Texas A&M (7-2, 5-1 SEC) will head into the bye week questioning what went wrong vs. South Carolina on Saturday night. The Aggies were blown out of the building, falling 44-20, their biggest season loss thus far after reeling off seven consecutive wins.
This loss wasn’t an aberration, starting and ending with A&M’s porous run defense, aided by 25 missed tackles and a poor performance in the secondary that kept the Aggies behind in the second half after entering halftime tied 20-20 after scoring two touchdowns.
Behind redshirt freshman quarterback Marcel Reed, A&M’s offense moved the ball well in the first half. Still, after starting running back Le’Veon Moss left the game due to a knee injury, OC Collin Klein failed to find any imagination per the play calling, resulting in a scoreless second half.
Going into the bye week, getting back to the basics is key, especially on defense. At the same time, Klein will need to mix up the playcalling, specifically if Le’Veon Moss will be out for an extended period of time.
After the game, Pro Football Focus released the latest grades from the matchup. Here are the most notable grades on both sides of the ball for every Texas A&M contributor:
Offense:
Senior wide receiver Jabre Barber led the Aggies with seven receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown in one of his best performances in Maroon & White, earning a team-high 784 offensive grade and 77.6 passing grade. He was the only consistent option in the passing game on Saturday night.
QB Marcel Reed, who finished 18/28 for 206 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and 46 rushing yards, was unsuccessful in the eyes of PFF, earning a low 51.3 offensive grade, a 47.3 passing grade, and an average 60.4 running grade.
Running back Amari Daniels, who finished with a team-high 83 rushing yards, including a 55-yard touchdown, continued his strong pass-blocking season (76.9) while finishing with a team-high 73.1 running grade.
On the downside, Texas A&M’s O-line was collectively bad in pass protection, as every starter except left tackle Trey Zuhn earned Pass Pro in the mid-20s, high 30s, or even single digits.
Defense:
As I previously mentioned, the Aggies missed 25 tackles defensively, the most since missing 19 against Notre Dame. While this has been an up-and-down issue throughout the season, it’s fixable, especially during the bye week.
Player-wise, PFF revealed that an impressive 15 Aggies earned a defensive grade above 60, while linebacker Solomon DeSheilds earned a team-high 72.4 overall.
In terms of pass-rush success, star defensive end Nic Scourton was average by his standards, earning the second-highest pass-rush grade (67.4) behind Cashius Howell’s prolific 90.9 grade, even though the Aggies failed to produce a sack and just six tackles for loss.
Coverage-wise, the secondary held up after allowing several explosive plays but struggled overall. However, nearly every cornerback or safety earned coverage grades at or above 60.
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