Amazing second half leads Aggies past South Carolina

COLLEGE STATION — Before today, the greatest comeback for a win in Texas A&M history was 21 points, engineered by Johnny Manziel in the 2013 Chic-fil-a Bowl. SEC teams down 27 points or more were 0-286 since 2004.

Both of those records are gone.

The Aggies moved their record to 10-0 and likely clinched a spot in the College Football Playoff with a 28-point comeback to stun the South Carolina Gamecocks, 31-30.

“Wow,” coach Mike Elko said after the game.

Texas A&M (10-0, 7-0 SEC) trailed 30-3 at the half after a first 30 minutes that were comically bad. Kicker Randy Bond missed two field goals, including a 24-yard chip shot; Marcel Reed was 6-19 with a pair of interceptions; the Aggies had -9 yards rushing and LaNorris Sellers was doing whatever he wanted to against an A&M defense that had been looking to erase last year’s 44-20 debacle.

After an 80-yard touchdown pass from Sellers to Nyck Harbor and an interception by Reed (22-39, 439 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT) that was returned to the A&M 23-yard line led to a field goal by William Joyce, the Aggies were down 27 as they went to the locker room.

In spite of the score, Elko said he was pleased that his team remained optimistic as they left the field at intermission.

“I think the vibes were good, all things considered,” he said. “And I do think, at least at halftime, it was like, ‘okay, can we just, like, take a breath and start playing football a little bit?’” 

Elko dismissed the idea that he gave a fire and brimstone speech to fire up his team at halftime. Instead, he reminded them who they were.

“All we talked about was, we have an identity of who we are. If we play to our identity, we’re a good football team. If we start thinking that’s not who we are, if we start thinking we’re something else … that’s not who we are,” he said. “We’re a blue collar team, we’re a physical team, we’re a team that has to control a line of scrimmage. We’re a team that has to play with a lot of energy, and we just weren’t doing any of those things in the first half.”

In spite of the deficit, Elko said his team felt like they were still going to win.

“It felt like we had to play near perfect, down four scores at halftime,” he said.

They did. 

It took less than 4 minutes of the third quarter for A&M to score its first touchdown of the day, a perfect pass from Reed to Izaiah Williams (3 catches, 50 yards, 1 TD) from 27 yards out — the first touchdown reception of Williams’ career. 

“I almost cried when he scored, I was so happy for him,” receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman said. 

Williams was only out on the field because Mario Craver’s ankle injury forced him to the sideline, but the offense didn’t skip a beat.

“We love to have (Craver) out there, but we have in our receiver room, we have dogs behind dogs,” Bethel-Roman said.

The big play of the drive was a 16-yard scramble by Reed on 4th and 12 at the South Carolina 48.

“I was honestly surprised we went for it on 4th and 12, I mean, I guess we needed to, and that’s that situation, early in the second half,” Reed said.

South Carolina responded with an eight play drive that reached the Texas A&M 30, where they faced a 4th and 1. After South Carolina coach Shane Beamer called a timeout, the Gamecocks gave the ball to running back Matt Fuller, who never had a chance. Defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim and linebacker Daymion Sanford met Fuller in the backfield and stuffed him, giving Texas A&M the ball back. 

The Aggies then went 70 yards in the last 3 minutes, converting another fourth down in the process. On 4th and 2 at midfield, Reed found Terry Bussey for an 11-yard completion to keep the drive alive. One play later, Reed hit Bethel-Roman (4 catches, 139 yards, 1 TD) for a 39-yard scoring pass as Bethel-Roman split South Carolina’s safeties right down the middle of the field and dove for the catch that cut the lead to 30-17.

After South Carolina went three and out, the Aggies nearly replicated Harbor’s 80-yard score — where he broke a tackle about 10 yards from the line of scrimmage, then ran away from A&M defenders — on the second play of the drive. Bethel-Roman was able to break a tackle as he ran over the middle and took off. He would have scored if not for a shoestring tackle attempt that caused him to pull up at the South Carolina 13 after a gain of 76 yards.

“I wasn’t supposed to run that route,” he said. “But it didn’t matter, because I caught the ball. Now, I caught the ball and I was running, and I would call myself a pretty fast guy. Honestly, I’m the fastest in the receiver room. They will say it too, but after today, I don’t think so.”

One play later, Reed connected with tight end Nate Boerkircher, who rumbled 13 yards for the score to cut South Carolina’s lead to 30-24 with time still left in the third quarter. 

The stats for the third quarter were staggering: the Aggies put up 240 yards and 21 points in those 15 minutes, with Reed completing 9 of 12 passes for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns, while the Gamecocks only mustered 65 yards and no points.

Texas A&M had the ball to start the fourth quarter, albeit at their 1-yard line. It made no difference; the Aggies marched 99 yards in 11 plays to take the lead. It looked like Reed had put A&M in front with a 25-yard run, but it was called back on an incredibly weak holding call on Chase Bisontis. Reed didn’t flinch, immediately hitting KC Concepcion (7 catches, career-high 158 yards) for 31 yards down to the South Carolina 4-yard line. One play later, running back EJ Smith barged into the end zone for a touchdown, with Bond’s extra point giving the Aggies the lead.

On South Carolina’s next drive, the Texas A&M defense finally broke through one of the worst offensive lines in America and got to Sellers, sacking him twice on consecutive plays. Defensive end Dayon Hayes sacked him first, then blitzing cornerback Will Lee dropped Sellers a few seconds later.

A&M had a chance to put the game on ice after a short punt gave the Aggies the ball at South Carolina’s 45-yard line with 8:32 remaining in the game. Texas A&M moved down to the South Carolina 2 on a drive that lasted more than five minutes, but a botched trick play gave South Carolina the ball back at their own 9. The Gamecocks converted a 4th and 6 at their own 13 and were able to eventually moved the ball to their own 40-yard line, where they faced a 2nd and 1. But instead of running the ball, Sellers dropped back to pass and was sacked by Onyedim. Now facing a 3rd and 12, Sellers attempted to pass but was sacked again, this time by defensive end Cashius Howell. Sellers was under heavy pressure on 4th and 16 and, instead of taking a third straight sack, he decided to scramble and came up well short, giving the Aggies the ball at the South Carolina 32.

Sellers’ desperate run essentially ended a second half of total domination by the Aggies. Texas A&M outscored the Gamecocks 28-0, outgained them 371 to 76 and sacked Sellers four times. Reed completed 16 of 20 passes for 298 yards and 3 scores in the final 30 minutes to lead the comeback.

“Shoot, when things go that bad for you in the first half, something has to go right for you in the second,” Reed said.