Texas A&M's open week is over, and the math on the other side of it is plain. At 4-4, the Aggies need two wins from their last four games to become bowl eligible, and the first chance comes Saturday at No. 23 South Carolina.
Kickoff at Williams-Brice Stadium is 2 p.m. CT on ESPN, the athletics department announced. After Columbia, A&M hosts Tennessee on Nov. 14, plays at Oklahoma on Nov. 21 and closes against Texas at Kyle Field on Nov. 28.
The road problem
Three of the Aggies' four losses have come away from home, and they have yet to win a road game this season. They managed six points in a 35-6 loss at LSU, six more in a 27-6 defeat at Missouri and 20 in a 31-20 loss at Alabama on Oct. 24, according to ESPN's results.
Their lone Southeastern Conference win came at home against Arkansas, 34-7, leaving them 1-4 in league play.
The Alabama game is the one Elko points to as a sign of growth. "I thought there were times in that Alabama game where we played football the way we would like to," he said Monday in remarks published by the school.
He said the Aggies had become more physical on both lines and that the offense ran as efficiently in the second and third quarters as it has all year, before A&M failed to finish in the fourth.
Elko also put a limit on that argument. Progress, he said, is not much of a talking point for a team that is not winning, and it has to come faster.
A specific fix
The coach named one situation that has hurt the offense. "We've been really bad in third-and-2-to-6," he said, according to a transcript from Aggies Wire.
The other priority is South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers, whom Elko called "such a weapon," pointing to the strain his running ability puts on a defense. The Gamecocks (5-3) have won three straight league games, over Florida, Tennessee and Oklahoma, the last a 42-25 win in Norman on Saturday, CBS Sports reported.
Marcel Reed remains the starter. Elko said backup Brady Hart gets real practice work but has been told he must reach a certain level before he earns more chances.
