Texas A&M survived South Carolina in a 24-17 victory at Kyle Field in College Station. Don’t look now, but the Aggies are 4-1 overall and 2-0 in SEC play in a season where some boosters were ready to fire head coach Kevin Sumlin after the first game. Granted, most fans still aren’t moved, and rightfully so with A&M’s pattern of late season collapses under Sumlin.
With that, here are five observations from Saturday night’s win:
Texas A&M won the fourth quarter.
The Aggies outscored South Carolina 14-0 in the final period to turn a seven-point deficit into a seven-point win. Senior Keith Ford had a seven-yard touchdown run where he got held up at the four, but pushed the pile (with the help of some offensive lineman) over the goal line to tie it up. Ford added a 17-yard score with 7:42 left to take the lead.
The defense started strong and finished stronger.
Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis’s unit started the game with four straight three & outs and finished it with four more and a fourth down stop. The Gamecocks picked up just one first down and gained only 19 yards in the first and fourth quarters.
Texas A&M pass rush got to Jake Bentley in the knick of time.
After a troublesome first quarter, South Carolina’s sophomore quarterback got into the rhythm and completed 11-of-15 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns from the start of the second to the 9:24 mark of the third. The Aggies, however, sacked Bentley five times on nine plays to put the sophomore back in his place.
Kellen Mond never did challenge the Gamecocks downfield, but he didn’t have to.
Texas A&M’s offensive game plan is clearly centered around running the ball. The Aggies had 49 runs to just 27 passes. Ford had 70 yards on 12 carries, sophomore Trayveon Williams gained 56 yards on 16 totes, and Mond finished with 95 yards on 16 attempts. Mind did complete 19 throws for 159 yards, but very few of those tested the secondary vertically.
The water in Kyle Field stopped working so no one could use the bathroom for 45 minutes.
Yep, this actually happened. Fans were forced to leave the stadium and go to one of the adjacent buildings if they needed to relieve themselves. During that time, which started in the first quarter and lasted through a good portion of the second, the only think backed up in Kyle Field was Texas A&M’s offense.
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