This is the game where South Carolina can show how far it has come in its run defense. The statistics put up in 2023 were better than what the eyeballs saw, and defensive coordinator Clayton White wanted to be sure his defense kept going in the right direction. That has come to pass so far in 2024 with the Gamecocks giving up 113.6 yards per game on the ground, which is good for third in the SEC, and so is the 2.87 yards per carry. The Gamecocks haven’t yet allowed a 100-yard rusher
Texas A&M is bullish in its desire to run the football, averaging third-most attempts per game and is also leading the league in yards per carry average. The Aggies are going to want to run the ball against South Carolina, but so have the other teams this season. Le’Veon Moss has three 100-yard games and has scored seven rushing touchdowns in his previous three games combined.
Interestingly, SEC teams have attempted 40 rushes per game on average, which is fifth-most in the league. Teams must seem to think the Gamecocks can be vulnerable against the run. Carolina has given up nine touchdowns on the ground in the league, and only four teams have allowed more.
I don’t usually go back and forth on my picks but I sat down to write this believing Texas A&M is going to win on Saturday night. The more I’ve gone through it, the more I think this is going to be South Carolina’s game.
Why? Quarterback LaNorris Sellers has shown continual growth over the course of the season and put together his two best full-game performances in back-to-back outings. South Carolina has been largely good offensively for about three quarters in each of the last two games, and it’s time to get close to that four quarter performance. And I just don’t know that the Aggies are going to be able to find the success on the ground that they desire.
Shane Beamer’s teams have typically performed well at night and performed well in November. Until the Ole Miss game this year, they’ve also performed well coming out of a bye week. This time, it was a more traditional bye as Sellers (and Raheim Sanders) was healthy and had the chance to put in good work on the field instead of in the training room.
This is not going to be an offensive performance that comes together to hang five or six touchdowns on the scoreboard. But it’s going to be a winning performance offensively. I do believe there are going to be plays and opportunities there in the pass game as some have cited that the Aggies have been prone to give up long passes. It’s true, but their numbers aren’t far off that of the Gamecocks.
In the end, I believe South Carolina’s defense shows that it is a consistent, solid run defense and Sellers makes his mark on the game and gets his first ranked win. I’d put my confidence level in this pick extremely low, but I will pick South Carolina this week. South Carolina 25 – Texas A&M 24
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