Texas A&M Cannot Afford Another Offensive Collapse vs South Carolina

If Texas A&M wants to continue to trend toward a bowl game, they are going to have to hold it together against Shane Beamer and the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko speaks with a member of his coaching staff during a time-out in the fourth quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kyle Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Fresh off of a much-needed bye week, the Texas A&M Aggies now get back into the game week prep as they gear up to head to Columbia to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks.

As the Aggies come out of the bye following a tough matchup with the Alabama Crimson Tide, they will look to be on the north side of .500 after this weekend, currently sitting at 4-4 on the year and 1-4 in conference play.

History as of now is not on A&M's side, as they have been on the wrong side of the scoreboard their last two trips to Williams-Brice Stadium, and with the way the offense has been for the Aggies, this could be a hit-or-miss game, but if Mike Elko's men want to execute and avoid the same woes that seem to come after them against the Gamecocks, here is a good gameplan for them to follow.

Hold the Pocket

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed (10) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage on a running play by Alabama linebacker Caleb Woodson (7) at Saban Field at Bryant Denny Stadium. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Marcel Reed was only taken down two times during A&M's loss to Alabama, and the time that Reed did have in the pocket, he actually made good use of his space, aside from the two interceptions, of course.

The South Carolina defense could only get three sacks on John Mateer against the Oklahoma Sooners, so if the A&M offensive line can hold up as well as they did against the Tide, then it could give him a chance to possibly work some magic.

Get Out Ahead Early

Mounting a comeback is not easy, just ask the A&M team that had to put together a sequence of 31 unanswered points to best the Gamecocks at Kyle Field last year.

Of course, the Aggies were able to get it done last year, and the year before they were able to come back in the first half from being down two scores, but they were eventually shut out in the second half as they suffered a 44-20 defeat at the hands of South Carolina.

Playing from behind has unfortunately been a major part of the Texas A&M gameplan this year, so at the top of the "to-do" list needs to be strike first and strike often in terms of points.

If not, then the long night that they endured back in 2024 and the stressful first half of last year's game will come back to pay a visit.

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