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Texas A&M survives South Carolina scare with largest comeback in school history
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- Texas A&M survives South Carolina scare with largest comeback in school history
Texas A&M football can exhale.
Behind an impressive second-half effort from Marcel Reed and Co., the third-ranked Aggies (No. 3 in CFP) orchestrated a historic 31-30 come-from-behind victory over South Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.
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The comeback for the Aggies , who trailed 30-3 going into halftime, is the largest in program history . It also marked the first time since 2004 that an SEC team won a game in which it once trailed by at least 27 points.
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"Unbelievable grit. Unbelievable togetherness. They obviously played really bad to start the game and that starts it," Texas A&M coach Elko told ESPN's Taylor McGregor following the game on Texas A&M's win. "They don't blink, they don't. We've been in a lot of these situations. We found ways to find wins. No one panicked on our sidelines."
So, how did the Aggies stave off a potential hit to their College Football Playoff resume after falling behind 30-3? The Aggies' high-powered offense kicked it into high gear with a 21-point third quarter that began with a 27-yard pass from Marcel Reed to Izaiah Williams for Texas A&M's first touchdown of the game. Then Reed found Ashton Bethel-Roman and Nate Boerkircher for 39-and 14-yard touchdown passes, respectively, to make it a one-score game going into the fourth quarter.
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Texas A&M took its first lead of the afternoon on a 4-yard rushing touchdown from EJ Smith , the son of NFL running back Emmitt Smith, at the 10:47 mark of the fourth quarter.
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The Aggies defense continued its own second-half dominance by forcing a punt and a turnover on downs to end the game following Jamarion Morrow's fumble near the South Carolina goal line. Tyler Onyedim and Cashius Howell sacked LaNorris Sellers on back-to-back plays on South Carolina's final drive of the night for losses of 11 and 4 yards, respectively.
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South Carolina put up 312 total yards of offense in the first half compared to Texas A&M's 132. The Aggies created 371 total yards in the second half, while holding the Gamecocks to just 76.
The win for the Aggies gives them their 10th win of the season and keeps them tied atop the SEC standings with Alabama .
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas A&M avoids CFP resume scare with comeback win vs South Carolina
