44-20, at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday. Here are key takeaways from the upset.
Marcel Reed’s up-and-down performance
After coming in during the third quarter and dominating against LSU last week, redshirt freshman quarterback Marcel Reed was granted the start over redshirt sophomore QB Connor Weigman, but had a much more volatile game this time around.
Reed was able to showcase his dynamic playmaking ability when it came to running the option offense and served as an instant source of offense. His two-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jabre Barber allowed the Maroon and White to come back from a 14–0 deficit to tie it at 20 going into halftime.
The Gamecocks adjusted after the break, setting a hard edge and putting a spy on Reed to force him to stay in the pocket. Reed seemed to be out of sorts from the scheme change and the ferocious South Carolina pass rush managed to get after him.
The constant pressure led to a string of bad decisions with an interception to senior defensive back O’Donnell Fortune and a strip sack by fifth-year defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway to seal the game. Reed will have to learn to be less careless with the ball if he hopes to secure the job for the future.
“He’s getting better,” coach Mike Elko said. “He’s got to be a little bit more careful with the football, obviously. The interception on the first down, that was obviously a huge momentum swing.”
Gamecocks’ thunder-and-lightning duo
South Carolina ranks near the bottom of the SEC in total offense, but it didn’t look that way with chunk play after chunk play against the Aggies. The normally stout A&M defense looked like a fish out of water when it came to defending the pair of redshirt freshman QB LaNorris Sellers and senior running back Raheim Sanders.
Like Reed, Sellers is an option quarterback, but his large frame makes him a menace to bring down in the open field. Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains mixed in a heavy dose of designed QB runs, and Sellers seemed to always run over the first defender tasked to tackle him.
When Sellers wasn’t taking off himself, the Aggies still had a whole lot to handle when it came to containing Sanders. Usually a bruiser, Sanders managed to break for multiple long runs thanks to the tremendous blocking of the Gamecocks’ offensive line. The Maroon and White gave up a season-high 286 yards on the ground, a big reason for their loss.
“They’re big, powerful kids,” Elko said. “And if you want to tackle big, powerful kids, you have to bring your body through the tackle. And we didn’t do that tonight.”
Next man up at running back
Junior RB Le’Veon Moss has been the star of the A&M offense to start the season, leading the team in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, but he left the game on a cart and didn’t return after suffering a right knee injury in the first quarter. Junior RB Amari Daniels stepped up to take on the No. 1 role and he performed well in Moss’ stead, slipping past Gamecock defenders for a 56-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
There was fear that this could be a season-ending injury, but early reports show that this is most likely not the case. If Moss is to miss any time, expect Daniels to handle the bulk of the carries with senior EJ Smith serving as the complementary back.
“I don’t think it looks real good right now, but I don’t think it maybe looks as bad as it might have on the field,” Elko said. “Hopefully, it’s not one of those awful ones, but I do think he’ll be out for a little while.”
