COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 10 Texas A&M football team suffered its first SEC loss of the season on Saturday night, falling to South Carolina 44-20 on the road at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Marcel Reed He earned the start for the Aggies (7-2, 5-1 SEC) and finished the night completing 18 of 28 passes for 206 yards and a touchdown. The redshirt freshman also managed 46 yards on the ground on 16 attempts. Run back Amari Daniels led the Maroon & White with 83 yards on 13 carries and a score. Among the Aggie receivers are Jabre Barber Had a team-best 80 yards rushing with seven catches and a touchdown.

Linebackers Taurian York collected a total of eight team-level tackles, five of which were solo Dalton Brooks, Marcus Ratcliffe And Shemar Stewart each followed with five.

A quick start by the Gamecocks (5-3, 3-3 SEC) led to the Aggies falling to an early 14-0 deficit with 8:24 remaining in the first quarter. Texas A&M was able to curb South Carolina's momentum Randy Bondwho hit a 52-yard field goal with 5:15 left. The Maroon & White defense provided a spark in the final minute of the first period Will Lee III forced a fumble BJ Mayes was able to recover.

The Aggies capitalized on the loss of possession in the second quarter when Bond hit a career-high 55-yard field goal attempt with 13:12 left in the half to cut the deficit to 14-6. After a 25-yard field goal by South Carolina Amari Daniels found a hole in the right side and broke free for a season-long 56-yard touchdown run to pull the Maroon & White within 17-13 with 7:29 left. The Aggies later took the lead when Reed found Barber for a 2-yard touchdown after a fourth down stop by the Texas A&M defense. Bond's extra point gave the Maroon & White a 20-17 lead with 1:08 remaining.

The two teams entered halftime tied 20-20 when the Gamecocks blasted a 44-yard field goal through the uprights in the final seconds of the quarter.

Texas A&M allowed an early touchdown on the break and had no answer for the Gamecocks, who pulled away in the third quarter and scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

The Aggies have next week off before hosting New Mexico State on Senior Day on Nov. 16.

 

Team notes

• Texas A&M has forced a turnover in seven of its last eight games after forcing a fumble against South Carolina.
• The Maroon & White scored on a 50-yard rushing play for the third time this season.
• For the first time since the 2015 season, the Aggies made multiple 50-yard field goals in a game.

Individual notes

• Junior RB Amari Daniels managed a season-long 56-yard touchdown run for his sixth rushing score of the season.
• Senior WR Jabre Barber led the receiving corps for the second time in three games, catching a season-best seven passes for 80 yards and his first touchdown as an Aggie.
• Freshman QB Marcel Reed threw for a season-high 206 yards and completed 18 of his 28 passes.
• Second semester LB Taurian York led the defense with eight tackles for the fifth time this season.
• Junior DL Shemar Stewart He tied his career high with five takedowns and added two breakups, a career best.
• Sophomore DB Marcus Ratcliffe posted a season-best five tackles for the third time this year.
• Graduate K Randy Bond He scored his first field goal of the season from over 50 yards, first sending a 52-yarder through the uprights in the first quarter and later setting a new career goal with a 55-yard field goal in the second quarter.
• Bond has made eight field goals of 50 or more yards in his career and was the first A&M kicker to make two 50-yard field goals in a game since Taylor Bertolet (2012-15) made 54 and 52 yards. Yarders against Alabama in 2015.
• Bond's eight points in that game increased his career total to 270, tying him for seventh all-time with Rodney Thomas (1991-94) and Darren Lewis (1987-90) in A&M's total points scored.

Hats off to South Carolina. They beat us. Beat us at the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball. Controlled the game. Forced sales. Couldn't run the ball. Couldn't attack the quarterback, couldn't control him. And so we didn't do any of the things you have to do to win a football game. And that's why we lost. We have to get better. We have to fix them. And we must never play like that again.

How disappointed were you with the tackles and what do you think you didn't do or did well that led to so many of those missed tackles?

Of course I don't want to sit up here and say it's up to all of us, do I? Because you have to give them credit. I'm not going to be the coach that sits up here and doesn't give them credit. They have a great quarterback. He weighs 240 pounds. They got a big running back. He weighs 230 pounds. And you know, we didn't bring our feet. We didn't act the way you need to against big defenders. They are big, powerful children. And if you want to tackle big, powerful kids, you have to put your body through the tackle. And we didn't do that tonight.

On fourth downs, when you decided to attack them on your end of the field, was that perhaps a side effect of maybe not having enough confidence in your defense to make a stop?

No. I mean, it was four and a half yards each that we were going for. And that's what we're going to do. I mean, that's what we're going to do. We've never been in a situation like this before, but we need to be able to get half a meter.

Given the penalties, do you feel like parts of the season you all missed came back to bite you today?

Secure. Yes, I told them in some areas. I think the number of missed tackles is increasing and sometimes the hardest thing is to learn from the win because it keeps getting covered up. So I think some of the things that went on behind the scenes that we played and won showed themselves in a really bad way tonight. And that's my fault. My job as a coach is to make them understand that at the level they need and fix it. And I didn't do that. And that's my fault.

After the start, did you feel like you had gained a little control and some momentum before halftime?

I don't know if I ever thought we were in control. I thought we should have come into the locker room with the lead. The two penalties on the two-minute drive, you know, we just gave them the three points to end the game. In a way, that gave them momentum again. We stormed back. We had taken the lead. I thought we did a really good job at the end of the first half and gave them very little time to leave the pitch. And you know, we gave them a 25 or 30 yard penalty on that drive? And we just gave them a field goal. But obviously at 20-20 you still felt like you had a chance. And then we missed a run, and on a fourth-and-1 they break it up for a long touchdown. This is a murderer. And then we can't get to fourth-and-a-half yard and we can go out and hold them to a field goal, but that's awesome. And then I still think we're still fighting at this point. Then it just gets to a point where we're playing more of an all-out defense to try to stop them from running the ball and they throw a long shot and put the play away.

What do you spontaneously think of Marcel's performance?

Certainly a lot up and down. We're not designed to play a game like that. This means we can't fall behind in the second half. When the time came and we couldn't play the game we were better at, I think that really hurt us. But here too he is still a small child. He is learning. He's doing better. Of course he has to be a little more careful when playing football. The interception on first down was obviously a huge swing. I think we were 10 behind at that point. He needs to learn. But definitely not on him, the game. There are many other things, starting with me, that caused us to lose that football game.

Is Marcel the starter moving forward?

He's the starter now and we'll see where we go.

How are you Le'Veon Moss do and how much did it hurt not to have him?

Le'Veon is a great defender and it was tough not having him. We'll see. I don't think it looks really good at the moment, but I also don't think it looks as bad on the pitch as it might have been. Hopefully it's not one of those terrible cases, but I do think he'll be out for a while.

Mike, is there any chance you've lost all focus after last week's win and all the praise and everything they got last week?

NO.

Does it feel like everything you want to do to make this a successful season is still on the table?

It feels that way because it is. We are tied for first place. We still control our own destiny in Atlanta. We still control our own destiny all the way to the playoffs. So, yes, it feels very much like it. Because it is.

You came close to reaching Sellers a few times. What did he do to escape?

Yes, it felt like we were close to catching him a few times. And I don't think we caught him. That's why I giggle. He's a big kid. And obviously I did a poor job of teaching our kids how to handle a 240-pound child. We kept trying to get up around him. And he's too strong for that.