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South Carolina pulled off a significant upset on Saturday night, beating Texas A&M 44-20.
The win moves the Gamecocks to 5-3 on the season. Perhaps more importantly for neutral fans, Texas A&M now has its second loss of the season — and its first in SEC play. This result will have significant implications on both SEC and national postseason races.
Here are 3 takeaways from South Carolina’s big win:
South Carolina’s offense dominated
This was easily South Carolina’s best offensive performance of the year versus an SEC opponent. The Gamecocks previously scored 30+ points in wins over Kentucky and Oklahoma, but both of those outputs were significantly boosted by takeaways.
That was not fully the case on Saturday night vs. the Aggies. South Carolina averaged 7.6 yards per play in the win over Texas A&M — a borderline elite mark against an SEC opponent, let alone one with a defense that’s as proven as A&M’s is. South Carolina’s previous season-high for yards per play in an SEC game in 2024 was 6.5 against LSU.
South Carolina’s running game was especially potent. Raheim Sanders and LaNorris Sellers both averaged over 7 yards per carry in this victory.
The defense controlled the game
Texas A&M gained 350 yards on Saturday night, but managed just 5 yards per play. That mediocre down-to-down average resulted in just 20 total points for the Aggies on Saturday night.
Marcel Reed played quarterback for A&M in this one after leading the Aggies to a comeback win last week vs. LSU. However, he was not nearly as effective vs. the Gamecocks. Reed was limited to 206 passing yards, 1 touchdown and 1 crucial interception on 28 attempts.
As a runner, Reed carried the ball 16 times for just 46 yards.
Postseason implications
This result will have significant implications on both the SEC title race and the College Football Playoff picture moving forward.
Instead of having an undefeated team atop the SEC standings, the league now has a whopping 5 teams with exactly 1 conference loss. Three more are just behind the top group with a pair of losses in conference play. The closeness between teams at the top of the standings could create plenty of chaotic tiebreaker scenarios down the stretch.
As for the CFP, Texas A&M now joins a group of 2-loss CFP hopefuls in the SEC. The group includes LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss and Missouri entering Week 11. Texas A&M does have a home game left against Texas in the final week of the regular season — that would be an excellent platform for the Aggies to make a statement for the selection committee.
For South Carolina, the Gamecocks are now 5-3 on the season and are just 1 win away from bowl eligibility.
The initial CFP rankings will be revealed on Tuesday evening.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
