Texas A&M knocks out Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks at Williams-Brice
Texas A&M football team delivered body shot after body shot. Nothing that clocked South Carolina out before the game was well out of reach, but just wore the residents of Williams-Brice Stadium down with blow after blow in their own home Saturday night.
That might not have been as bad, except the Gamecocks could only respond with a few light thumps against an opponent patient enough to let them glance off and keep on pounding.
South Carolina’s 48-3 loss to the No. 7 Aggies, the seventh in as many tries across the past seven years, was about as demoralizing as any defeat the Gamecocks (2-4, 2-4 SEC) have taken this year. They where held down, as they had been by Jimbo Fisher’s squad the past two seasons, but there was no rally like in 2018, and it didn’t really stay close as long as it did last season.
It wasn’t the performance the Gamecocks were looking for coming off their open week.
“It is very frustrating,” linebacker Ernest Jones said. “We had an extra week and we didn’t come out and play to the best of our ability. We got beat.”
On Military Appreciation Night, the nation’s armed forces and a slide show of Gamecocks playing in the NFL (and not on the field that night) seemed about the only thing the 16,253 fans in the building appreciated. Boos were plentiful well before halftime arrived.
Early in the third quarter, chants of “Fire Muschamp” echoed through the upper deck.
Fisher is known for having an offense that can grind the game to a halt when needed or wanted, and that appeared to be the approach. After 30 minutes, the Gamecocks were in a 21-0 hole, having been outgained 141-68 by Texas A&M tailback Isaiah Spiller.
It’s the second game in a row where Will Muschamp’s squad has been blown out, after LSU hung 52 points on his defense. They’ll get high-scoring Ole Miss up next.
“We’re going to get back to work,” Mushamp said. “I told our guys we would face some adversity in these last two outings and we gotta turn it around before we travel to Oxford to play Ole Miss.”
USC-Texas A&M game moments
Play of the game: Spiller’s fourth and 1 dive in the first quarter. USC was in a hole early, and if it gets a stop there, it at least keeps the visitors off the board for one more drive at the start.
Stat of the game: 73. How many more yards A&M’s tailback had than the Gamecocks at halftime. That was even more notable because USC only had 68.
Observations from Gamecocks vs. Tigers
▪ The Gamecocks’ secondary was down to its last bodies. Former walk-on Jaylen Foster played a lot, and was getting first-team reps ahead of veteran Jaylin Dickerson. Foster had four first-half tackles.
▪ South Carolina threw a lot in the first half, perhaps because of loaded boxes. The Gamecocks couldn’t really get the short passing game going, which meant that when they couldn’t connect on a few deep shots, it was over.
▪ Muschamp’s defense getting pushed around on the ground meant Fisher could break out some change-up passing plays like tight end throwbacks and different kinds of play-action. They used two tight ends plenty and even two running backs in the late going.
▪ It’s not a surprise that with the attrition in the secondary and linebacker group and the fact the Aggies dominated possession, but South Carolina’s tackling went from OK to bad as the proceedings went on.
▪ Both backup passers, Ryan Hilinski and Luke Doty, got in late in the blowout.
Next USC football game
Who: South Carolina at Ole Miss
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14
Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
TV: ESPN
South Carolina vs Texas A&M scoring, stats
First Quarter
TXAM—A.Smith 3 pass from Mond (Small kick), 4:04.
Second Quarter
TXAM—Wydermyer 15 pass from Mond (Small kick), 9:05.
TXAM—Wydermyer 7 pass from Mond (Small kick), :14.
Third Quarter
TXAM—Mond 15 run (kick failed), 11:04.
TXAM—Achane 52 pass from Mond (Small kick), 6:55.
Fourth Quarter
TXAM—Achane 3 run (Small kick), 12:01.
SC—FG P.White 48, 5:55.
TXAM—M.Wright 42 pass from King (Small kick), 1:02.
- First downs: TAMU 26-9
- Total yards: TAMU 530-150
- Rush yards: TAMU 264-50
- Time of possession: 38:21 to 21:39
RUSHING—Texas A&M, Spiller 18-131, Achane 13-65, Mond 6-34, Crownover 3-16, D.Jackson 2-15, Hubbard 1-2, A.Smith 1-1, King 1-0. South Carolina, K.Harris 13-39, Doty 2-7, S.Smith 1-6, Z.White 2-5, Hilinski 1-1, Fenwick 4-0, C.Hill 2-(minus 8).
PASSING—Texas A&M, Mond 16-26-0-224, King 1-1-0-42. South Carolina, Doty 0-1-0-0, C.Hill 8-21-2-66, Hilinski 4-6-0-34.
RECEIVING—Texas A&M, Lane 4-39, Wydermyer 3-35, A.Smith 3-22, Achane 2-70, Spiller 2-46, H.Jones 2-12, M.Wright 1-42. South Carolina, S.Smith 7-64, Vann 2-20, Joyner 1-7, Muse 1-6, Prentice 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—South Carolina, P.White 44.
This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 10:09 PM.
