This one hurt
Well, I imagine y’all are looking forward to reading this about as much as I am writing it, but here we are. We’ll get through this together. Here are the stats that tell the tale of Texas A&M’s brutal 44-20 loss to South Carolina.
- 0: A&M sacks. In one of the most maddening tackling displays I’ve ever seen, the Aggies were in the Gamecock backfield all night long, bringing lots of blitzes and often getting a free rusher as a result. But they failed to bring Sellers to the ground in behind the line of scrimmage all night long. He’s a big, physical QB, but some of this falls at the A&M players’ feet as well.
- 0: Second half points for the Aggies. Even after a brutal start, A&M seemed to find its rhythm, and when they went up 20-17 just before halftime, it sure felt like we were in full control of this game. But penalties allowed SC to tie it up just before the half, and then the offense’s inability to score in the second half doomed A&M to the loss column.
- 0-2: On fourth downs inside our own 40. I don’t necessarily fault Elko for going for those. We wanted to be aggressive and getting a half a yard should be a gimme. But the team’s failure to convert on both of those led to 10 South Carolina points and undoubtedly changed the complexion of the game.
- 1: Field-storming. South Carolina deserved it after some soul-crushing losses earlier in the year, and they outplayed the Aggies in pretty much every facet of the game.
- 6.7: Yards per carry for the Gamecocks. A team that failed to run the ball effectively for much of the season did so at will against the Aggies, getting to the outside all night long and the Aggies missing tackles consistently.
- 530: Total yards for South Carolina. This was a season-high for yards give up (and points) for the A&M defense. From top to bottom, it was an uncharacteristically awful performance.
- Infinity: Missed tackles. It’s hard to find just one thing that would’ve changed the outcome of a game in which A&M was beaten so thoroughly, but this just might be it. I lost track of the number of times multiple Aggie defenders tried and failed to bring down LaNorris Sellers or Rocket Sanders en route to a big gain (or at least avoid a negative play). Something that had not been a big issue all year became the worst tackling display for an Aggie team in recent memory. Whether it was effort, attitude, fatigue or simply getting out-physicaled, the Aggies have a lot to fix.
#BTHObye week