All Aggies

Game Log: Defense Dominant For Texas A&M In Win Over South Carolina

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Cole Thompson

COLLEGE STATION -- Never sleep on Saturdays. Even the lesser games can be traps. 

Texas A&M enters Saturday on a two-game win streak and has the momentum to finish the season undefeated. Offensively, the run game has found consistency. Defensively, young players are looking like veterans each snap. 

That doesn't mean Jimbo Fisher is looking at South Carolina without concerns. This is the SEC after all. 

“They’ll come in here loose and being ready to play and compete against us,” Fisher said Monday. “I mean, all games are trap games. You’ve got to understand the importance of your opponents [being] faceless, no matter when you play them."

The Gamecocks (4-3, 1-3 SEC) comes in off the heels of a 21-20 victory over Vanderbilt. Backup quarterback Zeb Noland will start of for the remainder of the season following a foot injury to Luke Doty. 

Shane Beamer, the son of legendary coach Frank, understands the pressure of playing in the SEC. His wins haven't been pretty, but the Gamecocks are two wins away from becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2018. 

Can the Aggies (5-2, 2-2 SEC) make sure they enter their bye week by winning three in a row?

Make sure to stick with AllAggies.com all four quarters live from Kyle Field for all news and updates surrounding Saturday's game for the Bonham Trophy. 

PREGAME NEWS

- Wide receiver Caleb Chapman is expected to play tonight. The redshirt junior was seen running routes on the sidelines along with the other wide receivers. Chapman has not played since Week 2 against Colorado due to a knee injury. 

- Texas A&M wins the toss, they elect to defer to the second half. South Carolina will start the game on offense. 

FIRST QUARTER

- A horse collar tackle against A&M's DeMarvin Leal gave the Gamecocks on fresh set of downs. It wouldn't matter. The Aggies would get three straight stops that would lead to a punt. Wide receiver Ainias Smith would return it 95 yards for the touchdown. A&M takes the early lead thanks to stellar blocking from the return game. 

Texas A&M 7, South Carolina 0 Scoring Drive: (4 plays, 16 yards, 2:30)

- A holding call against Antonio Johnson negates a first down. Two plays later, the Gamecocks are punting following an open-field tackle by Aaron Hansford. 

- A first down run from Isaiah Spiller is the one bright spot. Zach Calzada throws an interception into double coverage to South Carolina's Jaylan Foster. The Gamecocks will begin the drive on their own 38. 

- Noland gets the first down on an 18-yard pass to Josh Vann before missing on the next three plays. A&M will begin the drive on their own 10. 

- Calzada finds Caleb Chapman for a first down to keep the drive alive. A facemask call against the Gamecocks give an extra 15 yards following a 17-yard completion. Spiller adds another 18 yards and puts the Aggies inside the 20. Two penalties push the Aggies back, but Calzada connects with tight end Jalen Wydermyer across the middle for a 25-yard touchdown. The Aggies take a two score lead early. 

Texas A&M 14, South Carolina 0 Scoring Drive: (10 plays, 90 yards, 4:44)  

- Noland feels the pressure early. Two designed blitzes forces the QB to run for no gain as the clock struck zero. 

END OF FIRST QUARTER: Texas A&M 14, South Carolina 0 

- Noland misses his target, leading to a three-and-out. 

- A first down throw to Smith puts A&M at midfield. A pass interference call on South Carolina's Cam Smith gives the Aggies a fresh set of downs. Devon Achane puts the team in field goal range. It wouldn't matter as Calzada found Wydermyer on a screen for a 28-yard touchdown. Wydermyer now has two catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns. 

Texas A&M 21, South Carolina 0 Scoring Drive: (9 plays, 73 yards, 4:12)

- A muffed snap gives A&M the ball at South Carolina's 7-yard line thanks to a fumble recovery from Aaron Hansford. 

- Spiller gets the 1-yard touchdown run to put the Aggies up by 28. A&M capitalizes on the short-field position. 

Texas A&M 28, South Carolina 0 Scoring Drive: (3 plays, 6 yards, :40)

- Tyree Johnson continues to his breakout season with his fifth sack. The Aggies have allowed just 11 total yards of offense through nearly two quarters. 

- Achane continues to move the sticks with his legs, picking up three first downs, including a 19-yard pickup. Demond Demas puts A&M in the red zone on a 27-yard catch. Two penalties takes A&M out of the 10, leaving Jimbo Fisher to settle for a 32-yard field goal from Seth Small as time expired. 

A&M will receive the ball to begin the second half. 

HALFTIME: Texas A&M 31, South Carolina 0 

THIRD QUARTER

- Spiller and Wydermyer pick up first downs through the air before Calzada finds Jalen Preston for a gain of 33. The Aggies can find consistency in the red zone, thus settling for a 28-yard field goal from Small. 

Texas A&M 34, South Carolina 0 Scoring Drive (9 plays, 64 yards, 2:57)

- Johnson records his sixth sack of the season and the Gamecocks go three-and-out. Texas A&M has allowed 10 yards of offense following the loss of one on the snap. 

- A juke from Spiller keeps the drive alive on third. A second one gives him 21 yards and a 100 total for the night. Calzada misses a wide open Demas in the end zone and a hold call against Jahmir Johnson takes the Aggies out decent range for a field goal. Small misses the 42-yard attempt. 

- Noland connects for two short plays before McKinnley Jackson gets the sack for a loss of six. South Carolina now has six yards of offense. 

- Achane surpasses 100 yards on the night with a 21-yard run to kick start the ensuing drive. He'd cap of the drive with a 35-yard touchdown run, thus putting the game well out of reach. 

Texas A&M 41, South Carolina 0 Scoring Drive (5 plays, 74 yards, 2:33)

- Noland runs for a gain of nine before Demani Richardson stuffs running back MarShawn Lloyd run for a loss of three. The Gamecocks fail to convert on fourth down, leading to A&M getting the ball at South Carolina's 31. 

END OF THIRD QUARTER: Texas A&M 41, South Carolina 0

- Amari Daniels rushes for 20 yards, but the Aggies can't connect in the red zone. Small makes the 34-yard field goal. 

Texas A&M 44, South Carolina 0 Scoring Drive (5 plays, 20 yards, 1:21)

- Noland's night comes to an end as the Gamecocks turn to Jason Brown. They pick up a pair of first downs but remain 0 of 10 on third down. Going for it on fourth down, a roughing the passer call on Shemar Turner gives South Carolina a fresh set of downs. Tack on another first for an unsportsmanlike conduct and the Gamecocks on in the red zone. MarShawn Lloyd would punch it in for a 9-yard score. 

Texas A&M 44, South Carolina 7 Scoring Drive (7 plays, 75 yards 2:47)

- Walk-on Blake Bost comes in for mop up duty to close this game out. He tries to go deep for Devin Price, but just comes up short. Nik Constantinou finally makes an appearance and punts the ball 56 yards. The Gamecocks, however, return it 20 yards. 

- South Carolina finally connects on third down. Add on another 15 yards due to a facemask call against cornerback Deuce Harmon. Brown's pass is intercepted by Tyreek Chappell in the end zone, resulting in a touchback. A&M will begin its next drive at the 25. 

- The game isn't over, but it's three-and-out for Texas A&M. 

- Things go from bad to worse for Brown. This time, freshman Deuce Harmon records his first interception as an Aggie. 

- Daniels leads the way on the drive, but falls short on third down. The Aggies go for it on fourth and short and come up two yards too shy. South Carolina ball. 

- Two quick passes from Brown brings up third down and the Gamecocks covert for the second-longest play of the night. Brown finds White for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds on the clock. 

Texas A&M 44, South Carolina 14

- It's a kneel. Texas A&M improves to 6-2 on the campaign entering its bye week. 

Final: Texas A&M 44, South Carolina 14 

Published
Cole Thompson
COLE THOMPSON

Cole Thompson is a sports writer and columnist covering the NFL and college sports for SI's Fan Nation. A 2016 graduate from The University of Alabama, follow him on Twitter @MrColeThompson

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