South Carolina at Texas A&M: GABA Staff Predictions

The Gamecocks needed a double-digit comeback last week to beat LA Tech and improve to 3-1 and we’re here to predict whether or not they can pull off another win in a much tougher game.

Thomas: Welp, this one scares me. South Carolina always seems to make freshman QB’s good and I don’t think Kellen Mond will be the exception. I think that the bend don’t break defense is at serious risk to be exposed this week. I’m still scared and don’t know if South Carolina can score whatsoever without Deebo. Texas A&M will just put too many points on the board and I don’t think USC can match them. They’ve scored 40+ in every game this year, but I do not think that will get there this week. The offense has hindered us so far, and it’s going to do it again this game. Gonna go 27-16 Aggies. Let’s hope I’m wrong.

Demetri: Bad news, Gamecock fans. Thomas ain't gonna be wrong. Forget the Kellen Mond coming out party. Last week was about Christian Kirk waking the F up and I think A&M is going to ride that momentum this week.

Carolina's defense won't let A&M go off for 50 points but A&M won't have to. They could put up 28 and still beat the Cocks by three scores, because if we learned anything last weekend it's that it's gonna be a long season without Deebo. I'll say A&M 38-17.

Matt: It’s not looking good. Demetri hit the nail on the head. The Gamecocks’ offense is struggling, and A&M has the advantage of playing in College Station. Hopefully the Gamecocks can build off a better ground performance with Ty’son Williams last week. Perhaps that will help, but it doesn’t seem the Cocks have enough. Their defense will have to play lights out and then some. 31-14 Aggies.

Katie: All the predictions so far have been negative, so as one of the resident sports optimists here at GABA, I’ll predict that the Gamecocks somehow leave College Station with a win. How will they win? No idea. Maybe A&M’s entire team will suddenly forget how to play football. Maybe Jake Bentley will be possessed by the spirit of Connor Shaw in multiple overtimes at Mizzou and Bryan Edwards will be possessed by the spirit of Alshon Jeffery in many games. Maybe college football is just weird and unpredictable and something really, really, really lucky will happen for South Carolina. Maybe I just picked the Gamecocks to win in our pick’em league and also don’t like watching them lose so I hope they sense this somehow.

In all seriousness, the offense is struggling and I don’t know that the defense - even with a top-level performance - is gonna be enough to give the Gamecocks a shot at winning this one.

Kody: Much like USC’s relationship with Auburn, until they beat Texas A&M, I won’t believe it can happen. The Aggies have been a nightmare matchup for the Gamecocks since they entered the SEC, and this defense looks like it’s still a year or two away from being able to hang with A&M’s speedy, athletic skill players. Throw in USC’s uninspiring performances on offense the past two weeks and it doesn’t look good. I will say this team has played much better on the road, so maybe the Gamecocks will find a way to turn in a respectable effort. I’ll be a tad optimistic and assume they do, but I’m still gonna go with 31-20 Aggies.

DC3: This matchup scares the heck out of me, given the ability of noted good-name-haver and exceptionally talented quarterback, Kellen Mond, and the Aggies’ stout run defense, but I do have some sliver of hope. The OLine is almost exclusively comprised of freshmen, and their performances this season have been, well, erratic.

This game comes down to ToP; if the Gamecocks keep their offense on the field and can do enough to establish a run game, this could be fun as heck. If they have trouble early and fall a score or two behind, it will be the fourth consecutive loss to our very peculiar arbitrary rivals from the Big-12.

Everybody already knows I'm a sourpuss, so Gamecocks 13 - Aggies 33. Please @ me if I'm wrong.

Kaci: At first glance the Gamecocks seem so obviously doomed in this game that I fully intended to predict a loss this week. The Aggies have an offense that Carolina would be hard-pressed to keep up with even if Deebo could play and a stellar performance by the Gamecock defense won’t be enough to help Carolina if the offense doesn’t get it together. But the Aggies haven’t consistently looked impressive and I’m convinced that the Carolina offense can be a lot better than it looked the last couple of weeks. So I’m going to go against my initial instinct and predict that Carolina pulls off a miraculous 27-24 win.

Sydney: I’m going to say something like A&M 35, South Carolina 14, but it will probably be a lot closer because that’s how these things work sometimes. Anyway, A&M has a much better team than the Gamecocks do at this point in time, despite some of struggles they had at the beginning of the season. But I’d like Jake Bentley to come into this game cool, calm and focused enough to know how to make plays and find his receivers a little better than he did in the first three quarters against LA Tech. Also, the Gamecocks have to get their run game going. We saw glimpses of that when Ty’Son Williams had the ball, but as DC3 said, A&M’s tough to run against.

Chris: Let's be honest -- do either of these fan bases feel good about this game? South Carolina needed a field goal last week to beat Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M saw their defense put on a bona fide stinker against Arkansas. Seeing as how weird both of these team's seasons have gone -- I'm at a loss of what to think about Saturday night. Here's what I do know:

1. South Carolina's defense has played at a top-40 level this season, including a pass defense that's shut out big plays.
2. Texas A&M's offense has played at a top-30 level this season, including a running game that can break of big runs

That''s about it. This game may come down to how well Jake Bentley and the Gamecock offense can perform against an Aggie defense that's been average at best this year. That doesn't make me feel great as a fan and I thinkm it will lead to an asthetically unappealing game. Gamecocks cover the spread, but the Aggies get the win. Give it a 21-14 score.