Texas A&M Turned 457 Yards Into Nine Points at South Carolina

A carry from Rueben Owens II covered 44 yards to start the third quarter. Texas A&M finished that possession with David Olano’s field goal from 44 yards, taking a 9-7 lead at South Carolina. The burst had changed the field. The drive still ended with three points.

That small return became a large problem in the Aggies’ 17-9 loss Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. A&M gained 457 yards, controlled possession for 34:36 and did not turn the ball over. All nine points came from Olano. An offense can make a defense work for an afternoon and still leave it with the more satisfying scoreboard.

The next A&M possession after that field goal made the failure harder to explain away. The Aggies advanced from their own 20 and reached South Carolina’s 7 after a completion to the 14 and a Gamecocks unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty. Then two false starts moved the ball back, first to the 12 and then to the 17.

Olano eventually missed from 30 yards with 4:39 left in the third. The flags did not take a certain touchdown off the board; there was still football to play. They did make the scoring task more difficult after A&M had already earned an excellent position. The possession consumed 6:27 and yielded nothing.

Mike Elko criticized the red-zone execution and penalties afterward. That assessment fits the sequence more precisely than a complaint about an offense incapable of moving the ball. Owens rushed for a season-best 137 yards on 19 carries.

Marcel Reed completed 25 passes in 43 attempts for 251 yards. The Aggies had 26 first downs to South Carolina’s 17, but no touchdown to show for the territory they covered.

A&M’s defense gave those opportunities time to matter. The Gamecocks converted four of their 12 third-down attempts and finished with 109 rushing yards. Bryce Perry-Wright forced a fumble with his first career sack in the second quarter. The Aggies recovered at their own 22, then drove far enough for Olano’s field goal from 46 yards as the half expired.

That kick brought A&M within 7-6. Olano had already made a 40-yarder, and his third successful attempt after halftime put the Aggies ahead. The defense was doing enough to keep a touchdown-free offense in front well into the game. It was not a sustainable bargain once South Carolina found another scoring possession.

With 8:14 remaining, Malik Orsan converted from 43 yards to put the Gamecocks ahead 10-9. A&M punted on its next possession, then had another chance after forcing a South Carolina punt. Reed’s fourth-down sack with 1:27 remaining lost 14 yards and left the ball at the A&M 41. LaNorris Sellers scored on a 41-yard run on South Carolina’s next scrimmage play.

The late touchdown belongs in any fair assessment of the defense, even after its earlier work. It made the difference between needing a field goal and needing a touchdown plus a two-point conversion. South Carolina capitalized on the position it received. A&M had repeatedly declined to do the same with its own opportunities.

The final drive supplied one more. The Aggies reached South Carolina’s 10 after recovering a KJ Edwards fumble earlier in the march and completing a 14-yard pass to Isaiah Horton. Reed threw incomplete twice in the closing seconds. There was no last touchdown, just another advance that stopped short of the return A&M needed.

The Aggies leave at 4-5, with one victory in six SEC games. Owens’ running and the defense’s early resistance gave them enough to challenge South Carolina. The next task against Tennessee at Kyle Field is more specific than finding another way to accumulate yards. A&M has to make the trips near the end zone worth more than the distance traveled to get there.

Sources

Texas A&M: official postgame report

ESPN: final game record and play-by-play

Associated Press via ESPN: college game reporting