Texas A&M at South Carolina recap: Chicken fried, maybe even burnt
Jimbo barbecue’s a mean chicken
After some early jitters, A&M settled down and dominated South Carolina. All. Night. Long. It was an impressive performance on both sides of the ball that was so lopsided, we blinked twice when looking at the stats.
530 total yards to South Carolina’s 150. 12-16 on 3rd down vs. 3-14. 26 first downs to 9. 264 rushing yards to 50. 5 passing TDs to 0 TDs PERIOD for South Carolina. It’s the kind of game that Aggie fans have been waiting to see from Jimbo’s teams since he was hired. Punch an inferior team right in the mouth, with no let up and no mercy. Do what Alabama does to weaker opponents. Tonight, that happened.
South Carolina had some early chances to put some points on the board, taking deep shots to try and keep A&M honest. On the first drive, they picked on Jaylon Jones, as Jalen Brooks dropped a walk-in touchdown that could have changed the course of this game. But tonight was not going to be that night. The wheels started coming off for South Carolina after A&M went up 14-0 on a Jalen Wydermyer leak-out TD, then subsequent Collin Hill pick to Keldrick Carper on the ensuing drive.
The Gamecocks were able to stop A&M on 4th down and 2 as Jimbo was looking to step on the gas and go for the jugular early. But the Gamecocks would miss a field goal on the next drive, and Kellen Mond took advantage, marching the Ags 73-yards on six plays, capping it with a 7-yard TD pass to Wydermyer, giving him his second of the half. At that point, the route seemed to be on, as A&M took a 21-0 lead into halftime.
A scary moment happened early in the second half, when Isaiah Spiller limped off the field after a 36-yard catch and run. Thankfully, it sounds like it was just a tweak, as Jimbo said he could have come back in the game if needed. Even without Spiller, the Ags didn’t miss a beat. Devon Achane came in and picked up right where Spiller left off, breaking off a 14-yard run on the same drive. Mond would cap off that drive with a beautiful shimmy shimmy shake fake pitch on an option play where he went untouched into the endzone, making it 27-0 after a missed PAT. After that, this one was pretty much over.
Photo: via @AggieFootball
South Carolina had no juice or will to get back in this game. The Aggie defense was stifling, the offense was rolling, and as David Goggins says, A&M was “taking their soul.” And it didn’t stop there. Leon O’Neal added another INT for the Aggies, and Achane got a receiving TD on the next drive, which also put Kellen over the top as the all-time leader in passing TDs at A&M. As if that was not enough insult to the Gamecocks, Achane would add another TD early in the 4th quarter capping off a demoralizing, smashmouth, 15-play, 80 yard, 8 minute drive.
It was 41-0 with 12 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. Sheesh.
The Aggies would add one more score with a glimpse of the future, as “Hayseed” Haynes King connected with team-favorite Max Wright on a 42-yard passing TD to make it 48-3. King even had Demond Demas wide open over the top, but made a great throw to Wright who broke one tackle and did the rest.
That’s enough about the offense, how about this damn defense? My goodness. This was old fashioned Wrecking Crew style. The defense held one of the best backs in the SEC in Kevin Harris to a dismal 39 yards. The secondary bottled up one of the best receivers in the SEC, Shi Smith, holding him to just 64 yards on the night, while adding two picks to ice the cake. Leon O’Neal is playing some of the best football of his Aggie career. To top it off, this defensive line is for real. They dominated the line of scrimmage all night, affected the QB, and totaled one sack and 5.5 TFLs. Overall, the defense finished the night with two sacks and 10 TFLs, as the linebackers got in on plenty of the action. Very, very impressive, and the nation is starting to take notice. Elko continues to be worth every dang penny.
Photo: via @AggieFootball
“It ain’t gonna be like it used to be,” said Jimbo Fisher early in his tenure in Aggieland. Well, it sure looks like that’s finally the truth in College Station. We keep saying it with each passing win, but the mentality is finally taking hold in College Station. Toughness. Effort. Discipline. Pride. Grit. This team is beginning to embody those words that Jimbo has been beating into them for three years.
Great win for the Ags and I can’t wait to watch The Pulse on Wednesday. But it’s 24-hour Saban rule time: enjoy this one for 24-hours, then remember that the job is not finished, and turn your focus to next Saturday, where it’s time to slice and dice the Vols in Knoxville.
#BTHOTENNESSEE
