No. 21 South Carolina holds off Texas A&M 17-9 despite being outgained

No. 21 South Carolina beat Texas A&M 17-9 at Williams-Brice Stadium, and the scoreboard told a story the stat sheet did not. The Aggies finished with 457 total yards to South Carolina's 360, 26 first downs to 17, and 43 rushing attempts to 27 — yet they went 0-for-2 on fourth down and scored only nine points. The Gamecocks, outgained by nearly 100 yards, left with a conference win.

LaNorris Sellers did the efficient work for South Carolina, completing 20 of 31 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown, averaging 8.1 yards per attempt. Nyck Harbor was his leading target with four catches for 70 yards. Isaiah Augustave led a modest ground game with 50 yards on 10 carries.

The game swung late. Neither team scored in the first quarter, and South Carolina took a 7-6 lead into halftime. Texas A&M's third-quarter field goal put the Aggies ahead 9-7 heading into the fourth, but the Gamecocks answered with 10 points in the final period to close it out.

Texas A&M's best efforts came from Rueben Owens II, who ran for 137 yards on 19 carries at 7.2 yards a pop, and Marcel Reed, who completed 25 of 43 passes for 251 yards without an interception. Isaiah Horton caught five passes for 78 yards. But the Aggies converted 9 of 19 third downs, were flagged eight times for 75 yards, and could not turn their yardage into points.

Fred Johnson led the South Carolina defense with 11 tackles and a sack, and the Gamecocks forced no turnovers, and their only giveaway was a lost fumble; Texas A&M had none. Marco Jones had a sack for Texas A&M, and Tawfiq Byard led the Aggies with six tackles.

South Carolina improved to 6-3 with the win. Texas A&M fell to 4-5.