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Published Oct 30, 2024
Texas A&M's offense vs. South Carolina's defense
Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
Publisher
Twitter
@mbpRivals

Where, when, weather and TV

Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, S.C.

When: Saturday, Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m. Eastern time

Weather: Clear, temperatures in the low 70s at kickoff and dropping into the 60s

TV: ABC (Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Molly McGrath)

No. 10 Texas A&M (7-1, 5-0 SEC) depth chart

Quarterback
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

15

Conner Weigman

RS-So.

6-3

220

OR 10

Marcel Reed

RS-Fr.

6-2

180

Running back
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

8

Le'Veon Moss

Jr.

6

215

5

Amari Daniels

RS-Jr.

5-9

215

22

E.J. Smith

Gr.-TR.

6

215

Tight End
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

84

Tre Watson

Sr.-TR.

6-5

250

82

Shane Calhoun

Gr.-TR.

6-4

250

OR 18

Donovan Green

RS-So.

6-4

265

OR 17

Theo Ohrstrom

RS-So.

6-6

265

Wide receiver (X)
Column 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5

3

Noah Thomas

Jr.

6-6

200

11

Jake Bostick

RS-So.-TR.

6-2

183

Wide receiver (SLOT)
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

6

Cyrus Allen

Jr.-TR.

6

178

1

Jabre Barber

Sr.-TR.

5-10

182

Wide receiver (Z)
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

9

Jahdae Walker

Sr.-TR.

6-4

205

2

Terry Bussey

Fr.

6

195

Left tackle
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

60

Trey Zuhn

Jr.

6-7

315

66

Hunter Erb

RS-So.

6-6

330

Left guard
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

75

Kam Dewberry

Jr.

6-4

330

OR 67

TJ Shanahan

RS-Fr.

6-4

330

Center
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

61

Kolinu'u Faaiu

RS-Jr.-TR.

6-3

330

67

TJ Shanahan

RS-Fr.

6-4

330

Right guard
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

55

Ar'maj Reed-Adams

RS-Jr.

6-5

330

67

TJ Shanahan

RS-Fr.

6-4

330

Right tackle
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

78

Dametrious Crownover

RS-Jr.

6-7

330

OR 76

Deuce Fatheree

Sr.

6-8

320

South Carolina (4-3, 2-3) depth chart

Edge
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

5

Kyle Kennard

Sr.-TR.

6-5

254

55

Gilber Edmond

RS-Sr.-TR.

6-4

255

Defensive tackle
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

91

Tonka Hemingway

Sr.

6-3

288

OR 90

T.J. Sanders

RS-Jr.

6-4

290

Defensive tackle
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

95

Alex Huntley

RS-Sr.

6-4

303

93

Nick Barrett

Sr.

6-2

309

OR 99

DeAndre Jules

RS-Sr.-TR.

6-4

315

Edge
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

6

Dylan Stewart

Fr.

6-6

248

46

Bryan Thomas Jr.

Jr.

6-2

247

OR

Jatius Geer

RS-Jr.

6-4

256

MIKE
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

22

Bam Martin-Scott

RS-Sr.

6-2

241

OR 17

Demetrius Knight Jr.

RS-Sr.-TR.

6-2

243

15

JayR Johnson

Fr.

6-4

240

WILL
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

0

Debo Williams

RS-Sr.

6-1

232

32

Mohamed Kaba

RS-Sr.

6-3

241

Nickel
Jalewis Solomon Jalewis Solomon 6-1 195 FR-HS Ellaville, Ga.
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

24

Jalon Kilgore

So.

6-2

219

21

Kelvin Hunter

Fr.

6

202

OR 16

Jalewis Solomon

Fr.

6-1

195

Cornerback
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

3

O'Donnell Fortune

RS-Sr.

6-1

185

8

Emory Floyd

RS-So.

6-1

195

OR 29

David Spaulding

RS-Sr.

6-1

197

Free safety
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

7

Nick Emmanwori

Jr.

6-3

227

13

David Bucey

Fr.

6-1

204

OR 23

Gerald Kilgore

RS-So.-TR.

6

216

Strong safety
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

1

DQ Smith

Jr.

6-1

215

31

Peyton Williams

RS-So.

6

200

Cornerback
NumberNameClassHeightWeight

20

Judge Collier

So.

6-1

201

4

Vicari Swain

RS-Fr.

6-1

190

Texas A&M statistical leaders


Passing: Weigman, 62-109 (56.9%), 782 yards, 3 TD, 4 INT

Reed, 45-81 (55.6%), 655 yards, 6 TD

Rushing: Moss, 119 carries, 757 yards (6.4 YPC), 10 TD

Daniels, 81 carries, 383 yards (4.7 YPC), 5 TD

Reed, 52 carries, 288 yards (5.5 YPC), 5 TD

Receiving: Thomas, 22 catches, 349 yards (15.6 YPC), 3 TD

Allen, 14 catches, 220 yards (15.7 YPC), 1 TD

Barber, 18 catches, 185 yards (10.3 YPC)

South Carolina statistical leaders


Tackles: Emmanwori, 49

Williams, 40

Knight and Martin-Scott, 36

Tackles for loss: Stewart, 6.5

Knight, 5.5

Martin-Scott, 5.5

Sacks: Kennard, 8.5

Stewart, 4.5

Hemingway, 3

Interceptions: Emmanwori, 4

Kilgore, 3

Fortune, 2

Forced fumbles: Five players with 2

Fumble recoveries: Five players with 1

Head-to-head

A&M's offense vs. South Carolina's defense
CategoryA&MNational/SEC rankSouth CarolinaNational/SEC rank

Scoring offense/defense

32.3 PPG

39th, 8th

18.7 PPG

22nd, 8th

Total offense/defense

401.1 YPG

60th, 10th

298.3 YPG

13th, 4th

Rushing offense/defense

221.5 YPG

9th, 2nd

101.9 YPG

16th, 3rd

Passing offense/defense

179.6 YPG

113th, 14th

196.4 YPG

37th, 6th

First downs/allowed

165

59th, 9th

121

12th, 5th

3rd down conversions/

defense

45.1%

29th, 6th

34.7%

41st, 9th

Red zone %/ defense

97%

4th, 1st

80%

41st, 9th

Tackles for loss allowed/TFL

3.25/

game

7th, 2nd

8.1/

game

7th, 4th

Sacks allowed/sacks

1.38/

game

38th, 3rd

4/game

3rd, 2nd

Turnovers/

forced

6

12th, 2nd

16

12th, 3rd

Turnover +/-

+7

17th, 1st

+4

30th, 6th

Time of possession

31:35

32nd, 5th

31:48

22nd, 3rd

What A&M wants to do

Use the RPO game effectively, don't get behind the sticks, protect Reed (or Weigman) and don't turn the ball over.

South Carolina's defense is very good, particularly up front. But their offense is atrocious. The easiest way for them to stick around and steal this game is if A&M helps them do it.

The gameplan has to start with Moss, as it does nearly every week. It is not easy to run on the Gamecocks, but both LSU and Ole Miss did it with reasonable success -- and we know that LSU couldn't run on A&M at all. So Moss has to be the guy carrying the load, with Reed knowing when to pull the ball when they go with the zone read, which they probably will a lot. They ran it far more effectively against LSU than they have earlier in the year, and I don't just mean that LSU couldn't stop it; they were much more efficient in the whole operation.

But if you want that to work and keep the defensive line off of Reed, you've got to mix in some quick passes as well. We started to see more of that last week, but outside of hitting Jabre Barber twice on one drive, Weigman largely misfired when he had guys open and crossing in the middle. That is something Reed should be able to do with some consistency. I'd also work in some rollouts to get Reed more time to look down the field -- and give him the option to take off if he needs it.

This game is probably going to be a slugfest, so the Aggie offensive line has to keep doing what it has in SEC -- physically beat down their opponents. They blew Missouri off the ball from the start, and wore down Arkansas and LSU to the point they broke in the second half. Doing the same this weekend is an absolute must.

How South Carolina may counter

Try to get pressure with their front four and make like difficult for Reed in the running game and throwing the ball.

South Carolina's defensive ends don't play the same style of game as Nic Scourton and Shemar Stewart, but the results are just as good if not better. They're extremely fast, can get around the edge and make life miserable for opposing quarterbacks.

If the Gamecocks can win first down, then A&M is probably in a position where they don't want to be. They want to run the ball, keep the heat off Reed and just wear South Carolina down. You can't do that if you're in 2nd and 9 or 2nd and 8.

South Carolina will likely mix up their looks and bring a few more extra men to confuse Reed, because they're not just looking for negative plays. They're looking for turnovers. In the first quarter against Oklahoma, they picked off the first play from scrimmage to take over at the OU 41, then scored on a fumble return and a pick six. It was 21-0 and the offense hadn't done much of anything. That, of course, is what they would like to repeat.

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