South Carolina Football Way-Too-Early Schedule Preview: Texas A&M Aggies
By Kevin Miller
The most difficult 2023 schedule in the country belongs to the South Carolina football team, and that schedule doesn’t have much of a “break” until the stretch before the Clemson game. Coming out of the team’s bye week, the Gamecocks will take on the Florida Gators before heading out for their two longest road trips of the year to Missouri and Texas A&M.
The Aggies are a bit of a mystery heading into 2023. One of the most talented groups in the SEC every season, Texas A&M had an awful showing in 2022 in which they only won two games in the SEC and went 5-7 overall despite a preseason top-10 ranking. If not for the recent mass exodus in Boulder, Colorado, A&M also would have led the country in total transfer portal defections as Jimbo Fisher’s team lost 21 (!!!) former 5-star and 4-star players to the portal.
Recruiting, both out of high school and in the transfer portal, has gone well for the Aggies, but with so many newcomers, no one truly knows what to expect in College Station, Texas this season.
Heading into the October 28th matchup between the Gamecocks and the Aggies, both teams will have played seven games, but Texas A&M will be coming off of their bye week after playing a tough stretch to open the season. The Aggies will likely be underdogs in at least three games prior to playing South Carolina (@ Miami, Alabama, @Tennessee) and have two other toss-ups against Auburn and against Arkansas in Jerry World (AT&T Stadium, home of the Cowboys and the Cotton Bowl).
New offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino will be in his eighth game at the helm of the Aggies offense when the Gamecocks come to town, and he and head coach Jimbo Fisher will probably have gotten over all of the awkwardness that comes with an offensive-minded coach relinquishing his playcalling duties.
South Carolina will also be seven games into breaking in their own new offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. Loggains will be hard-pressed to outcall the veteran Petrino, but he appears to have a clear advantage at the quarterback position. Spencer Rattler is expected to be one of the top signal callers in the SEC in 2023 while the Aggies are unsure of who will actually be leading their offense.
Both Max Johnson and Conner Weigman started multiple games in 2022 and missed some time with injury. Both players had good moments and not-so-good moments for the Aggies, but Weigman did a better job of protecting the football (0 interceptions in 132 pass attempts). Weigman appears to be the front-runner after spring practice, but based on recent years of rotating starting quarterbacks like Volkswagen tires, Aggie fans aren’t convinced.
South Carolina’s rush defense was one of the team’s biggest weaknesses in 2022, and they lost NFL draft pick Zacch Pickens from the middle of the defensive line. Texas A&M had a solid ground game last season led by Devon Achane, but the dynamic runner is now a Miami Dolphin, and the Aggies (like the Gamecocks) don’t have any proven running backs. Carolina’s own unproven backs will go up against an Aggie defense that is talented but has lost numerous players to the NFL and the transfer portal this offseason.
If past history in the series is any indication, the garnet and black squad will have to score 30 points to win. In Carolina’s eight straight losses from 2014-2021, Carolina was held under 30 points in each contest. When the Gamecocks beat the Aggies in 2022, South Carolina football had a luminescent “30” next to the digitized “Carolina” on the left side of the scoreboard in Williams-Brice Stadium. A special teams score on a 100-yard kick return from Xavier Legette didn’t hurt the Gamecocks’ cause that night, either.
In addition to Loggains and Rattler, several other Gamecocks will be key to the team’s offensive success against the Aggies. South Carolina’s offensive tackles (currently expected to be Jakai Moore at left tackle and Tyshawn Wannamaker at right tackle) must keep Rattler upright. This won’t be easy as Shemar Stewart and Fadil Diggs are studs at defensive end. The playmaking ability of Carolina pass catchers Juice Wells and Trey Knox will be pivotal, and three of the fastest players on the team (Ahmarean Brown, Xavier Legette, and Nyck Harbor) will be looking for opportunities to take advantage of Rattler’s strong arm and take the top off the defense.
2023 is a crucial season for both programs and their head coaches. Jimbo Fisher appears to be sitting on a bit of a hot seat despite his absurd buyout of around $85 million. Shane Beamer, on the other hand, just got a raise and an extension. Fisher could be coaching for his job and/or his future employability for a decent job in the future, while Beamer is fighting to establish himself and his program as real contenders on the rise.
Like 2022, the 2023 matchup between these two teams should be a good one, and both programs need this game in order to have a special season this fall.