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National reactions from South Carolina's wild collapse against Texas A&M

Screenshotby: Kevin Miller5 hours agokevinmillerGC
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© Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

On Saturday, South Carolina was on the road for an SEC matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies. The Gamecocks absolutely dominated the first half, going into the break up 30-3, but A&M battled back, scoring 28 unanswered points. When the final whistle sounded, Mike Elko’s team came out on top. South Carolina had blown a 30-3 lead to lose, 31-30.

In what was a horrendous second half of play, South Carolina was out-gained 371-76 and out-scored 28-0. Because of that, Shane Beamer’s group moved to 3-7 overall and 1-7 in Southeastern Conference play.

With the game going differently than anyone could have imagined, national reactions were plentiful.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina football!

On3’s Chris Low was one of many prominent college football figures who accurately called what happened at Kyle Field a “meltdown.” Never before had Texas A&M come back from a 27-point deficit.

Comedian Kevin Fredericks also got in a joke at the Gamecocks’ expense. Even with the great second half, Texas A&M fumbled near the goal line (their fourth turnover of the day) to give South Carolina one final chance to win the ball game. Alas, they couldn’t do it.

Even though he is a self-identified doubter of Texas A&M, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd left his viewing of the historic collapse impressed (or not?) with just how poorly things went for the Gamecocks in the third quarter. Texas A&M stormed back with 21 points in the third period and 28 points over a 15-minute stretch.

Barstool Sports’ Brandon Walker placed the blame squarely at the feet of head coach Shane Beamer. Prior to Saturday, SEC teams were 0-286 since 2004 in games in which they trailed by at least 2027 points. The Gamecocks allowed the Aggies to move that number to 1-286.

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Despite the many reasons for South Carolina fans to be upset with what happened on Saturday, there were some positives on the field, primarily in the first half. Quarterback LaNorris Sellers threw an absolutely perfect deep ball to wide receiver Vandrevius Jacobs for a 50-yard touchdown. Sportsbook Review’s Rob Paul, an NFL Draft analyst, still believes in Sellers because of throws like that one.

Stat guru Parker Fleming raved about Nyck Harbor’s sprint speed after the USC junior had a blazing-fast catch-and-run that went for 80 yards and a touchdown. Near the end of the run, Harbor pulled up a little lame and then had a strange run-in with a police officer in the tunnel that resulted in the officer being relieved of his gameday duties.

With South Carolina’s strong first half, 680 The Fan’s Barrett Sallee noticed how much better the offense was than at any other point of the season. The Gamecocks logged 312 yards and 23 offensive points in the first two quarters, nearly matching the season-high in yardage and surpassing the season-high in offensive scoring; Mike Furrey’s opening two quarters were better than any half Mike Shula led all year as the team’s playcaller. Things then fell apart in the second half, but USC managed its first 350-yard game of the year. They also scored more than 22 points on offense for the first time this fall.

CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli satorically compared the South Carolina-Texas A&M roller coaster ride to the beginning of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. That story began, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Maybe Saturday’s contest could be called A Tale of Two Gamecock Halves.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina football!