On the same morning Texas A&M looked to finalize a six-year extension to pay Mike Elko more than $11 million a season, the Aggies walked into Kyle Field with a chance to go 10-0 for the first time since 1992.
At halftime, down 30-3 to unranked South Carolina, it looked like the universe was writing another Aggie punchline.
By the final whistle, the joke was on all of us (or me, at least) because somehow, some way, the Aggies authored the most absurd comeback in SEC history, winning 31-30 after scoring
28 unanswered points with no shortage of emotional whiplash. I think I legally died sometime in the fourth quarter.
College Football is stupid. And I love it.
First Half
Burn It. Bury It. Salt the Earth.
There’s slow starts, and then there’s whatever fresh hell the Aggies put on display in the first 30 minutes.
Four turnovers.
Terrible picks.
An 80-yard track meet from Harbor while our secondary looked on.
A strip sack returned for six.
Two missed field goals.
Negative rushing yardage.
Three points.
Meanwhile, LaNorris Sellers who has struggled all year looked like a cheat code.
Mike Furrey, CALLING PLAYS FOR THE FIRST TIME, looked like Steve Spurrier after three bumps.
And the Gamecocks looked ready to void Elko’s contract before the ink dried.
It was 30–3.
At home.
On the biggest day for the program in at least a decade.
Then came the stupid magic.
Third Quarter
A&M opened with desperation and a 4th-and-12 bomb that should’ve been the moral victory drive in a blowout loss. Instead, it sparked the dang thing.
Reed hit Williams for a 27-yard touchdown.
30 to 10.
South Carolina stalled.
A&M struck again with a 39-yard touchdown to make it 30-17.
Kyle Field reanimated.
Then the Aggie offense hit the NOS.
76-yard catch-and-run by Ashton Bethel-Roman. Then a 14-yard TD pass to Nate Boerkircher.
Now it’s 30-24, and suddenly the Gamecocks were wobbling.
South Carolina punted again.
A&M got pinned at the one-yard line.
Fourth Quarter
Ninety-nine yards.
NINETY. NINE.
The Aggies marched the entire field and EJ Smith punched it in.
28 unanswered.
31–30 Aggies.
Kyle Field went bonkers.
Yell Leaders speaking in tongues.
Then the defense forced another three and out.
This should’ve been it. But of course not. This is Texas A&M.
At the goal line, third and one, Collin Klein called the dumbest play in Aggie history.
A baffling trick play on the one-yard line while trying to put the game away.
South Carolina recovered the backward pass.
Here we go.
But Elko’s defense tightened every bolt with two monster sacks.
Turnover on downs.
Aggies win. The season lives.
10-0.
Gig ’em forever.
