3 takeaways from South Carolina's stunning win over Texas A&M

South Carolina pulled off a significant upset Saturday night, defeating Texas A&M 44-20.

The win moves the Gamecocks to 5-3 on the season. Perhaps more importantly for neutral fans, Texas A&M is now suffering its second loss of the season – and its first in SEC play. This outcome will have significant implications for both the SEC and national postseason races.

Here are 3 takeaways from South Carolina's big win:

South Carolina's offense dominated

This was easily South Carolina's best offensive performance of the year against an SEC opponent. The Gamecocks previously scored more than 30 points in wins over Kentucky and Oklahoma, but both results were significantly boosted by takeaways.

That wasn't quite the case Saturday night against the Aggies. South Carolina averaged 7.6 yards per play in the win over Texas A&M – a borderline elite mark against an SEC opponent, let alone one with a defense as proven as A&M's. South Carolina's previous season high for yards per game in an SEC game in 2024 was 6.5 against LSU.

South Carolina's running game was particularly strong. Raheim Sanders and LaNorris Sellers averaged over 7 yards per carry in the win.

The defense controlled the game

Texas A&M gained 350 yards on Saturday night but only managed 5 yards per play. That mediocre down-to-down average resulted in the Aggies scoring just 20 total points Saturday night.

Marcel Reed played quarterback for A&M in this game after leading the Aggies to a comeback win against LSU last week. However, he wasn't nearly as effective against the Gamecocks. Reed was limited to 206 passing yards, 1 touchdown and 1 game-winning interception on 28 attempts.

As a runner, Reed carried the ball 16 times for just 46 yards.

Postseason implications

This outcome will have significant implications for both the SEC title race and the College Football Playoff moving forward.

Instead of having an undefeated team at the top of the SEC standings, the league now has a whopping 5 teams with exactly one conference loss. Three others are just behind the top group with two defeats in conference play. The closeness between the teams at the top of the table could lead to many chaotic tiebreaker scenarios down the road.

As for the CFP, Texas A&M now joins a group of two-loss CFP contenders in the SEC. The group includes LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss and Missouri starting Week 11. Texas A&M still has one home game left to play against Texas in the final week of the regular season – that would be an excellent platform for the Aggies to make a statement to the selection committee.

For South Carolina, the Gamecocks are now 5-3 on the season and are just one win away from bowl eligibility.

The first CFP rankings will be announced Tuesday evening.