News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 10 Texas A&M football team suffered its first SEC loss of the season Saturday night as it fell on the road to South Carolina, 44-20, at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Marcel Reed earned the start for the Aggies (7-2, 5-1 SEC) and finished the night 18-of-28 passing for 206 yards and one touchdown. The redshirt freshman also added 46 yards on the ground on 16 attempts. Running back Amari Daniels led the Maroon & White with 83 yards on 13 carries to go along with one score. Among the Aggie receivers, Jabre Barber logged a team-best 80 yards on seven catches and one touchdown.
Linebacker Taurean York collected a team-high eight tackles, five of which were solos, while Dalton Brooks, Marcus Ratcliffe and Shemar Stewart each followed with five.
A fast start from the Gamecocks (5-3, 3-3 SEC) saw the Aggies face an early 14-0 deficit with 8:24 left in the opening quarter. Texas A&M was able to slow South Carolina’s momentum behind the leg of Randy Bond, who connected on a 52-yard field goal with 5:15 left in the period. The Maroon & White’s defense provided a spark in the closing minute of the first as Will Lee III forced a fumble that BJ Mayes was able to recover.
The Aggies capitalized off the turnover in the second quarter as Bond connected on a career-long 55-yard field goal attempt with 13:12 left in the half, cutting the deficit to 14-6. Following a South Carolina 25-yard field goal, Amari Daniels found a hole through the right side and broke free for a season-long 56-yard touchdown run to pull the Maroon & White to within four, 17-13, with 7:29 remaining. The Aggies later took the lead when Reed found Barber for a 2-yard touchdown following a fourth down stop from the Texas A&M defense. Bond’s extra point gave the Maroon & White a 20-17 advantage with 1:08 showing on the clock.
The two squads went on to enter the halftime break tied at 20-20 as the Gamecocks pushed a 44-yard field goal through the uprights in the closing seconds of the quarter.
Texas A&M gave up an early touchdown out of the break and didn’t have an answer for the Gamecocks, who were able to pull away in the third quarter and tack on a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
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Texas A&M Football Post Game Notes
South Carolina 44, No. 10 Texas A&M 20
Williams-Brice Stadium (Columbia, S.C.)
Team Notes
- Texas A&M has forced a turnover in seven of the last eight games after forcing a fumble against South Carolina.
- The Maroon & White scored on a 50-plus-yard rushing play for the third time this season.
- For the first time since the 2015 season, the Aggies connected on multiple 50-plus-yard field goals in a game.
Individual Notes
- Junior RB Amari Daniels broke away on a season-long 56-yard touchdown run for his sixth rushing score of the season.
- Senior WR Jabre Barber led the receiving corps for the second time in three games catching a season-best seven passes for 80 yards and his first touchdown as an Aggie.
- Freshman QB Marcel Reed threw for a season-best 206 yards, completing 18 of his of 28 passes.
- Sophomore LB Taurean York led the defense for the fifth time this season with eight tackles.
- Junior DL Shemar Stewart matched his career high with five takedowns and added a career-best two breakups.
- Sophomore DB Marcus Ratcliffe tallied a season-best five tackles for the third time this year.
- Graduate K Randy Bond connected on his first field goal from over 50 yards of the season, first sending a 52-yarder through the uprights in the first quarter and later registering a new career-long with a 55-yard field goal in the second quarter.
- Bond has made eight field goals from 50-or-more yards in his career and became the first A&M kicker to connect on two 50-plus-yard field goals in a game since Taylor Bertolet (2012-15) hit 54- and 52-yarders against Alabama in 2015.
- Bond’s eight points in the game upped his career total to 270 to put him in a tie for seventh all-time with Rodney Thomas (1991-94) and Darren Lewis (1987-90) on A&M’s overall scoring list.