Alabama v. Texas A&M: Week 8 Game Film Review

Let's make something abundantly clear about this Alabama game. The offense didn't play well, despite the score you see at the end. And that sounds odd given that they won by 19 points, 33-14, but you'll agree with me that when you watch the tape, the offense was not firing on all cylinders, and did not take advantage of several opportunities to turn this game into the ultimate rout. Alabama won, so they get the focus in this week's review.

ALABAMA OFFENSE:

Now many of you will say, wait a second Ben, Alabama had 450 yards of offense and 28 first downs, and you're saying they didn't play well. Yes, I'm saying that and here's why. Alabama only had one offensive TD in the first half out of 4 trips to the red zone. That's not acceptable for a team with the kind of running firepower that Alabama possesses. And yet, they'd run the ball to get into the 20s, and inexplicably start to throw it around as they got close to the end zone. I don't understand it, but then again I'm not the playcaller.

My basic point is that when you only score 27 points on 450 yards, you're wasting possessions. Think of yards as nothing more than an indicator of game dominance. Similar to time of possession. If you have high yardage and high TOP you should win a game. Sometimes you don't because of turnovers, or allowing the other team high yardage, or you fail to convert inside the red zone and settle for 3s.

And don't think for a second this game wasn't in doubt. There was a time in the second quarter where Alabama was trailing by a point. They had to have an offensive TD and a fumble return TD to put the game away for good, but A&M played Alabama tough the whole way, and did a great job defensively playing Alabama in throwing situations. However, they weren't immune to the deep ball and here's an example of how Lane Kiffin can outscheme your defense.

Here's the opening formation Alabama is coming out in a shotgun 1-back set, with trips to the left, and a TE offset on the left side. They are overloading the left, but the key is that the receiver is blue is a decoy. He's not an eligible receiver because in order to be eligible you have to be the furthest receiver out on that side on the line of scrimmage. In this case, the yellow receiver is the furthest out on the line, and the orange receiver is offset a yard back from the line of scrimmage. Because the orange receiver is set back a yard, he is eligible as well. As is the TE offset in the middle. Remember, you're eligible if you're not on the line of scrimmage. You're ineligible if there's two guys on the line of scrimmage ON THE SAME SIDE.

Confusing I know. But just remember that blue is ineligible and can't cross the line of scrimmage now. He's like a lineman and if he runs downfield they get a penalty for illegal man downfield. The yellow receiver is going to be the guy who gets the ball. The orange receiver will run a straight fly route down the left sideline.

Here's the play post-snap and ball in the air. As you can see the receiver on the lower right in red never crossed the line of scrimmage and confused the LB in the red box so he's covering nobody. That leaves 3 DBs to cover three WR's down the field in one-on-one coverage. The receiver at the bottom in the orange box is covered. The receiver at the top in the orange box is mostly covered, but probably could make a catch for a 15-20 yard gain. But the receiver in the yellow? He's blown by his guy and he's about to make the big catch for 46 yards. That's ArDarius Stewart, and if QB Jalen Hurts hits him in stride, it's a housecall. He underthrew it slightly so it was only a huge playgain. Still, it shows you how Alabama can really put you in difficult situations with their formations alone.

ALABAMA DEFENSE:

The bread and butter of Alabama is still just as good as ever. Let's take a look at two things. One is on special teams coverage where Alabama got away with a targeting call. It was a kick return and Speedy Noil, one of A&Ms best receivers and players was coming back across the middle when this happened.

Yeah that's Speedy's head getting hit with the top of the Alabama player's helmet. Folks, there's only one clear part of the targeting rule and it's this: "No player shall target and make forcible contact with another player with the crown (top) of his helmet." When in question, it's a foul in the rulebook. That picture to me is VERY much in question, which means it's a foul, and he should have been thrown out of the game. He wasn't. Play didn't even stop. There was no flag, no review, and no mention of it on the field other than that people bringing it up in the booth. And they should have because the refs blatantly missed this one. When it's a team like Alabama, that inevitably brings up bias, especially because another player on A&M was (rightly) ejected for targeting later in the game.

The second thing to bring up is how frightening the front 6-7 of Alabama really is. How frightening?

The yellow circle is #93 Johnathon Allen literally Superman-style sacking the QB after beating 2, maybe 3 blocks to get there. Look at him. His legs are literally parallel to the ground. He's in full on dive smashing his face into the QB's chest for a sack. That dude weighs 291 pounds and he's got THAT kind of launch in him. Good lord. That's totally insane. Can you not see how insane that is? LOOK AGAIN, IT'S HALLOWEEN ALMOST THAT #$@% IS SCARY!

Texas A&M normally scored around 36 points on average against SEC teams this year coming into this game with Alabama. Alabama held them to 14 points. It's not even really fair right now with who good Alabama is playing. The absolute only way you can beat them, and it may not be possible short of the NFL level of talent, is to have an offensive line that's good enough to give the QB time to throw it down the field. Alabama is vulnerable in the secondary, that's why they gave up 2 passing touchdowns. But you have to have enough time to throw, and the Bama front 7 isn't going to give you that luxury often.

CONCLUSIONS:

Unless Alabama gets in their own way and turns the ball over, there's only one team left on this schedule who has the offensive firepower to beat them, and that's Auburn. Given that it's a rivalry game, that one looms larger and larger. My concern is that regardless of how it plays out, Auburn is primarily a confusion based running team, not a passing team. And if Alabama decides to stack up and make you throw? I think Auburn gets beat badly. But who knows? I've underrated Auburn all year. Maybe this time they've got an answer nobody else has had thus far.

I doubt it though.

SEC Picks Week 8

Hey I lost another 4 units last week because Tennessee crapped the bed and because Arkansas and Ole Miss decided to not score enough. Oh and Georgia lost to Vandy as a 14 point favorite. At least Florida covered. 1-3-1 on the week, and that's bad. But I'll never stop because despite my inept SEC year, I don't think anybody is doing a lot better picking this hamfisted mess of a conference against the spread.

Straight up Picks:

UMASS v. South Carolina - SOUTH CAROLINA
Texas A&M v. Alabama - ALABAMA
Middle Tennessee v. Missouri - MISSOURI
Arkansas v. Auburn - AUBURN
MS State v. Kentucky - KENTUCKY
Tennessee State v. Vandy - VANDY
Ole Miss v. LSU - LSU

Betting Picks:

Texas A&M v. Alabama -18: I'll take ALABAMA -18 (1 Unit). I said early on that A&M would be the only team to give Alabama a run for their money. They might, but the way Alabama is playing right now, I'm not going against the Tide anymore on the spread.

Middle Tennessee v. Missouri -6.5: I'll take MISSOURI -6.5 (3 Units). Middle Tennessee isn't a good team, and Missouri absolutely has to have this win to get bowl eligible. It's a must win and I think the Tigers will treat it that way.

Arkansas v. Auburn -9.5: OK this if your chance AUBURN -9.5 (1 Unit) I'm finally taking you to win something. I've been burned enough and I'm jumping on the train. Don't screw it up.

MS State v. Kentucky +3: I'm taking KENTUCKY +3 (2 Units) simply because I think MS State might be the worst offensive team I've seen in the SEC West in forever.

LONG SHOT FLYER PICK:

If you're not on the Auburn train, ARKANSAS +275 is a good way to make some money if you expect them to fall over. If you don't, take my bet above on Auburn -9.5 and let the chips fall where they may.

Each SEC Head Coach's First Year

Instead of doing a game film review this week I'm doing a piece on coaches, because sometimes I think we forget exactly what happens during the first year of a head coaches tenure. It usually sucks. It usually has a good win and one or two head scratching losses. And usually fans overreact about it until the next few years So what I'm going to do is look at the first year for all the head coaches in the SEC and what happened. Maybe this will help put the Kirby Smart loss to Vandy in perspective.

DEREK MASON

Mason was hired in 2014 to take over the Vanderbilt program as his first ever HC (Head Coach) job. Vanderbilt went 3-9 and 0-8 in the conference that year. It was an especially tough pill to swallow for a Vandy team that won 9 games and went to a bowl game in 2013. Vandy won 4 games last year. This year he's already won 3, maybe he gets to 5. When your goal as Vandy is just making a bowl game, that's progress.

KEVIN SUMLIN

Kevin Sumlin was hired to be the A&M coach in 2012. That team had a Heisman Trophy winner named Johnny Manziel, and A&M went 11-2. It was an incredible head start to that program, and to date Sumlin hasn't had another team even approach that kind of win total. Maybe he has one this year, but that remains to be seen.

However, Sumlin's first Head Coaching job wasn't A&M, he was a Head Coach at Houston before he took the job. At Houston he went 8-5, and he lost a game to a 4-8 Marshall team. He also beat a ranked Tulsa team that finished 11-3.

WILL MUSCHAMP

Muschamp was hired by South Carolina this year, and it's going poorly. But his actual first year as a HC was the unforgettable stint at Florida. Muschamp went 7-6 in 2011 in his first year with the Gators, losing to every single ranked team they played, but somehow beating Ohio State in a bowl game. The next year his Gator team went 11-2 and won the SEC East, and lost the Sugar Bowl. It went downhill quickly from there.

HUGH FREEZE

Freeze was hired by Ole Miss in 2012, and his team went 7-6 that year. They had nowhere to go but up after a 2-10 campaign under Houston Nutt. Ole Miss had the terrible loss that year to VANDY, but also beat a ranked Mississippi State team in the Egg Bowl.

Before that Hugh was the head coach of Arkansas State, and he went 10-2 in the one year he was there. And before that in his first HC job he was at Lambuth which you've likely never heard of, and his first year there he went 8-4.

BARRY ODOM

2016 is Barry Odom's first year as a head coach, and he's saddled with a Missouri program that needs direction. Right now they are 2-4 and I wouldn't expect them to get to bowl game.

DAN MULLEN

Mullen got the MS State job in 2009, and it was his first HC job. The team went 5-7 and missed a bowl game. He actually lost to Kevin Sumlin's Houston team that year, go figure. However, he did have a surprising victory against a ranked Ole Miss team in the Egg Bowl. To date, Mississippi State has never missed a bowl game under Mullen, and they are 4-2 in bowl games.

LES MILES

Yes, I realize he's been fired this season but we're doing him over the interim coach. Les was hired back in 2005 to be the LSU head coach. His team went 11-2 that season and won the SEC West. Later in 2007, they won a national title.

However, Les' first HC job was in 2001 for Oklahoma State. His team went 4-7, had an embarrassing loss to Southern Mississippi, but then somehow actually beat #4 in the nation Oklahoma at the end of the season.

MARK STOOPS

In 2013, Kentucky hired Mark Stoops in his first HC job. His Kentucky team went 2-10 and 0-8 in the conference. They lost to everybody except Miami (OH) and Alabama State. Since that year, Stoops high mark at Kentucky is a 5-7 record twice.

KIRBY SMART

Kirby's first HC job is at Georgia this year and why I'm writing this piece. Duh.

JIM MCELWAIN

McElwain was hired by Florida in 2015. He went 10-4 and they won the East that year, before losing their last 3 games in a row because their offense couldn't function once their QB was suspended.

However, that wasn't his first HC job. His first job was at Colorado State in 2012. That team went 4-8, lost to a 4-8 Wyoming team, and had almost no good wins to speak of. That team was awful. By 2014 that CSU team went 10-2 under McElwain.

BUTCH JONES

Butch's first year at Tennessee was in 2013 and the team had a forgettable 5-7 year where the highlight win was beating #11 South Carolina. They also lost to Vanderbilt, which had to really sting since it's the in-state rival.

Before that, Butch was a coach at Cincinnati, hired in 2010. That team went 4-8 that year. They subsequently won 2 Conference championships in a row.

Before that in his first HC job, Butch was hired at Central Michigan in 2008 and went 8-6, winning the conference somehow. When he left Central Michigan in 2009, the team went 11-2. Butch has improved the program basically everywhere he's been.

GUS MALZAHN

Malzahn was hired by Auburn in 2013, and Auburn won the SEC in what you could call the "Horseshoe Year." They went on to lose in the national championship when that luck ran out. Yes, I'm taking a shot. I'm still not over that stupid tip play against Georgia. Anyway that team went 11-2.

However, that wasn't his first HC job. His first job was at Arkansas State where his team went 9-3. They ended up winning the GODADDY Bowl, so that's neat. They also lost a game to Western Kentucky somehow.

BRET BIELMA

Bielma was hired by Arkansas in 2013. His team went 3-9 and was generally awful. But his first HC job was many years prior in Wisconsin, back in 2006 when the team went 12-1, and lost out on a national title shot by losing to #6 Michigan. So Bret sort of did things backwards. He had his first job ever be awesome and his second job immediately suck the first year. However, both programs experienced success under his coaching. Wisconsin won 3 conference titles in a row.

NICK SABAN

Nick was hired by Alabama in 2007, and his team went 7-6 with a bunch of vacated wins. He lost to Louisiana Monroe that year which I've brought up before. He also beat #16 Arkansas and #20 Tennesseee.

In the job before that, Nick was hired by LSU in 2000. That team went 8-4, beat ranked MS State and Georgia Tech. Lost to freaking UAB somehow.

In the job before that, Nick was hired by Michigan State in 1995. That team went 6-5-1, yes we had ties back then apparently. What a dark age. That team beat #7 Michigan, and tied a 4 win Purdue team.

In the job before that, Nick was hired to be a first time HC at Toledo in 1990. That Rockets team went 9-2 and won the conference. And yet they still had a stupid loss to 5-6 Navy that season.


CONCLUSION

The summary is that if you're a first year ever HC, you're going to have a hard time for the most part. If you're an established head coach coming to the SEC, sometimes it's better, sometimes it's not. But for the most part these coaches in the SEC have improved their teams over time, and it takes 2-3 years to see those results if they are going to happen. So don't jump all over a coach in his first year. It makes you look silly.

SEC Picks Week 7

Time for my awful picks! How many am I down at this point? Who is keeping track? Oh that would be me. I went 1-1 last week, but lost 2 units because MS State. Oh well that's down 14 units now. Let's keep the misery train rolling! I'm not stopping until I figure this out or you make a bunch of money picking against me. Either way!

STRAIGHT UP PICKS:

Mississippi State v. BYU - BYU
Vanderbilt v. Georgia - GEORGIA
Alabama v. Tennessee - ALABAMA
Mizzou v. Florida - FLORIDA
Ole Miss v. Arkansas - OLE MISS
Southern Miss v. LSU - LSU

BETTING PICKS: (Units next to pick)

Mississippi State v. BYU -7: BYU (1 UNIT) Here's the thing, BYU is at home for this one, and Mississippi State is AWFUL defensively and at the QB position, and basically catching the ball. They can run, and that's about it. If you sell out to stop it, which BYU should, they will win the game easily.

Vanderbilt v. Georgia -14: GEORGIA (1 UNIT) Georgia is not great offensively right now, but they've done a great job against Vandy at home over the last 3 meetings, winning games in the 40s. Vanderbilt is averaging about 9 points against anybody in the power 5. Can Georgia put up 24? I think they can.

Mizzou v. Florida -13.5: FLORIDA (2 UNITS) Florida gets their QB back and they look like an entirely different offense with him in the game. Also, they are rested for a week off and did nothing but gameplan for Missouri since the LSU game was cancelled. It's in the swamp and it gets ugly fast.

Alabama v. Tennessee +12.5: TENNESSEE (2 UNITS) This game traditionally has been close, and Tennessee hasn't been railroaded by anybody. Alabama is phenomenal, but it's a rival game against a team that they only beat 19-14 last year in Tuscaloosa, the year Alabama won it all. I see this one getting tight late.

Ole Miss v. Arkansas O/U 67.5: OVER 67.5 (3 UNITS) Both these teams can score and both these teams can go fast to do it. I would expect at least 10 TDs total in this game if not more. I'll take the over here.

Game Film Review Week 6: Auburn v. MS State

I picked this game because I wondered if I made an awful pick of MS State, and that I was wrong about Auburn who might be a better football team than I'm giving them credit for. Here's the truth: Yes, I made a horrible pick to take Mississippi State because they are so much WORSE than I even thought. Auburn is the same team, but they took advantage of the numerous mistakes made by MS State. By the time the half ended it was 35-0, and the game was effectively over. That's why this game shouldn't be used as a reason to believe Auburn has figured something out. They are the same team they've been all year.

AUBURN OFFENSE:

Auburn is primarily running out of a spread option set with 4 receivers, and a running back standing next to the QB in the shotgun. What's interesting to me is that when Sean White plays QB, he's not really a threat to run the ball out of that set, so what you're really looking at is a straight shotgun play action fake more than the true QB running option. Auburn can switch this look slightly by bringing in a TE to play protection on either side, slightly set back off the line. That may look like running protection but Auburn will run or pass out of any set. Their offense is based heavily on confusion.

Confusing Mississippi State wasn't difficult. With the exception of a tip that went for an interception on the very first drive, Auburn scored TDs on 4 of their 6 offensive possessions in the first half. Why? Because Mississippi State couldn't figure out what was coming. You could tell they wanted to stop the run, and they were trying to stack up the box for that. However, when Auburn decided to pass that puts the secondary by itself on certain coverage. And it's made even worse when MS State blew coverage.

Case in point. The Auburn receiver has run by two defenders for MS State, and they are at least 4 yards behind him. It's not like this guy got a head start, the safety bit on a stop and go route, and he ate them both alive. That's the problem, Auburn isn't suddenly doing stuff you never see on tape, and they aren't doing anything a good defense can't cover. But man if you make a mistake they'll beat to death because they are extremely opportunistic. That's their #1 best asset as a team.

That and the running game. Kamryn Pettyway their primary RB had 169 yards in this game, and he did most of it in small chunks. It wasn't like he busted loose for a couple of big play (his biggest was only 29 yards) what he did was 4 yards, 3 yards, 6 yards, 8 yards, 4 yards, over and over and over. He went for 39 carries for 4.3 a carry. That's a ton of running and even tougher when you think about how much tempo that Auburn runs as a team. They are getting to the line and trying to wear you out. Kudos goes to the offensive linemen who can play in that scheme, including standout Tackle #70 Robert Leff. At 6-6 and 299, he was laying people out with run blocks, and providing great protection on the edge. He looks NFL caliber right now, so check for him on Sundays.

AUBURN DEFENSE:

Again, Auburn is a team that will capitalize. They got TWO, not one but TWO sack fumbles in the first half of this game. Why? Because the QB for MS State Nick Fitzgerald is flat awful (disregard his total stats, they came in garbage time in the 2nd half after it was already 35-0). Also the protection for MS State was a joke, and Auburn took advantage. See below.

This is the first strip sack. Note the guy #3 for Auburn turning the edge with a free shot at the QB on his blind side. Also note the LT is LOOKING THE WRONG WAY.  #55 for MS State didn't even get out of his stance for the first part of that play, allowing #3 to blow by him for the sack-fumble. I don't know if he thought it was a different snap count, or he heard a whistle, or he was hearing voices of dead relatives. Either way, it was one of the worst mental errors I've seen this year looking at film. It's one thing to get beat, it's another thing to let a guy go free because you didn't even get out of your stance.

Auburn's defense is bend-don't-break, but against MS State they barely had to bend. They spent the first half of the game playing a nickel set and basically daring MS State to throw the ball, which MS State can't do well. As a result they forced three 3'and'outs, 2 sack fumbles, and a missed FG. Does it even matter that they went to a prevent in the second half and allowed a garbage time 2 TDs? No, it matters not. The game was well in hand at that point, and MS State should be freaking ashamed of their team in this game.

Overally, Auburn will get TONS of love for this game because people likely didn't watch it and just saw the score. The reality is they will face a much better set of teams over the next two weeks in Arkansas (who can score big) and Ole Miss (who can also score big). Look for some crazy shootouts that may or may not have Auburn returning back to earth.

SEC Picks Week 6

Week 5 was the worst bloodbath I've taken in 3 years. Good lord. I went 0-5 on my picks and 7 units in the crapper. Upside is I can't get worse than zero, but I'm having a major problem predicting this conference this year. And apparently I'm not alone because several of the bettors I've talked to are avoiding SEC games now. Why? Because honestly outside of Alabama the conference doesn't look that great, and they certainly aren't consistent at all. So with that being said, we might need to shift strategy a little, and pick with higher units on fewer games instead of spreading out the issue. Down 12 units now. Yikes.

Straight Up Picks:

Auburn v. Mississippi State -  MS STATE
LSU v. Florida - FLORIDA
Tennessee v. Texas A&M - TEXAS A&M
Vanderbilt v. Kentucky - KENTUCKY
Alabama v. Arkansas - ALABAMA
Georgia v. South Carolina - GEORGIA

Betting Picks:

Vanderbilt v. Kentucky - take KENTUCKY -3 (2 UNITS) - there's no reason to believe either of these teams are good, but the home team has a better shot in this one, and I don't think Vanderbilt can score on anybody this year.

LSU v. Florida - take FLORIDA (3 UNITS) - I like Florida in this game at home if they play it in Florida. If that move this one to Baton Rogue, take it off the board.

Auburn v. Mississippi State - take MS STATE (4 UNITS) - I'll fade Auburn almost all year long, but they are favored on the road when they've yet to play a single true road game all season. Why would you trust them to go into a hostile environment at night? Yes, they've scored 58 and 51 against cupcakes, but they've averaged 17 points against teams with a pulse. Meanwhile I think MS State can score 20+ and they are looking to make a statement after a bad LSU loss.

May the odds be in your favor this week!

Texas A&M v. South Carolina: SEC Game Film Review Week 5

South Carolina is a bad football team in many facets this year, but none more-so than their offense. It really comes through when you watch the team struggle on film. They can't run the ball because defenses have zero respect for their passing game so they crowd the box. They can't pass the ball because they don't have any idea who should be playing QB (both Perry Orth and Brandon McIlwain aren't very talented). As a result, they have the lowest points per game in the SEC, and the 126th scoring offense in the nation. Only one team is worse, and that's Georgia State (sorry Georgia State people).

With that in mind, Texas A&M should have absolutely murdered the Gamecocks. They didn't. They only won the game by 11 points, and they only beat them by that many because of some 4th quarter sloppiness by South Carolina. It easily could have been in doubt because South Carolina's special teams was awful. They missed 2 FGs costing themselves 6 points, and they fumbled the ball on a late punt when they had a chance to at least tie the game.

Texas A&M Offense:

When you watch the Aggie offense on tape with Trevor Knight at QB you notice some very similar formations. They love to run shotgun spread style for most of their plays. They love to open up the lanes for the possibility of a QB run, which Knight is pretty adept at doing. In fact, he had 84 yards on 12 carries with a TD. So if you think that Knight is just another boring pocket style QB, think again. He's mobile and he's dangerous with his feet. But he's also dangerous turning the ball over as he fumbled once off his own knee and gave the ball back to South Carolina.

Trevor can also throw the ball, but I don't get the sense that he's awesome at it, and that's what caused some issues for them in this game. He's a good down the field passer if you're open, and decent in the short game, but like most college QBs he's had issues in the intermediate level or throwing consistently into tighter windows. That's not abnormal anymore because most QBs by comparative standards to several years ago focus more on running around and less on actual passing footwork. But I digress. He does have one major asset in #19 Jeremy Tabuyo who made some fantastic catches including a 1-handed variety over the top of defender. He's got some talent and really shines on down the field.

The running game for A&M looks strong led by #5 Trayveon Williams who ran for almost 100 yards in the game. One of the plays was his 49 yards TD run where he shook loose up the middle and scampered down the right sideline before hurdling a falling player into the end zone. That play was sprung by #76 Colton Prater who is just a freshman. If he's making down the field blocks like that this early in his career, he's got a bright future.

Texas A&M Defense:

The defense really kept A&M in the game, because their pass rush gave South Carolina fits all day. #33 Shaan Washington had a sack and a forced fumble in the game, while #10 Daeshon Hall had 2 sacks off the edge. Hall looks like a beast out there at 6-6 and 270 pounds. If he's not on several people's draft boards I'd be shocked, because he's got the size and speed to really make an impact at the next level. This all happened while other NFL prospect Miles Garrett was on the bench with an injury.

The secondary also had a good day with #23 Armani Watts getting an interception off a tip that he created. The play was going over the middle and Watts stuck his hand in long enough to tip the ball high in the air, then located it moving backwards and made the catch. It was a spectacular athletic play that not many defensive backs could make. Yet Watts made it look rather easy, and it was one of the turning points in the game as it shut down a 7 play drive that could have given South Carolina the lead.

South Carolina:

I'll cover the team all at once because there's not much that's good here, but here's what I do like on this team. The first play of the game was a 75 yard TD run by #25 AJ Turner, who looked pretty good out there for that one play. He managed to hold the sideline and juke A&M's safety #14 Justin Evans out of his shoes, then take off for paydirt. The play was sprung by a down the field block by #70 Alan Knott, a junior who buried a linebacker trying to make the stop for a simple 7 yard gain. That block and Turner's footwork turned it into a scoring play, the only TD that South Carolina had on the day.

That's the bad part. Outside of the first minute of the game, South Carolina never really threatened the end zone. In fact the furthest they ever made it down the field for the rest of the game was the Texas A&M 25 yard line. That means that for the entire game, South Carolina ran exactly 0 plays in the red zone. That's impossible. And yet it happened. South Carolina's offense is so bad, they can't even get to a TD area unless it's a wide open running play from the other side of the field.

What makes it worse is that the defense was honestly pretty good. They did a great job of holding A&M to just 14 points until 12 minutes left in the 4th quarter. You do that for almost any other SEC team out there, and they are very likely to win the whole game. But not South Carolina, because I don't think they have a true identity. They want to be a running team, but they don't have the talent on the lines to make it happen, so outside the huge play, the average carry per rush was about 2.6 yards. That won't get it done. They also want to be a high percentage passing team, but if you don't have a deep threat (they connected on one deep pass late) then what's to stop a team from stacking the 10 yard box and waiting for you to throw short passes? Also, their QBs have no idea how to deal with the blitz, and I would blitz constantly if I'm an opposing DC.

All in all, South Carolina will be lucky to get bowl eligible this year, as most of us expected. A&M if they play the way against SC with the SEC West? They'll lose 3 games minimum. They need to get their offense going in the right direction, because their defense is the strongest part of their team right now, and that's atypical for a Kevin Sumlin squad.