Three Thoughts- Gamecocks smash A&M
The Aggies got kicked hard in the teeth in this electric SEC road test at South Carolina.
Three Thoughts is our signature way to summarize a noteworthy game we want to cover during the 2024 college football season at #Sturmstack. We grab one game per weekend – featuring Texas or Texas A&M – and bringing our notebook to see what jumps out at us in a brief recap that we do in memory of the man who did this first before his untimely demise, the late Grant Wahl…
Presented without an editor, so please forgive the grammar.
The commentary on the build-up to this test for Texas A&M was pretty similar everywhere you looked. Would they be able to handle the challenge of a prime time test in an environment where they would be the ones affected by the noise, the test, and the prospect of being a team with something to lose? Would they be able to avoid the “trap game” and avoid a let-down? Would an inexperienced QB handle a spot where he faces a very talented defense coming off a bye week who would certainly be ready for his favorite concepts?
This would test the upstart Aggies immensely. Would they have full focus and execute their way through a game where a victory of any kind would be accepted without hesitation?
The answer was given with a resounding 24-0 2nd half where South Carolina did to them what they had done to LSU the week before. They pulled away and won by playing downhill as the game wore on. Just when it looked like the Ags were getting comfortable in their spot atop the SEC, they were pulled back to the pack with a 44-20 loss that reminded everyone involved that there are no games in this conference that can be overlooked. South Carolina demonstrated yet again how dangerous an opponent that they can be.
These are My Three Thoughts:
–There are plenty of stories of the game, but the biggest one from an A&M perspective was likely to be how many opportunities that were missed all night in simply making a tackle when the chance presents itself. Obviously, the credit goes to the South Carolina ball carriers, many of impressive size and strength, but the inability to secure tackles will be the big takeaway.
10 seconds into the game, LaNorris Sellers was hit with a beautiful blitz right up the gut from Scooby Williams that had him dead in the water as a sure-fire sack. Instead, Sellers shook off the linebacker like he was a middle-school kid and then fired a pass for a first down. It would set the stage for the evening quite well as it appeared 2010 Cam Newton was playing QB for South Carolina with the ease he avoided rushers.