Another week, same outcome. A loss.

Texas A&M has now dropped its fifth SEC game of the season, and this time, it fell again on the road at South Carolina, 17-9.

Definitely not the outcome head coach Mike Elko wanted, as his team is still struggling through a treacherous season and now sits under .500 with three games remaining.

Throughout the afternoon, the Maroon and White couldn't create enough points on offense. Meanwhile, quarterback LaNorris Sellers had a solid day at the office despite being injured, while quarterback Marcel Reed continued to wrestle with a challenging year as the offense's facilitator.

With this conference game marking South Carolina’s fourth straight win, A&M had another disappointing week, and these were the biggest takeaways from the discouraging day.

Rueben Owens Weaved Through South Carolina Defense

One key to this game was whether A&M’s offense could run the football early, because South Carolina’s defense is vulnerable to the run, and running back Rueben Owens exposed that vulnerability. Look at what went down on that opening drive.

Starting the day on the first possession, offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins didn't hesitate to dial up a couple of running plays designed to get the ball into the hands of the fast-moving Owens.

On his first rush attempt, Owens got a notable block from offensive lineman Lamont Rogers, who did a great job securing the edge. A burst of speed up the sidelines gave Owens A&M's first explosive play. His next rush was a 4-yard gain that helped set up a field goal by kicker David Olano, but it didn't result in points.

Later in the day, the El Campo native found more open space, with a large chunk of his yardage coming on the opening drive out of halftime, where he showed off rapid, crisp footwork for a 44-yard gain. The 5-foot-11 ground pounder never had a carry over 10 yards after that but kept the Gamecocks’ defense on their toes with multiple gains for three or more yards.  

It is a shame one of the best performances of his collegiate career ended in a loss, as his 137 yards weren't enough to get to the finish line with a victory.

Depth Tested After Injuries On Both Sides

One of the day's headlines came after Sellers left the game late in the second quarter with what appeared to be a lower-leg injury, hobbling off the field with assistance.

Another player missing was wide receiver Mario Craver, who was also shaken up after securing an 8-yard pass. The training staff checked him out, and he returned to the field, but he needed a few teammates to step up while he was out.

Coming in with more reps were wide receivers TK Norman and Aaron Gregory, who made a few receptions in the first quarter that kept the offense in manageable situations. Norman made a few catches in the first quarter with under four minutes to go for seven and 10 yards. As for Gregory, he had two grabs for 17 yards in the final three minutes of the first quarter.

As for the Gamecocks, Sellers went to the locker room for an X-ray, which meant head coach Shane Beamer was going to consider riding with his backup quarterback, whom he has complete confidence in, but Sellers stuck through the pain after visibly being uncomfortable on the sidelines.

Errors From A&M and South Carolina

Going into the break, two major conversations were difference makers. One was that A&M chose a fake field goal instead of trusting Olano, who was perfect all season.

The other developing story was Sellers fumbling the football with six minutes left in the second half, and Brandon Davis-Swain recovering it and handing it right back to his offense.

Because Sellers couldn't handle the football, A&M’s defense got off the field and didn't allow many explosive plays that led to scoring. Reed produced enough offense right before the break to go down the field on 13 plays for 50 yards in 5:23, setting up Olano's second field goal.

Those two situations kept the game at 7-6 going into intermission. Everyone has to ask what would have happened if those two scenarios hadn't occurred. A&M was driving down the field on that opening drive and had a full head of steam before turning the football over on downs.

Two consequential sequences on South Carolina’s eighth drive hurt A&M’s chances of not giving up any points. Still, after not loading the line of scrimmage on a fourth-and-one, they found themselves in another third-and-medium when Tafiq Byard was caught holding, which let kicker Malik Orsan reach his field-goal range and nail a 43-yard kick.

Extremely late in the game, Sellers was able to possibly put away the game after the Aggies turned it over on downs and on a first down where there were three timeouts left for Elko to use, Sellers took off to pick up the first down, galloping his way into the end zone for a late touchdown.

Instead of scoring, he should've fallen to the grass and let the clock wind down, but he let Reed get the ball in his hands one more time. Three seconds left on the South Carolina 10 wasn’t enough to potentially tie the game up and send it to overtime.  

Credit Aggies’ Defense for Gamecocks Struggling to Run Football

At halftime, the Aggies held the Gamecocks to only 36 yards on the ground and created pressure up front. Sellers was held to negative 10 yards after four attempts, and his teammate Isaiah Augustave also had only four carries for 29 yards. Jabree Coleman led the team in touches but managed just 17 yards.

Part of the success was defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill dialing up pressure, whether from linebackers attacking or the secondary, and it was working.

A&M piled up two sacks on Sellers in two quarters; it was needed, considering the group was one of the worst in the conference in sacks this season. Defensive end Marco Jones brought down Sellers for a 16-yard loss on the first defensive drive, putting South Carolina in a fourth-and-26.

Freshman defensive end Bryce Perry-Wright also yanked down Sellers for the 4-yard loss. Between those two sacks, that matched a season high for the Aggies, which occurred in the Kentucky and Alabama games.

Aside from the three explosive plays, A&M’s defense did a great job holding South Carolina to under 110 rushing yards. Two of the “big plays” through three quarters came from Augustave: 10- and 11-yard gains. Obviously, the third came in the final stretch, with Sellers' touchdown to win the game.

Detrimental Explosive Plays

A&M’s secondary didn’t have enough left in the tank to rally from behind after South Carolina's weapons created separation and found space. Between leading receiver Nyck Harbor's four receptions for 70 yards and two other players with over 50 yards each, A&M repeated its theme of not being able to shut down explosive passing plays, a theme that has defined the season.

On the day, the Gamecocks had seven passing explosive plays, and all were 15+ yards. Four of those seven went for more than 20 yards: 21, 24, 40, and 64-yard gains that all turned in Sellers' favor and not in favor of men in coverage like Marcus Ratcliffe, Julio Humphrey, and Byard.

When those chunk plays happen, both sides of the ball have to respond, and unfortunately that wasn't the case for the Aggies.