Texas A&M Complete Record-Breaking 27-Point Comeback Against South Carolina

Texas A&M recorded their 10th straight win of the season by defeating South Carolina.

Texas A&M Complete Record-Breaking 27-Point Comeback Against South Carolina

Marcel Reed (Image via IMAGO)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Since 2022, the Texas A&M-South Carolina game has gone in favor of the home team. So this meant the Gamecocks were at a disadvantage as they had to play in front of a capacity crowd at Kyle Field. Moreover, they had the difficult task of shutting down Marcel Reed, one of the best quarterbacks in college football.

The red-shirt sophomore set the NCAA on high alert by leading the Aggies to a nine-game winning streak before facing the Gamecocks. South Carolina, on the other hand, rested the previous week after suffering a beatdown by Ole Miss in week ten.

Long story short, the Aggies held the upper hand on Saturday. However, South Carolina began the game with a purpose. Offseason Heisman favorite LaNorris Sellers scored the game’s first touchdown before the Gamecocks’ defense forced a fumble from Reed that resulted in a defensive touchdown.

The defense made a difference once again. A minute before the break, Reed’s pass was intercepted by DB Vicari Swain. In the resulting play, Sellers connected with wide receiver Nick Harbor for an 80-yard score.

To make matters worse, Reed threw his second pick seconds later to Swain of all people. The twelfth man was stunned by the Aggies’ lackluster performance.

Marcel Reed drives the Aggies’ football to a come-from-behind victory

Tension crept among the supporters as they stared down a first defeat of the year. The Aggies will remain at the top of the SEC regardless, but a spotless year always looks great on the CV.

Texas A&M Complete Record-Breaking 27-Point Comeback Against South Carolina
#10 Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed, while facing the Texas Longhorns (Image via IMAGO)

Like clockwork, the revival came four minutes into the second half. Reed threw back-to-back touchdown passes to Izaiah Williams (27 yards), Ashton Bethel-Roman (39 yards), and Nate Boerkircher (14 yards), bringing the Aggies within six points of the South Carolina total.

The turnaround was complete ten minutes before the end. Reed set up running back EJ Smith for a 4-yard run, and then Randy Bond, who was 1-3 on field goals on the day, scored the extra point to secure a memorable victory.

Reed finished with 22 pass completions from 39 attempts (56.4%) for 439 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. According to ESPN research, this was the largest comeback in an SEC conference game over the last 20 years.

The win boosted Texas A&M’s record to 10-0 (7-0 in the SEC), giving them two more victories than second-place Alabama at 8-2 (6-1 in the SEC) and third-place Georgia at 8-1 (6-1).

In the postgame press conference, the Aggies’ head coach, Michael Elko, revealed what went through his head when his team trailed by 27 points at halftime.

All we talked about was that we have an identity of who we are. If we play to our identity, we’re a good football team. If we start thinking that’s not who we are. If we start thinking we’re something else, if we start trying to play a different way, that’s not us, that’s not who we are. And we’re a blue-collar team, we’re a physical team, we’re a team that has to control the line of scrimmage, we’re a team that has to play with a lot of energy, and we just weren’t doing any of those things in the first half.

Elko said (HT/247.com)

Texas A&M has two games left before postseason football. Next week, they host Samford before the big Lone Star Showdown against Texas at the Memorial Stadium on the final day.

Also Read: