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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29590

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14 hours ago, utee94 said:

Nevermind  that our starting QB is injured and we played multiple games with our backup as well.  Golderned lucky sips!

Their lack of capacity for critical thinking would be surprising, it weren't so completely normal and predictable for them.

 

It took four posts for them to turn the Lagway injury thread into the usual parrot chorus screeching about tu. 

Written before their destruction by SCarolina:

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We're so lucky that both of A&M's qbs are back-ups! Otherwise, they'd beat us. Fullproof Aggie excuse that is, as usual, not foolproof.

 

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See gif above.

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Yea. Why didn't Elko do that? It's so obvious. Shoulda been in the defensive gameplan. Duh.

 

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Don't know who wrote what's grayed, but I think Elko had been reading TexAgs while huffing his own farts. Absurd overconfidence (I guess after they beat all those seniors at Bowling Green). Elko wanted to make a statement, which he did. Just not the statement he was hoping to make. Maybe didn't cost them the game, but they were disasters in terms field position and momentum.

 

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Keeper of the flame:

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Yes, sir. That ol' SEC grind is eating you up. Soon, you'll be SEC-ready, we're all sure of it.

 

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In August, you had the best QB room in the SEC with a Heisman hopeful. Twice this season you've thought one of your QBs was unstoppable.

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Elmer_Fudd
Elmer_Fudd

Haven't seen this posted.  Saw it on the rant, anybody hear/see this?  

D3zii
D3zii

Congrats to all Teams 

closetojumping
closetojumping

To be clear, USC did make a run at CDC. Liucci probably heard that from the USC side and ran with it, trying to make it a story. Problem is, Liucci doesn't understand critical differences between ATM

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29590

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image.png.cf1caba91159fa3df7dfcdcfca16294a.png

 

They are remarkably consistent in getting the larger media world to notice them and believe they're finally going to amount to something then embarrassing themselves and whomever says "keep an eye on those Aggies. Coach [fill in blank] has them heading in the right direction." Last night was epic Aggie.

They weren't plucky. Their personal fouls made them unlikeable. They handed the mantle of up and comer to USCe. Beamer is the coach of the moment. Elko is a fat, puzzled looking entity on the sidelines. 

Square one, Aggies. You hadn't played anyone and your weren't playing anyone special. You got crushed. Your coach looked like a fool going for it on two fourth downs. Nobody cares about your self-vaunted win streak and place at the top of the SEC. It wasn't going to last. Everybody knew it.

Oh, and I think South Carolina's stadium easily matches the atmosphere at Kyle except they look like they're having fun rather than obeying orders.

We're coming.

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billfromlaketravis

billfromlaketravis 11291

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7 hours ago, Napoleon said:

We have absolutely gotten lucky on the ridiculous number of backup QBs that we have faced the last season and a half.

And now we get to face Florida’s 3rd string redshirt freshman transfer QB.

If that wasn’t the first thing that you thought about when DJ grabbed his hammy, then you must be new to following Texas football.

Van Buren is better than Shapen. The only people that would argue that are aggys.

Hawkins over Arnold was a coach’s decision. 
 

Florida, well them’s the breaks. We would also be screwed if we had to start Owens due to injury. 
 

Green gets hurt every game. I’m sure he’ll start vs Texas. 
 

They duck Pavia and Beck. Both will be all SEC. 

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29590

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8 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I stunned they’re laying the loss on, checks TexAgs screenshots again, QB play.

It’s the defense stupids. 

I think Reed looks good. His receivers helped him, but that's football. Also, their receivers are solid at making the catches. I suppose separation is still their failing.

Their defensive line seems to play to make the highlight reel. No discipline. Elko's pillar culture: maybe a little shaky.

 

ETA Also, default blaming the QB and refs is the perennial mark of the loser.

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Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 10558

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2 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

image.png.cf1caba91159fa3df7dfcdcfca16294a.png

 

They are remarkably consistent in getting the larger media world to notice them and believe they're finally going to amount to something then embarrassing themselves and whomever says "keep an eye on those Aggies. Coach [fill in blank] has them heading in the right direction." Last night was epic Aggie.

They weren't plucky. Their personal fouls made them unlikeable. They handed the mantle of up and comer to USCe. Beamer is the coach of the moment. Elko is a fat, puzzled looking entity on the sidelines. 

Square one, Aggies. You hadn't played anyone and your weren't playing anyone special. You got crushed. Your coach looked like a fool going for it on two fourth downs. Nobody cares about your self-vaunted win streak and place at the top of the SEC. It wasn't going to last. Everybody knew it.

Oh, and I think South Carolina's stadium easily matches the atmosphere at Kyle except they look like they're having fun rather than obeying orders.

We're coming.

unknown reason, no way to explain, culture of fail:

they get all the way to edge of world, but they don't throw the coke bottle over the edge, because they can't, it would require they speak the Words of Dissonance - they are a culture of exclusion, hate, pretend and delusion, and none of their african-american athletes care about being there

 

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29590

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image.png.fb2e8177ac0ecd240f1dfee480482879.png

 

Yea! Let's see how many of those teams could have withstood the wrath of a senior-laden Bowling Green team. And South Carolina would be a top team if they were in the SEC just like Bowling Green would be right in the middle. 

I like the TexAgs who won't even consider that maybe they were wrong about how good this team would be/is. They just had a bad day against S. Carolina. Texas was just exposed against Georgia. We never had a good half, oh wait, we won the second half instead of being shut out by an unranked team. Our defense never surrendered. 

And we all think it sucked rather than finding partial victory in a thorough beating. 

Guess what, Aggies. Texas is better than Bowling Green and S. Carolina and Notre Dame. I find the atmosphere in Fayetteville much more potentially daunting than Kyle Field. Listen to the realists that you've accidentally let in. 

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Longhornfrenzy

Longhornfrenzy 5498

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Lots of words

 Billy Liucci

 

The Southeastern Conference motto is “It just means more.” Greg Sankey could just as easily make the league's new slogan, “What a difference a week makes.” 

That's never been more true than during the 2024 season when a team like LSU can come into Kyle Field with a head of steam, build a 17-7 halftime lead and leave wondering if they have what it takes to even contend. Or Tennessee, who can drop an inexplicable game at Arkansas (where LSU and Ole Miss put up a combined 97 points on Sam Pittman's Hogs) and then bounce back to beat Alabama just a couple of games later. We could come up with a dozen other examples from this season alone, but, unfortunately, this is one of those Sundays when a prime example of this year's inter-conference carnage can be found right here in good old Aggieland.

From one magical Saturday night to the next (depending on who you're asking), Mike Elko's Aggies went from closing out a top-10 team with a stunning 31-6 run to being closed out as a top-10 team thanks to an equally as stunning 27-0 run. In beating LSU a week ago, A&M scored what many considered the long-awaited “breakthrough win.” Everyone in College Station and most around the country agreed, as the Ags suddenly found themselves squarely in seemingly every College Football Playoff discussion and debate. The Aggies were so impressive in taking down Brian Kelly's Tigers that most of the country's talking heads spent the week predicting A&M earning a tough win at Carolina and improving to 6-0 in the SEC, taking a giant step closer to the anticipated Aggie-Longhorn showdown on November 30.

On Saturday night, however, it was Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks securing the signature win that had proven elusive since the end of the 2022 season (more on that in a bit), and it was 80,000-plus Sandstorm-loving fans who tore through the Williams-Brice shrubbery and stormed the field following a resounding and trajectory-turning 44-20 top-10 thrashing. Who knows if South Carolina can do what the Aggies (and Tigers and Alabama and most others in the league) could not following “momentum-changing” wins this fall and knock off Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt next weekend, but none of that matters to Texas A&M today. The fact is, the Gamecocks played like a top-10 team last night at home in an environment that was every bit as raucous as Kyle Field was a week ago or places like Death Valley and Bryant-Denny are for the biggest games on the schedule. With Cocky looking on, Beamer's bunch ran over, around and through Elko's Aggies en route to turning a 20-20 halftime stalemate into a 24-point beatdown. The Ags fell behind early, recovered nicely but then fell apart in the second half as momentum just continued to build as the home team made seemingly every meaningful stop and every big play on offense. 

Life in this league can be and usually is tough on the road, especially in the type of environment the Ags were unable to manage last night. That said, it's fair to have expected more from the Aggies based on where Elko and his squad had the arrow pointed heading into what anyone with half a brain knew was a daunting matchup.

To a man, the Aggies knew what they were walking into in Columbia. Mike Elko hammered the point home before the Aggies could even begin celebrating last week's top-10 win over LSU. And if the guys in Maroon & White had any doubt, there were plenty in the visiting locker room that could have explained in great detail what happened two years ago at Williams-Brice Stadium. In that one, Xavier Legette took the opening kickoff back for a score. Jimbo Fisher's squad fell apart early, falling behind 17-0 just minutes into the game and eventually lost to a USC squad that was 4-2 entering the game.

Last night's start didn't feel much different, as LaNorris Sellers and Raheim Sanders sparked an offense that rolled down the field for two all-too-easy scores to open the game. Two possessions, 109 yards and a 14-0 lead that had the rooster crowing and Aggie-haters across the SEC tasting a blowout. The defense settled down, and Marcel Reed and the Aggie offense finally got things going. Four straight scoring drives to end the first half and a tie game going into the locker room had to feel pretty damn good, considering the start. However, there were plenty of red flags in the first thirty minutes of action that proved to be a sign of things to come. Red flags that Elko and even the most optimistic among us were aware of even after A&M improved to 7-1 after last weekend's statement win.

Throughout the first two quarters in Columbia, the Aggie defense missed too many tackles to count, the downfield passing game wasn't respected at all by the Gamecock defense, the offensive line really missed Chase Bisontis on the inside, and Le'Veon Moss leaving the game took away the only consistent threat on that side of the ball. South Carolina also did a terrific job of taking away the Reed running threat, making him give the ball up on zone-read plays and also essentially daring #10 to connect with what is still an underwhelming group of playmakers at receiver (by SEC standards, at least). Those were areas that, even while winning, stood out as obvious concerns when it came to closing the season out without a potentially devastating setback or two. 

To make matters worse, South Carolina was clearly the more physical football team, thanks in large part to a 6-foot-6, 250-plus pound quarterback in Sellers, a former 1,400-yard back in Sanders who finally looked healthy and a defensive front that was every bit as good as advertised. The Gamecocks also believed they had identified an obvious defensive weakness for the Ags, as they routinely ran the ball outside with the vaunted A&M run defense, unable to set the edge time and time again. Another unexpected, bad sign was A&M's inability to convert on pivotal short-yardage situations, something they've been so good at all season up until last night.

 

The Aggies were on their heels and frustrated early but, once again, showed they're a tremendously resilient bunch by fighting back to take a brief lead and enter halftime tied on the road in as hostile an environment as you'll find in college football. A great place to be, all things considered. While the Ags hung in right up until the time Reed threw his first interception of the season with A&M threatening to cut the lead to 30-27 a few minutes into the fourth quarter, the reality is that most of the same issues plaguing the visitors in the first half were again exploited by the Cocks in the game's final thirty minutes. And things really came unraveled late, as a game that probably should have ended 30-20 spiraled into what amounted to a fourth-quarter party for South Carolina players and fans at the Ags' expense.

Unfortunately, the end result isn't much different than what we saw take place at the same venue two years ago. The difference? That was in year five for Fisher, with the program on a clear and obvious descent. At the same time, Shane Beamer was essentially hanging on by a thread in Columbia. The Cocks beat A&M on a feel-good night but then made a major statement by knocking off then No. 5 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson to close out that '22 season. Come to think of it, the win over the Vols exactly two years ago looked very much like last night's upset win. Josh Heupel's squad came in riding the high of a breakthrough win on Rocky Top over top-ranked Alabama, Hendon Hooker was the Heisman front-runner, and it all came crashing down as Spencer Rattler and the Cocks ran the Vols out of the stadium by a shocking 63-38 margin.

That and the ensuing win over Clemson were the last breakthrough moments for Beamer and USC but anyone who has paid attention to South Carolina this fall knew a signature win was coming. The Gamecocks were up 17-0 against LSU earlier this season before Sellers left the game in the second quarter. A needless block behind the play kept the Gamecocks from putting the Tigers away late before Alex Herrera's 49-yard missed field goal as time expired, letting the visitors from Baton Rouge escape with a win. Beamer Ball also took Alabama to the wire, with a failed two-point conversion in the game's final minute keeping the Cocks from forcing overtime at Bryant-Denny.

What I'm getting at is this: South Carolina is a damn good SEC football team that could easily have been in the position the Aggies were heading into last night's game. They were literally two plays away from that being the case and Beamer's team might be the most experienced in the conference. Mix in some big, physical ball-handlers on offense, and the pieces are there. It just hadn't come together for sixty full minutes. A bye week to prepare, a prime-time night game at home and getting the Aggies after an emotional and intensely physical four-quarter win seven days prior? There's a reason Elko tried all week to impress upon his players how tough it was going to be to fly home with a perfect SEC record still intact..

Of course, none of that changes the fact that, after fighting back from a disastrous start, the Aggies were well-positioned to steal a road win had they simply played 30 minutes of high-end football. Instead, the guys in Maroon & White played as poorly as we've seen all season and, if we're being honest, did so in virtually every phase of the game. Run defense, tackling, short-yardage offense, the passing game, offensive line play, punting and ball security.

Defense? South Carolina ran roughshod over the Ags, amassing 286 yards on the ground and making it look way too easy. The Aggies missed dropping Sellers probably eight times. I know he's tough to take down, but other teams had done it 25 times entering last night's game. We're talking about drive-killing and game-changing plays, including on the second play from scrimmage when Scooby Williams missed the big quarterback for what would have been a drive-killing sack. Instead, USC picked up 25 yards, and the crowd exploded when the Cocks were in the end zone nine plays later. Missed tackles in space led to massive gains in the running and passing game, including a 57-yard Joshua Simon catch-and-run that put the game on ice. Linebackers and safeties with bad run fits that resulted in gash plays like Sanders' 52-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-1 in the third quarter. It was that kind of night for an A&M defense coming off of an absolutely dominant second half against arguably the best offense in the SEC just seven days prior.

On offense, the Aggies seemed to find a rhythm as the first half progressed, with Amari Daniels finding some creases and Reed eluding the Gamecock pass rush and oftentimes finding receivers while fleeing the pocket. By halftime, things were certainly looking up, but that all changed after the break. The South Carolina defensive line eventually took over the game, and Dylan Stewart and USC's linebacking corps started playing downhill against a run game that simply isn't the same without Moss on the field. South Carolina did what LSU couldn't by taking the ball out of Reed's hands in the designed run game, and the Aggies simply aren't consistent enough to successfully attack secondaries without setting things up via the run. Mix in three pivotal short-yardage stops, including a pair of risky fourth-down gambles that backfired and resulted in 10 South Carolina points, and a couple of second-half turnovers and a night that somehow saw the Ags on pace to put up 40 points at halftime result in a second-half shutout.

The reality is that Elko and his team would be the first to tell you that the Aggies were outperformed on every level imaginable Saturday night. No one is immune to critique or criticism. I hate to tell you this, but it happens in this league. It sucks, but it happens. It's happened to what is supposed to be the best Ole Miss team ever twice. It happened to LSU last weekend at Kyle Field. To Alabama at Vandy and in Knoxville. To Georgia at Alabama, when the Bulldogs inexplicably fell behind 28-0 at Bryant-Denny. To Tennessee at Arkansas and to Texas when the top-ranked Horns found themselves trailing UGA 23-0 at halftime. Coaches and fan bases from Tuscaloosa to Knoxville to Baton Rouge are adjusting to “SEC parity” in real time. It also tends to happen in year one of a coaching regime. No matter how much the season results up until last night led us to believe Elko and the Aggies were above having, all things considered, a pretty dreadful showing.. 

Excuses? No, that's simply reality. If you're looking around at some of the highest-profile head coaches right now, Dan Lanning and Brian Kelly went 9-3 in year one (Lanning in the Pac-12), Josh Heupel 7-5, Steve Sarkisian (Big 12) and Mario Cristobal 5-7. The point I'm making here is that what happened last night to the Aggies happens to all but the most powerful of power programs and to virtually every first-year coach that has done it. See Kelly's LSU team led by Jayden Daniels being obliterated by a down-and-out A&M team two years ago this month. 

From where I sit, it seems as if Aggie fans understandably got their hopes up and expected their team to handle business on Saturday night in Columbia. Hell, for all we know, the A&M players went in feeling the same way before being popped in the mouth early and again late. That's always very tough to tell when talking about evenly-matched SEC football teams. And, yes, the Gamecocks matched up pretty well with the Ags on paper and in terms of All-SEC and NFL talent. That team is every bit as good as LSU, and the big differences were home-field advantage and the element of surprise at quarterback, with the Ags inserting Reed late versus the Tigers and Sellers being much, much tougher to take down than A&M defenders ever imagined.

So be disappointed, as I'm sure the A&M players and coaches are as we sit here assessing the Sunday-after damage. The Ags showed fight, and I'm sure they will watch the game tape and realize how a should've-been sack here or fourth-and-one conversion or two there would have changed the game, but the reality is that was a disappointing effort from the Ags. A disappointing effort and outcome does not equate to a disappointing season, coach or team, however...and certainly not in the SEC, not in 2024 and not in year one under a new boss. Just like I said when everyone was ready to call year one of the Elko era a painful rebuild following the Notre Dame loss, the message today is it's the way this team responds that will determine how this season is remembered.

Just seven days ago, most in Maroon & White were throwing around words like “special,” “resilient,” “tough,” or even “elite” when talking about this same team. Folks were peeping early December flights to Atlanta and debating where the Ags deserved to land in this week's initial CFP rankings throughout the week. Despite last night's showing and outcome, everything is still on the table for Texas A&M, as Elko was quick to point out in last night's post-game presser. The Aggies are a win as a road favorite at Auburn (a tough venue and dangerous opponent, if for no other reason than roster talent) away from taking the field in the regular-season finale in a “win and you're in” showdown against Texas. In what should be a 9-2 vs 10-1 showdown at Kyle Field, the winner will advance to Atlanta to play for an SEC title. As of today, the race for Atlanta is wide open, with five teams sitting on a single league loss and four more with two, including contenders Ole Miss and Alabama. By the time the Aggies play another SEC game (November 23 at Jordan-Hare), the list of contenders will be pared considerably, with marquee matchups like Georgia at Ole Miss, Tennessee at Georgia and Alabama at LSU likely paring the field of one-loss contenders to the Aggies, Longhorns and — at most — Georgia and/or LSU.

The Aggies are still in a position that most would envy... Unless you're of the belief that too many weaknesses were exposed last night and, as a result, winning at Auburn and beating a very good Texas team (I say very good only because the Horns are anything but elite) at Kyle Field isn't doable. If that's the case, you're willfully throwing out whatever you saw through the LSU game that had you believing and ignoring what the last two Saturdays have shown when it comes to the home-field advantage in this league. And we are still talking about the 12th Man here, aren't we?

But while throwing out a season's worth of evidence — not just in Aggieland but around the entire league — isn't a smart way to assess the Ags' chances, neither is ignoring what we saw last night and casting it aside as an anomaly. The Ags have been good but they're also far from great and have had to play as close to their ceiling as possible en route to reaching this point. Poor tackling and defensive busts due to poor run fits or failed blitzes don't mesh well with an offense that is largely dependent on staying ahead of the chains and keeping a gifted but still very inexperienced quarterback from playing from behind and trying to do too much. That's especially difficult to overcome when you're playing without First-Team All-SEC caliber talents at left guard and tailback (probably the two best players on the Aggie offense). Yet, here we are. The finish line is in sight, and Elko's Aggies are still sitting atop the league leaderboard alongside Georgia.

The South Carolina Gamecocks humbled Texas A&M in a way that should have the Aggie players counting the hours until they can get back on the field. It'll be a long two weeks until the Ags take the field against New Mexico State following the upcoming bye, but the reality is this team could use a bit of a reset after a couple of physically and emotionally taxing weeks. Reed could use the extra practice time as QB1. A&M defenders could benefit from getting back to the tackling basics. Fingers crossed, a couple of key dudes could use the three full weeks between South Carolina and Auburn to get healthy and back on the field.

Painful on-field lessons always feel tougher in the Southeastern Conference, don't they? Only time will tell what the Aggies learned from their ill-fated trip to Columbia, but time is exactly what Elko's squad has with an off week followed by an out-of-conference date. Time to get better, but no time to look back. It may not seem like it today, and certainly didn't feel that way during a disastrous second half at Williams-Brice last night, but the Aggies still have the opportunity to do something pretty special.

To steal a storyline from my friends over at SEC Shorts, it's “Hope vs. BAS” in College Station and considering how wild and wide open this season of SEC football has been already, the Aggies have no reason not to shake last night's disappointing result off and keep their sights set on Atlanta

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PilotsError

PilotsError 2259

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10 minutes ago, Longhornfrenzy said:

Who knows if South Carolina can do what the Aggies (and Tigers and Alabama and most others in the league) could not following “momentum-changing” wins this fall and knock off Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt next weekend, but none of that matters to Texas A&M today.

 

I know that a team that handled them.  Billy must have simply overlooked them.  

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Hookem10

Hookem10 584

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28 minutes ago, Longhornfrenzy said:
Lots of words

 Billy Liucci

 

The Southeastern Conference motto is “It just means more.” Greg Sankey could just as easily make the league's new slogan, “What a difference a week makes.” 

That's never been more true than during the 2024 season when a team like LSU can come into Kyle Field with a head of steam, build a 17-7 halftime lead and leave wondering if they have what it takes to even contend. Or Tennessee, who can drop an inexplicable game at Arkansas (where LSU and Ole Miss put up a combined 97 points on Sam Pittman's Hogs) and then bounce back to beat Alabama just a couple of games later. We could come up with a dozen other examples from this season alone, but, unfortunately, this is one of those Sundays when a prime example of this year's inter-conference carnage can be found right here in good old Aggieland.

From one magical Saturday night to the next (depending on who you're asking), Mike Elko's Aggies went from closing out a top-10 team with a stunning 31-6 run to being closed out as a top-10 team thanks to an equally as stunning 27-0 run. In beating LSU a week ago, A&M scored what many considered the long-awaited “breakthrough win.” Everyone in College Station and most around the country agreed, as the Ags suddenly found themselves squarely in seemingly every College Football Playoff discussion and debate. The Aggies were so impressive in taking down Brian Kelly's Tigers that most of the country's talking heads spent the week predicting A&M earning a tough win at Carolina and improving to 6-0 in the SEC, taking a giant step closer to the anticipated Aggie-Longhorn showdown on November 30.

On Saturday night, however, it was Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks securing the signature win that had proven elusive since the end of the 2022 season (more on that in a bit), and it was 80,000-plus Sandstorm-loving fans who tore through the Williams-Brice shrubbery and stormed the field following a resounding and trajectory-turning 44-20 top-10 thrashing. Who knows if South Carolina can do what the Aggies (and Tigers and Alabama and most others in the league) could not following “momentum-changing” wins this fall and knock off Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt next weekend, but none of that matters to Texas A&M today. The fact is, the Gamecocks played like a top-10 team last night at home in an environment that was every bit as raucous as Kyle Field was a week ago or places like Death Valley and Bryant-Denny are for the biggest games on the schedule. With Cocky looking on, Beamer's bunch ran over, around and through Elko's Aggies en route to turning a 20-20 halftime stalemate into a 24-point beatdown. The Ags fell behind early, recovered nicely but then fell apart in the second half as momentum just continued to build as the home team made seemingly every meaningful stop and every big play on offense. 

Life in this league can be and usually is tough on the road, especially in the type of environment the Ags were unable to manage last night. That said, it's fair to have expected more from the Aggies based on where Elko and his squad had the arrow pointed heading into what anyone with half a brain knew was a daunting matchup.

To a man, the Aggies knew what they were walking into in Columbia. Mike Elko hammered the point home before the Aggies could even begin celebrating last week's top-10 win over LSU. And if the guys in Maroon & White had any doubt, there were plenty in the visiting locker room that could have explained in great detail what happened two years ago at Williams-Brice Stadium. In that one, Xavier Legette took the opening kickoff back for a score. Jimbo Fisher's squad fell apart early, falling behind 17-0 just minutes into the game and eventually lost to a USC squad that was 4-2 entering the game.

Last night's start didn't feel much different, as LaNorris Sellers and Raheim Sanders sparked an offense that rolled down the field for two all-too-easy scores to open the game. Two possessions, 109 yards and a 14-0 lead that had the rooster crowing and Aggie-haters across the SEC tasting a blowout. The defense settled down, and Marcel Reed and the Aggie offense finally got things going. Four straight scoring drives to end the first half and a tie game going into the locker room had to feel pretty damn good, considering the start. However, there were plenty of red flags in the first thirty minutes of action that proved to be a sign of things to come. Red flags that Elko and even the most optimistic among us were aware of even after A&M improved to 7-1 after last weekend's statement win.

Throughout the first two quarters in Columbia, the Aggie defense missed too many tackles to count, the downfield passing game wasn't respected at all by the Gamecock defense, the offensive line really missed Chase Bisontis on the inside, and Le'Veon Moss leaving the game took away the only consistent threat on that side of the ball. South Carolina also did a terrific job of taking away the Reed running threat, making him give the ball up on zone-read plays and also essentially daring #10 to connect with what is still an underwhelming group of playmakers at receiver (by SEC standards, at least). Those were areas that, even while winning, stood out as obvious concerns when it came to closing the season out without a potentially devastating setback or two. 

To make matters worse, South Carolina was clearly the more physical football team, thanks in large part to a 6-foot-6, 250-plus pound quarterback in Sellers, a former 1,400-yard back in Sanders who finally looked healthy and a defensive front that was every bit as good as advertised. The Gamecocks also believed they had identified an obvious defensive weakness for the Ags, as they routinely ran the ball outside with the vaunted A&M run defense, unable to set the edge time and time again. Another unexpected, bad sign was A&M's inability to convert on pivotal short-yardage situations, something they've been so good at all season up until last night.

 

The Aggies were on their heels and frustrated early but, once again, showed they're a tremendously resilient bunch by fighting back to take a brief lead and enter halftime tied on the road in as hostile an environment as you'll find in college football. A great place to be, all things considered. While the Ags hung in right up until the time Reed threw his first interception of the season with A&M threatening to cut the lead to 30-27 a few minutes into the fourth quarter, the reality is that most of the same issues plaguing the visitors in the first half were again exploited by the Cocks in the game's final thirty minutes. And things really came unraveled late, as a game that probably should have ended 30-20 spiraled into what amounted to a fourth-quarter party for South Carolina players and fans at the Ags' expense.

Unfortunately, the end result isn't much different than what we saw take place at the same venue two years ago. The difference? That was in year five for Fisher, with the program on a clear and obvious descent. At the same time, Shane Beamer was essentially hanging on by a thread in Columbia. The Cocks beat A&M on a feel-good night but then made a major statement by knocking off then No. 5 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson to close out that '22 season. Come to think of it, the win over the Vols exactly two years ago looked very much like last night's upset win. Josh Heupel's squad came in riding the high of a breakthrough win on Rocky Top over top-ranked Alabama, Hendon Hooker was the Heisman front-runner, and it all came crashing down as Spencer Rattler and the Cocks ran the Vols out of the stadium by a shocking 63-38 margin.

That and the ensuing win over Clemson were the last breakthrough moments for Beamer and USC but anyone who has paid attention to South Carolina this fall knew a signature win was coming. The Gamecocks were up 17-0 against LSU earlier this season before Sellers left the game in the second quarter. A needless block behind the play kept the Gamecocks from putting the Tigers away late before Alex Herrera's 49-yard missed field goal as time expired, letting the visitors from Baton Rouge escape with a win. Beamer Ball also took Alabama to the wire, with a failed two-point conversion in the game's final minute keeping the Cocks from forcing overtime at Bryant-Denny.

What I'm getting at is this: South Carolina is a damn good SEC football team that could easily have been in the position the Aggies were heading into last night's game. They were literally two plays away from that being the case and Beamer's team might be the most experienced in the conference. Mix in some big, physical ball-handlers on offense, and the pieces are there. It just hadn't come together for sixty full minutes. A bye week to prepare, a prime-time night game at home and getting the Aggies after an emotional and intensely physical four-quarter win seven days prior? There's a reason Elko tried all week to impress upon his players how tough it was going to be to fly home with a perfect SEC record still intact..

Of course, none of that changes the fact that, after fighting back from a disastrous start, the Aggies were well-positioned to steal a road win had they simply played 30 minutes of high-end football. Instead, the guys in Maroon & White played as poorly as we've seen all season and, if we're being honest, did so in virtually every phase of the game. Run defense, tackling, short-yardage offense, the passing game, offensive line play, punting and ball security.

Defense? South Carolina ran roughshod over the Ags, amassing 286 yards on the ground and making it look way too easy. The Aggies missed dropping Sellers probably eight times. I know he's tough to take down, but other teams had done it 25 times entering last night's game. We're talking about drive-killing and game-changing plays, including on the second play from scrimmage when Scooby Williams missed the big quarterback for what would have been a drive-killing sack. Instead, USC picked up 25 yards, and the crowd exploded when the Cocks were in the end zone nine plays later. Missed tackles in space led to massive gains in the running and passing game, including a 57-yard Joshua Simon catch-and-run that put the game on ice. Linebackers and safeties with bad run fits that resulted in gash plays like Sanders' 52-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-1 in the third quarter. It was that kind of night for an A&M defense coming off of an absolutely dominant second half against arguably the best offense in the SEC just seven days prior.

On offense, the Aggies seemed to find a rhythm as the first half progressed, with Amari Daniels finding some creases and Reed eluding the Gamecock pass rush and oftentimes finding receivers while fleeing the pocket. By halftime, things were certainly looking up, but that all changed after the break. The South Carolina defensive line eventually took over the game, and Dylan Stewart and USC's linebacking corps started playing downhill against a run game that simply isn't the same without Moss on the field. South Carolina did what LSU couldn't by taking the ball out of Reed's hands in the designed run game, and the Aggies simply aren't consistent enough to successfully attack secondaries without setting things up via the run. Mix in three pivotal short-yardage stops, including a pair of risky fourth-down gambles that backfired and resulted in 10 South Carolina points, and a couple of second-half turnovers and a night that somehow saw the Ags on pace to put up 40 points at halftime result in a second-half shutout.

The reality is that Elko and his team would be the first to tell you that the Aggies were outperformed on every level imaginable Saturday night. No one is immune to critique or criticism. I hate to tell you this, but it happens in this league. It sucks, but it happens. It's happened to what is supposed to be the best Ole Miss team ever twice. It happened to LSU last weekend at Kyle Field. To Alabama at Vandy and in Knoxville. To Georgia at Alabama, when the Bulldogs inexplicably fell behind 28-0 at Bryant-Denny. To Tennessee at Arkansas and to Texas when the top-ranked Horns found themselves trailing UGA 23-0 at halftime. Coaches and fan bases from Tuscaloosa to Knoxville to Baton Rouge are adjusting to “SEC parity” in real time. It also tends to happen in year one of a coaching regime. No matter how much the season results up until last night led us to believe Elko and the Aggies were above having, all things considered, a pretty dreadful showing.. 

Excuses? No, that's simply reality. If you're looking around at some of the highest-profile head coaches right now, Dan Lanning and Brian Kelly went 9-3 in year one (Lanning in the Pac-12), Josh Heupel 7-5, Steve Sarkisian (Big 12) and Mario Cristobal 5-7. The point I'm making here is that what happened last night to the Aggies happens to all but the most powerful of power programs and to virtually every first-year coach that has done it. See Kelly's LSU team led by Jayden Daniels being obliterated by a down-and-out A&M team two years ago this month. 

From where I sit, it seems as if Aggie fans understandably got their hopes up and expected their team to handle business on Saturday night in Columbia. Hell, for all we know, the A&M players went in feeling the same way before being popped in the mouth early and again late. That's always very tough to tell when talking about evenly-matched SEC football teams. And, yes, the Gamecocks matched up pretty well with the Ags on paper and in terms of All-SEC and NFL talent. That team is every bit as good as LSU, and the big differences were home-field advantage and the element of surprise at quarterback, with the Ags inserting Reed late versus the Tigers and Sellers being much, much tougher to take down than A&M defenders ever imagined.

So be disappointed, as I'm sure the A&M players and coaches are as we sit here assessing the Sunday-after damage. The Ags showed fight, and I'm sure they will watch the game tape and realize how a should've-been sack here or fourth-and-one conversion or two there would have changed the game, but the reality is that was a disappointing effort from the Ags. A disappointing effort and outcome does not equate to a disappointing season, coach or team, however...and certainly not in the SEC, not in 2024 and not in year one under a new boss. Just like I said when everyone was ready to call year one of the Elko era a painful rebuild following the Notre Dame loss, the message today is it's the way this team responds that will determine how this season is remembered.

Just seven days ago, most in Maroon & White were throwing around words like “special,” “resilient,” “tough,” or even “elite” when talking about this same team. Folks were peeping early December flights to Atlanta and debating where the Ags deserved to land in this week's initial CFP rankings throughout the week. Despite last night's showing and outcome, everything is still on the table for Texas A&M, as Elko was quick to point out in last night's post-game presser. The Aggies are a win as a road favorite at Auburn (a tough venue and dangerous opponent, if for no other reason than roster talent) away from taking the field in the regular-season finale in a “win and you're in” showdown against Texas. In what should be a 9-2 vs 10-1 showdown at Kyle Field, the winner will advance to Atlanta to play for an SEC title. As of today, the race for Atlanta is wide open, with five teams sitting on a single league loss and four more with two, including contenders Ole Miss and Alabama. By the time the Aggies play another SEC game (November 23 at Jordan-Hare), the list of contenders will be pared considerably, with marquee matchups like Georgia at Ole Miss, Tennessee at Georgia and Alabama at LSU likely paring the field of one-loss contenders to the Aggies, Longhorns and — at most — Georgia and/or LSU.

The Aggies are still in a position that most would envy... Unless you're of the belief that too many weaknesses were exposed last night and, as a result, winning at Auburn and beating a very good Texas team (I say very good only because the Horns are anything but elite) at Kyle Field isn't doable. If that's the case, you're willfully throwing out whatever you saw through the LSU game that had you believing and ignoring what the last two Saturdays have shown when it comes to the home-field advantage in this league. And we are still talking about the 12th Man here, aren't we?

But while throwing out a season's worth of evidence — not just in Aggieland but around the entire league — isn't a smart way to assess the Ags' chances, neither is ignoring what we saw last night and casting it aside as an anomaly. The Ags have been good but they're also far from great and have had to play as close to their ceiling as possible en route to reaching this point. Poor tackling and defensive busts due to poor run fits or failed blitzes don't mesh well with an offense that is largely dependent on staying ahead of the chains and keeping a gifted but still very inexperienced quarterback from playing from behind and trying to do too much. That's especially difficult to overcome when you're playing without First-Team All-SEC caliber talents at left guard and tailback (probably the two best players on the Aggie offense). Yet, here we are. The finish line is in sight, and Elko's Aggies are still sitting atop the league leaderboard alongside Georgia.

The South Carolina Gamecocks humbled Texas A&M in a way that should have the Aggie players counting the hours until they can get back on the field. It'll be a long two weeks until the Ags take the field against New Mexico State following the upcoming bye, but the reality is this team could use a bit of a reset after a couple of physically and emotionally taxing weeks. Reed could use the extra practice time as QB1. A&M defenders could benefit from getting back to the tackling basics. Fingers crossed, a couple of key dudes could use the three full weeks between South Carolina and Auburn to get healthy and back on the field.

Painful on-field lessons always feel tougher in the Southeastern Conference, don't they? Only time will tell what the Aggies learned from their ill-fated trip to Columbia, but time is exactly what Elko's squad has with an off week followed by an out-of-conference date. Time to get better, but no time to look back. It may not seem like it today, and certainly didn't feel that way during a disastrous second half at Williams-Brice last night, but the Aggies still have the opportunity to do something pretty special.

To steal a storyline from my friends over at SEC Shorts, it's “Hope vs. BAS” in College Station and considering how wild and wide open this season of SEC football has been already, the Aggies have no reason not to shake last night's disappointing result off and keep their sights set on Atlanta

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28 minutes ago, Longhornfrenzy said:
Lots of words

 Billy Liucci

 

The Southeastern Conference motto is “It just means more.” Greg Sankey could just as easily make the league's new slogan, “What a difference a week makes.” 

That's never been more true than during the 2024 season when a team like LSU can come into Kyle Field with a head of steam, build a 17-7 halftime lead and leave wondering if they have what it takes to even contend. Or Tennessee, who can drop an inexplicable game at Arkansas (where LSU and Ole Miss put up a combined 97 points on Sam Pittman's Hogs) and then bounce back to beat Alabama just a couple of games later. We could come up with a dozen other examples from this season alone, but, unfortunately, this is one of those Sundays when a prime example of this year's inter-conference carnage can be found right here in good old Aggieland.

From one magical Saturday night to the next (depending on who you're asking), Mike Elko's Aggies went from closing out a top-10 team with a stunning 31-6 run to being closed out as a top-10 team thanks to an equally as stunning 27-0 run. In beating LSU a week ago, A&M scored what many considered the long-awaited “breakthrough win.” Everyone in College Station and most around the country agreed, as the Ags suddenly found themselves squarely in seemingly every College Football Playoff discussion and debate. The Aggies were so impressive in taking down Brian Kelly's Tigers that most of the country's talking heads spent the week predicting A&M earning a tough win at Carolina and improving to 6-0 in the SEC, taking a giant step closer to the anticipated Aggie-Longhorn showdown on November 30.

On Saturday night, however, it was Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks securing the signature win that had proven elusive since the end of the 2022 season (more on that in a bit), and it was 80,000-plus Sandstorm-loving fans who tore through the Williams-Brice shrubbery and stormed the field following a resounding and trajectory-turning 44-20 top-10 thrashing. Who knows if South Carolina can do what the Aggies (and Tigers and Alabama and most others in the league) could not following “momentum-changing” wins this fall and knock off Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt next weekend, but none of that matters to Texas A&M today. The fact is, the Gamecocks played like a top-10 team last night at home in an environment that was every bit as raucous as Kyle Field was a week ago or places like Death Valley and Bryant-Denny are for the biggest games on the schedule. With Cocky looking on, Beamer's bunch ran over, around and through Elko's Aggies en route to turning a 20-20 halftime stalemate into a 24-point beatdown. The Ags fell behind early, recovered nicely but then fell apart in the second half as momentum just continued to build as the home team made seemingly every meaningful stop and every big play on offense. 

Life in this league can be and usually is tough on the road, especially in the type of environment the Ags were unable to manage last night. That said, it's fair to have expected more from the Aggies based on where Elko and his squad had the arrow pointed heading into what anyone with half a brain knew was a daunting matchup.

To a man, the Aggies knew what they were walking into in Columbia. Mike Elko hammered the point home before the Aggies could even begin celebrating last week's top-10 win over LSU. And if the guys in Maroon & White had any doubt, there were plenty in the visiting locker room that could have explained in great detail what happened two years ago at Williams-Brice Stadium. In that one, Xavier Legette took the opening kickoff back for a score. Jimbo Fisher's squad fell apart early, falling behind 17-0 just minutes into the game and eventually lost to a USC squad that was 4-2 entering the game.

Last night's start didn't feel much different, as LaNorris Sellers and Raheim Sanders sparked an offense that rolled down the field for two all-too-easy scores to open the game. Two possessions, 109 yards and a 14-0 lead that had the rooster crowing and Aggie-haters across the SEC tasting a blowout. The defense settled down, and Marcel Reed and the Aggie offense finally got things going. Four straight scoring drives to end the first half and a tie game going into the locker room had to feel pretty damn good, considering the start. However, there were plenty of red flags in the first thirty minutes of action that proved to be a sign of things to come. Red flags that Elko and even the most optimistic among us were aware of even after A&M improved to 7-1 after last weekend's statement win.

Throughout the first two quarters in Columbia, the Aggie defense missed too many tackles to count, the downfield passing game wasn't respected at all by the Gamecock defense, the offensive line really missed Chase Bisontis on the inside, and Le'Veon Moss leaving the game took away the only consistent threat on that side of the ball. South Carolina also did a terrific job of taking away the Reed running threat, making him give the ball up on zone-read plays and also essentially daring #10 to connect with what is still an underwhelming group of playmakers at receiver (by SEC standards, at least). Those were areas that, even while winning, stood out as obvious concerns when it came to closing the season out without a potentially devastating setback or two. 

To make matters worse, South Carolina was clearly the more physical football team, thanks in large part to a 6-foot-6, 250-plus pound quarterback in Sellers, a former 1,400-yard back in Sanders who finally looked healthy and a defensive front that was every bit as good as advertised. The Gamecocks also believed they had identified an obvious defensive weakness for the Ags, as they routinely ran the ball outside with the vaunted A&M run defense, unable to set the edge time and time again. Another unexpected, bad sign was A&M's inability to convert on pivotal short-yardage situations, something they've been so good at all season up until last night.

 

The Aggies were on their heels and frustrated early but, once again, showed they're a tremendously resilient bunch by fighting back to take a brief lead and enter halftime tied on the road in as hostile an environment as you'll find in college football. A great place to be, all things considered. While the Ags hung in right up until the time Reed threw his first interception of the season with A&M threatening to cut the lead to 30-27 a few minutes into the fourth quarter, the reality is that most of the same issues plaguing the visitors in the first half were again exploited by the Cocks in the game's final thirty minutes. And things really came unraveled late, as a game that probably should have ended 30-20 spiraled into what amounted to a fourth-quarter party for South Carolina players and fans at the Ags' expense.

Unfortunately, the end result isn't much different than what we saw take place at the same venue two years ago. The difference? That was in year five for Fisher, with the program on a clear and obvious descent. At the same time, Shane Beamer was essentially hanging on by a thread in Columbia. The Cocks beat A&M on a feel-good night but then made a major statement by knocking off then No. 5 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson to close out that '22 season. Come to think of it, the win over the Vols exactly two years ago looked very much like last night's upset win. Josh Heupel's squad came in riding the high of a breakthrough win on Rocky Top over top-ranked Alabama, Hendon Hooker was the Heisman front-runner, and it all came crashing down as Spencer Rattler and the Cocks ran the Vols out of the stadium by a shocking 63-38 margin.

That and the ensuing win over Clemson were the last breakthrough moments for Beamer and USC but anyone who has paid attention to South Carolina this fall knew a signature win was coming. The Gamecocks were up 17-0 against LSU earlier this season before Sellers left the game in the second quarter. A needless block behind the play kept the Gamecocks from putting the Tigers away late before Alex Herrera's 49-yard missed field goal as time expired, letting the visitors from Baton Rouge escape with a win. Beamer Ball also took Alabama to the wire, with a failed two-point conversion in the game's final minute keeping the Cocks from forcing overtime at Bryant-Denny.

What I'm getting at is this: South Carolina is a damn good SEC football team that could easily have been in the position the Aggies were heading into last night's game. They were literally two plays away from that being the case and Beamer's team might be the most experienced in the conference. Mix in some big, physical ball-handlers on offense, and the pieces are there. It just hadn't come together for sixty full minutes. A bye week to prepare, a prime-time night game at home and getting the Aggies after an emotional and intensely physical four-quarter win seven days prior? There's a reason Elko tried all week to impress upon his players how tough it was going to be to fly home with a perfect SEC record still intact..

Of course, none of that changes the fact that, after fighting back from a disastrous start, the Aggies were well-positioned to steal a road win had they simply played 30 minutes of high-end football. Instead, the guys in Maroon & White played as poorly as we've seen all season and, if we're being honest, did so in virtually every phase of the game. Run defense, tackling, short-yardage offense, the passing game, offensive line play, punting and ball security.

Defense? South Carolina ran roughshod over the Ags, amassing 286 yards on the ground and making it look way too easy. The Aggies missed dropping Sellers probably eight times. I know he's tough to take down, but other teams had done it 25 times entering last night's game. We're talking about drive-killing and game-changing plays, including on the second play from scrimmage when Scooby Williams missed the big quarterback for what would have been a drive-killing sack. Instead, USC picked up 25 yards, and the crowd exploded when the Cocks were in the end zone nine plays later. Missed tackles in space led to massive gains in the running and passing game, including a 57-yard Joshua Simon catch-and-run that put the game on ice. Linebackers and safeties with bad run fits that resulted in gash plays like Sanders' 52-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-1 in the third quarter. It was that kind of night for an A&M defense coming off of an absolutely dominant second half against arguably the best offense in the SEC just seven days prior.

On offense, the Aggies seemed to find a rhythm as the first half progressed, with Amari Daniels finding some creases and Reed eluding the Gamecock pass rush and oftentimes finding receivers while fleeing the pocket. By halftime, things were certainly looking up, but that all changed after the break. The South Carolina defensive line eventually took over the game, and Dylan Stewart and USC's linebacking corps started playing downhill against a run game that simply isn't the same without Moss on the field. South Carolina did what LSU couldn't by taking the ball out of Reed's hands in the designed run game, and the Aggies simply aren't consistent enough to successfully attack secondaries without setting things up via the run. Mix in three pivotal short-yardage stops, including a pair of risky fourth-down gambles that backfired and resulted in 10 South Carolina points, and a couple of second-half turnovers and a night that somehow saw the Ags on pace to put up 40 points at halftime result in a second-half shutout.

The reality is that Elko and his team would be the first to tell you that the Aggies were outperformed on every level imaginable Saturday night. No one is immune to critique or criticism. I hate to tell you this, but it happens in this league. It sucks, but it happens. It's happened to what is supposed to be the best Ole Miss team ever twice. It happened to LSU last weekend at Kyle Field. To Alabama at Vandy and in Knoxville. To Georgia at Alabama, when the Bulldogs inexplicably fell behind 28-0 at Bryant-Denny. To Tennessee at Arkansas and to Texas when the top-ranked Horns found themselves trailing UGA 23-0 at halftime. Coaches and fan bases from Tuscaloosa to Knoxville to Baton Rouge are adjusting to “SEC parity” in real time. It also tends to happen in year one of a coaching regime. No matter how much the season results up until last night led us to believe Elko and the Aggies were above having, all things considered, a pretty dreadful showing.. 

Excuses? No, that's simply reality. If you're looking around at some of the highest-profile head coaches right now, Dan Lanning and Brian Kelly went 9-3 in year one (Lanning in the Pac-12), Josh Heupel 7-5, Steve Sarkisian (Big 12) and Mario Cristobal 5-7. The point I'm making here is that what happened last night to the Aggies happens to all but the most powerful of power programs and to virtually every first-year coach that has done it. See Kelly's LSU team led by Jayden Daniels being obliterated by a down-and-out A&M team two years ago this month. 

From where I sit, it seems as if Aggie fans understandably got their hopes up and expected their team to handle business on Saturday night in Columbia. Hell, for all we know, the A&M players went in feeling the same way before being popped in the mouth early and again late. That's always very tough to tell when talking about evenly-matched SEC football teams. And, yes, the Gamecocks matched up pretty well with the Ags on paper and in terms of All-SEC and NFL talent. That team is every bit as good as LSU, and the big differences were home-field advantage and the element of surprise at quarterback, with the Ags inserting Reed late versus the Tigers and Sellers being much, much tougher to take down than A&M defenders ever imagined.

So be disappointed, as I'm sure the A&M players and coaches are as we sit here assessing the Sunday-after damage. The Ags showed fight, and I'm sure they will watch the game tape and realize how a should've-been sack here or fourth-and-one conversion or two there would have changed the game, but the reality is that was a disappointing effort from the Ags. A disappointing effort and outcome does not equate to a disappointing season, coach or team, however...and certainly not in the SEC, not in 2024 and not in year one under a new boss. Just like I said when everyone was ready to call year one of the Elko era a painful rebuild following the Notre Dame loss, the message today is it's the way this team responds that will determine how this season is remembered.

Just seven days ago, most in Maroon & White were throwing around words like “special,” “resilient,” “tough,” or even “elite” when talking about this same team. Folks were peeping early December flights to Atlanta and debating where the Ags deserved to land in this week's initial CFP rankings throughout the week. Despite last night's showing and outcome, everything is still on the table for Texas A&M, as Elko was quick to point out in last night's post-game presser. The Aggies are a win as a road favorite at Auburn (a tough venue and dangerous opponent, if for no other reason than roster talent) away from taking the field in the regular-season finale in a “win and you're in” showdown against Texas. In what should be a 9-2 vs 10-1 showdown at Kyle Field, the winner will advance to Atlanta to play for an SEC title. As of today, the race for Atlanta is wide open, with five teams sitting on a single league loss and four more with two, including contenders Ole Miss and Alabama. By the time the Aggies play another SEC game (November 23 at Jordan-Hare), the list of contenders will be pared considerably, with marquee matchups like Georgia at Ole Miss, Tennessee at Georgia and Alabama at LSU likely paring the field of one-loss contenders to the Aggies, Longhorns and — at most — Georgia and/or LSU.

The Aggies are still in a position that most would envy... Unless you're of the belief that too many weaknesses were exposed last night and, as a result, winning at Auburn and beating a very good Texas team (I say very good only because the Horns are anything but elite) at Kyle Field isn't doable. If that's the case, you're willfully throwing out whatever you saw through the LSU game that had you believing and ignoring what the last two Saturdays have shown when it comes to the home-field advantage in this league. And we are still talking about the 12th Man here, aren't we?

But while throwing out a season's worth of evidence — not just in Aggieland but around the entire league — isn't a smart way to assess the Ags' chances, neither is ignoring what we saw last night and casting it aside as an anomaly. The Ags have been good but they're also far from great and have had to play as close to their ceiling as possible en route to reaching this point. Poor tackling and defensive busts due to poor run fits or failed blitzes don't mesh well with an offense that is largely dependent on staying ahead of the chains and keeping a gifted but still very inexperienced quarterback from playing from behind and trying to do too much. That's especially difficult to overcome when you're playing without First-Team All-SEC caliber talents at left guard and tailback (probably the two best players on the Aggie offense). Yet, here we are. The finish line is in sight, and Elko's Aggies are still sitting atop the league leaderboard alongside Georgia.

The South Carolina Gamecocks humbled Texas A&M in a way that should have the Aggie players counting the hours until they can get back on the field. It'll be a long two weeks until the Ags take the field against New Mexico State following the upcoming bye, but the reality is this team could use a bit of a reset after a couple of physically and emotionally taxing weeks. Reed could use the extra practice time as QB1. A&M defenders could benefit from getting back to the tackling basics. Fingers crossed, a couple of key dudes could use the three full weeks between South Carolina and Auburn to get healthy and back on the field.

Painful on-field lessons always feel tougher in the Southeastern Conference, don't they? Only time will tell what the Aggies learned from their ill-fated trip to Columbia, but time is exactly what Elko's squad has with an off week followed by an out-of-conference date. Time to get better, but no time to look back. It may not seem like it today, and certainly didn't feel that way during a disastrous second half at Williams-Brice last night, but the Aggies still have the opportunity to do something pretty special.

To steal a storyline from my friends over at SEC Shorts, it's “Hope vs. BAS” in College Station and considering how wild and wide open this season of SEC football has been already, the Aggies have no reason not to shake last night's disappointing result off and keep their sights set on Atlanta

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