South Carolina upsets No. 10 Texas A&M to further tighten the race for the SEC title game

South Carolina ran away from No. 10 Texas A&M on Saturday. (Jeff Blake-Imagn Images)

Everyone in the SEC has at least one conference loss.

A week after taking over the top spot in the SEC all by itself, No. 10 Texas A&M suffered its first SEC loss of the season in a 44-20 defeat at South Carolina. The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and then scored 10 straight in the third quarter to put the Aggies away.

Texas A&M briefly took a 20-17 lead in the second quarter after two straight touchdowns. But the Gamecocks tied the game with a field goal at halftime and then took the lead in the third quarter on a 52-yard run by Rocket Sanders.

South Carolina (5-3, 3-3 SEC) never trailed after that.

The Aggies (7-2, 5-1, SEC) entered the game as just 2.5-point favorites and started Marcel Reed at QB. Reed took over for Conner Weigman in A&M’s Week 9 win over LSU and the Aggies scored TDs on Reed’s first four possessions.

Though A&M coach Mike Elko didn’t officially name a starter ahead of the game, that spark made it pretty clear that Reed would be the guy against South Carolina. However, the offense wasn’t nearly as good with Reed on the field on Saturday night as it was against LSU, and it suffered a big loss when Le’Veon Moss left the game in the first half with a knee injury.

Moss, the team’s leading rusher, was injured when he got hit in the leg while racing down the sideline after a reception. He was immediately taken into the injury tent and then carted to the locker room.

The A&M defense, meanwhile, couldn’t contain South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers. He continually escaped pressure from Aggies defenders and was able to turn near-certain losses into positive plays.

Three of South Carolina’s four touchdowns were over 20 yards. Sellers opened the scoring with a 23-yard TD and the game was sealed by a…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/south-carolina-upsets-no-10-texas-am-to-further-tighten-the-race-for-the-sec-title-game-032317248.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-03 03:23:17

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