The best rushing performance of the Shane Beamer era.
That, more than anything else, is what Saturday night was.
South Carolina football upset No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at Williams-Brice Stadium behind a whopping 275 yards on the ground, the highest rushing total in SEC play of the Beamer era. Between the ground game dominance and a second half shutout from the defense, South Carolina muscled its away to its fifth win of the season and might have vault itself into the national rankings next week. It totaled 530 yards of offense, trailing only the legendary 2022 win over Tennessee for the highest SEC yardage total of the Beamer era.
South Carolina (5-3, 3-3 SEC) rode the momentum of a fervent home crowd early, busting out of the gates with the first 14 points in a similar scoring flurry to the 17-0 start it had on Texas A&M’s (7-2, 5-1 SEC) last trip to Columbia in 2022.
A perfect opening drive script resulted in a 23-yard LaNorris Sellers run off left tackle, and four plays later South Carolina got the ball back when Debo Williams flew into the back field and blew up a fourth-and-1 hand-off behind the line of scrimmage.
One quarterback rushing touchdown, one forceful stop in the backfield, two plays which set the tone for the rest of South Carolina’s blunt force object performance all night. The Gamecocks took a sledgehammer to Texas A&M’s notoriously physical fronts, wearing down the Aggies one run at a time.
Sellers connected with Joshua Simon to make it 14-0 and even once the game settled into something more resembling a normal script as opposed to the early energy free-for-all of the initial moments, South Carolina’s offensive line still spent the game pushing bodies and moving the chains.
The defense had its lapses, for sure. Texas A&M put up two lengthy field goal drives, and found one crease up front when back-up running back Amari Daniels scored on a 56-yard run. The visitors even took the lead just before halftime with a 60-yard touchdown drive, marking the first time the Gamecocks have allowed 20 points in a half since the Ole Miss game nearly a month ago.
And after that, no more.
Alex Herrera’s 44-yard field goal capped off a game-tying drive just before halftime, and Sanders galloped to the end zone for the second time in the game from 52 yards out to break the second half scoring seal.
Texas A&M failed to score on its next eight possessions after taking the lead, headlined by another fourth-and-1 Williams stop when he pounced in a gap and met Daniels in the backfield. The defense eventually forced its trademark turnovers as well, thanks to an O’Donnell Fortune interception and a Kyle Kennard fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.
In a nutshell, South Carolina beat Texas A&M at its own game. In front of a sold out crowd, facing a top-10 opponent known for its physicality in the running game, the Gamecocks took the fight to the Aggies all night.
And when Sellers connected with Simon for the second touchdown of the night — a back-breaking 57-yarder with under four minutes to go — it officially slammed the door on a game South Carolina completely dominated in the second half.
Slammed the door, and maybe kicked it down in the process.
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