Marcel Reed leads Texas A&M past South Carolina: How Aggies pulled off biggest SEC comeback in 21 years

David Suggs

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Marcel Reed leads Texas A&M past South Carolina: How Aggies pulled off biggest SEC comeback in 21 years image

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For two quarters, Texas A&M's hopes for a perfect season looked dead in the water. The Aggies opened the season with a nine-game winning streak, most of them marked by dominant showcases and crooked scorelines.

Their Week 12 duel with South Carolina took on different contours. Texas A&M looked like a weary prizefighter in the game's opening half, falling behind amid a torrent of Marcel Reed miscues and LaNorris Sellers touchdowns.

The performance was unbecoming of a side of the Aggies' pedigree. In the second half, they proved why. Texas A&M emerged from its stupor to vanquish a resilient Gamecocks side, 31-30. The result was a historic one: the Aggies' 27-point turnaround is the biggest in the SEC in 21 seasons.

Here's how they did it.

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How Texas A&M beat South Carolina

The miscues piled up for the Aggies in the first half. Reed gave the ball away on three occasions — one of which resulted in a fumble return for touchdown. Texas A&M also missed two field goals in the opening 30 minutes. All that amounted to a 27-point deficit for Mike Elko's side, a stunning result given the team's dominance through its opening nine games.

The second half was a different story. The Aggies found life atop Kyle Field. Reed led the way, producing a 27-yard touchdown a little more than three minutes into the third.

That set the stage for an Aggies rally for the ages. Reed found his form as the second half wore on. He authored yet another Texas A&M masterpiece on the Aggies' next drive, tossing a pearl to Ashton Bethel-Roman from 39 yards out to cut South Carolina's advantage to two scores.

A third score followed shortly thereafter. Reed slipped another floated effort to Bethel-Roman, who proceeded to evade all markers before racing nearly 80 yards down the field. Bethel-Roman didn't find the end zone on his ensuing scamper. Nate Boekircher did one play later, though, bringing the once harrowing Gamecocks lead to just six.

Fireworks followed the Aggies into the fourth, too. After fielding the ball at the shadow of their own goal line, Texas A&M charted 98 yards in a little over four minutes. Reed accounted for most of the gains, using his now-golden arm to conjure wonderment on the grass.

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EJ Smith was the beneficiary of his heroics. He raced into the end zone from short range to give the Aggies a stunning lead.

There were more hiccups on the horizon for Texas A&M, who gave South Carolina another chance at taking the lead after Reed mishandled a backwards pass from Jamarion Morrow.

But the Aggies defense, which looked so dour for much of the first half, stiffed up in the second half. Texas A&M's rearguard brought LaNorris Sellers down two times behind the line of scrimmage. The Gamecocks hurler attempted to slalom beyond the Aggies' pass rush on fourth-and-long with the clock dwindling. But he couldn't escape the trail of defenders that followed him. Texas A&M had won in the most of dramatic circumstances. It made history in the process, as well — Saturday's result represents the biggest comeback in program history for the Aggies.

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Marcel Reed stats vs. South Carolina

Final score:  Texas A&M 31, South Carolina 30

  • Completions/Attempts:  22/39
  • Passing Yards:  439
  • AVG:  9.7
  • Passing TDs:  3
  • INTs:  2
  • QBR:  79.9
  • Rushing Yards:  13
  • Rushing TDs:  0
  • Fumbles:  1

Reed recorded a career-high in passing yards against South Carolina. The Aggies needed every bit of his production. Reed is widely considered a dual-threat talent. But he made his mark with his arm primarily on Saturday, particularly in the second half.

After completing just 6-of-19 passes in the first half, Reed produced more than 300 yards of total offense in the second. Reed had his faults in the second half — he mishandled a backwards pass, giving the Gamecocks and opportunity to take the lead.

Nevertheless, he did enough to remind onlookers of the reason he drew Heisman consideration in the weeks preceding Saturday's game.

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