In the Gospel of John, Jesus of Nazareth famously raised Lazarus of Bethany — the brother of the Biblical sisters Mary and Martha — from the dead after he spent four days in the grave. In certain denominations, Lazarus is venerated as “the Four-Days Dead.”
If Lazarus is known as the Four-Days Dead, then call No. 3 Texas A&M football the first-half dead.
After going down 30-3 at halftime, the Aggies unleashed a resurrection of biblical proportions as they scored 28 unanswered points to defeat the South Carolina Gamecocks 31-30 and improve their record to 10-0 at Kyle Field on Saturday, Nov. 15. It’s the largest comeback victory in school history.
“Relief, that’s what it was,” redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed said. “I mean, I came on the field and, you know, we took that knee, and I just kind of lifted up my arms like this to God, and it’s just a thank you to him. And, you know, I feel like the story was kind of already written.”
The game began with what can only be described as the first half from hell for Aggie fans. Down 30-3 at the break, A&M had three first-half turnovers from Reed — a strip-sack fumble, and two interceptions — along with a pair of missed field goals by graduate student kicker Randy Bond and a total of -9 rushing yards.
“We killed ourselves in the first half,” Reed said. “Whether it was dropped passes, we couldn’t run the ball or, you know, I was turning the ball over, it was all us. It had nothing to do with them at all. And when we get in that situation, all we need to do is just take a deep breath.”
It wasn’t just the difference between a good half and a bad half. A&M looked like Clark Kent in one and Superman in the other — Prince Adam in the first, He-Man in the second, or whatever pop-culture comparison you’d prefer.
Another one pic.twitter.com/K289za5FhU
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 15, 2025
South Carolina had 76 total yards of offense in the second half, compared to 312 in the first half. Reed — who finished the game with a career-high 439 passing yards and three touchdowns — picked up 298 of those yards and all three scores in the second half.
“The vibes were good,” coach Mike Elko said. “The kids believed we were going to come out and win that game in the second half. Whether they really did or not, that was the energy in the locker room. And then, obviously, we made some plays early in the second half to get the momentum going, to get the crowd going, and from that point, it just kind of spiraled in our favor.”
After a short talk from Elko at halftime, the Aggie offense came out roaring. Reed extended the opening drive of the half with a 16-yard scramble up the middle on 4th-and-12, before giving redshirt freshman wide receiver Izaiah Williams his first catch of the year with a 27-yard touchdown grab along the right sideline.
“I almost cried when he scored,” redshirt freshman WR Ashton Bethel-Roman said. “I was so happy for him. You know, it’s rough you’re playing football. You’re going to practice every single week, but you might not be getting what you think you deserve. … But for him to be able to swallow that pride, go on the field and make the most out of his opportunity when his name is called, his number is called, meant everything to me.”
And A&M didn’t slow down. After stopping the Gamecocks on 4th-and-1, the Aggies converted a fourth-down try of its own before Reed found Bethel-Roman for a 39-yard score to make things 30-17 late in the third quarter.
On the Aggies’ next drive, Bethel-Roman snagged a pass that he admitted he was only able to catch because he ran a route he wasn’t supposed to run, and dashed 76 yards to the red zone before a non-contact lower leg injury sent him to the ground. A 14-yard catch by graduate student tight end Nate Boerkircher allowed the Aggies to make it a one-score game.
“Shoot, when things go wrong for you in the first half, something has to go right for you in the second,” Reed said. “So, I mean that was one of the plays that went right.”
It is a one. score. ballgame. pic.twitter.com/gku4AdjjV6
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 15, 2025
After years of Battered Aggie Syndrome and November collapses, a dose of pure euphoria hit Kyle Field thanks to junior WR KC Concepcion and graduate running back EJ Smith.
Concepcion snagged a 31-yard grab to move the Aggies close enough to the end zone that the 12th Man could practically taste it. Smith soon secured the comeback victory with a 4-yard score — and after a late turnover, A&M held on for the biggest comeback it has ever had.
“We can overcome anything,” junior linebacker Tauren York said. “We were down by 27 points to an extremely talented South Carolina team, but it’s all about us, how we sit together and ultimately, how we execute to go win the football game,”
There are plenty of statistics that will come to mind over the coming years when Aggie fans look back on this — including that Southeastern Conference teams were 0-286 when down by 27 or more points since 2004.
But for York, who along with junior safety Dalton Brooks were the first two Aggies back in the locker room after A&M’s road loss to South Carolina last season and made it a point to lift the team up after that loss, the resurrection was all about redemption.
“I talked to Dalton about that in the hotel room this morning, because he’s my hotel roommate,” York said. “I was like, ‘Do you remember that? Because I remember that, and I remember how I felt walking into that locker room and seeing everybody and the look on everybody’s face.’”
And through it all, 108,852 members of the 12th Man — the 5th-largest attendance in school history — stuck around for a comeback they’ll never forget.
“Sorry for what the first half looked like, but in a lot of ways, you propelled us to victory in the second,” Elko said. “So yeah, there’s not a lot of places where that stadium is going to look like it looked when we came back out at halftime. … Just standing there at the end, sawing ‘em off and just seeing how full the stadium still was, it was an impressive showing by the 12th Man once again.”
