Everyone in the SEC has at least one conference loss.
A week after taking over the top spot in the SEC all by itself, No. 10 Texas A&M suffered its first SEC loss of the season in a 44-20 defeat at South Carolina. The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and then scored 10 straight in the third quarter to put the Aggies away.
Texas A&M briefly took a 20-17 lead in the second quarter after two straight touchdowns. But the Gamecocks tied the game with a field goal at halftime and then took the lead in the third quarter on a 52-yard run by Rocket Sanders.
South Carolina (5-3, 3-3 SEC) never trailed after that.
The Aggies (7-2, 5-1, SEC) entered the game as just 2.5-point favorites and started Marcel Reed at QB. Reed took over for Conner Weigman in A&M’s Week 9 win over LSU and the Aggies scored TDs on Reed’s first four possessions.
Though A&M coach Mike Elko didn’t officially name a starter ahead of the game, that spark made it pretty clear that Reed would be the guy against South Carolina. However, the offense wasn’t nearly as good with Reed on the field on Saturday night as it was against LSU, and it suffered a big loss when Le’Veon Moss left the game in the first half with a knee injury.
Moss, the team’s leading rusher, was injured when he got hit in the leg while racing down the sideline after a reception. He was immediately taken into the injury tent and then carted to the locker room.
The A&M defense, meanwhile, couldn’t contain South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers. He continually escaped pressure from Aggies defenders and was able to turn near-certain losses into positive plays.
Three of South Carolina’s four touchdowns were over 20 yards. Sellers opened the scoring with a 23-yard TD and the game was sealed by a 57-yard pass to Joshua Simon to put the Gamecocks up three scores.
A cluster atop the SEC
A&M’s loss means there are now five teams with one loss in the SEC: Texas A&M (5-1), Georgia (5-1), Texas (3-1), Tennessee (3-1) and LSU (3-1).
The Aggies and Bulldogs have the early advantage to get to the SEC title game simply because they have fewer games to play, but don’t count out any of the teams at 3-1. And Ole Miss and Alabama at 3-2 could even still be in play too.
The morass at the top sets up what will be a fascinating stretch run. Georgia visits Ole Miss next week while LSU hosts Alabama. A week later, Tennessee visits Georgia and Texas and Texas A&M play each other in the last week of the season.
At most, just three teams will finish the season with one conference loss and it’s very possible a two-loss team could sneak into the title game. However, it’s anyone’s guess who those teams will be.