South Carolina Football: Full game notes on loss to Texas A&M

South Carolina Football vs. Texas A&M:
Other Notes

• The offensive line had another new combination on Saturday. From left to right, the starters were Jakai Moore-Trai Jones-Nick Gargiulo-Tro Baugh-Tyshawn Wannamaker. Tree Babalade appears to be available but was considered questionable coming into the game. Sidney Fugar was also available but was benched in favor of Wannamaker.
• Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains did his best to protect Spencer Rattler and his patchwork offensive line with quick-hitting pass plays, runs to the edge, and screens.
• Jalon Kilgore took Eddie Lewis’ place as the first-team punt returner. Lewis had struggled to keep punts from bouncing and taking bounces that were unfriendly to the Gamecocks.
• After an ugly drop from Nyck Harbor, Shane Beamer and Spencer Rattler gave him a pep talk on the sidelines. Harbor responded with two 3rd-down conversions on the next drive. Carolina scored a touchdown on that drive. He went on to have a nice game.
• The Gamecock offense lined up Boogie Huntley at tight end and Tonka Hemingway at fullback on the touchdown pass to Josh Simon. With a waggle action, the defensive linemen seemed to be in the game to provide some extra beef in case Rattler decided to run with it.
• O’Donnell Fortune traveled and dressed out but did not play at all until the second half. No reason was given for his absence from the lineup. His effort level was lacking on several plays when he was inserted into the lineup. Judge Collier played pretty well in the 1st half filling in for Fortune.
• Jalon Kilgore did a good job in coverage for most of the day but had a huge bust that resulted in a touchdown just before halftime.
• Bam Martin-Scott had some good pass rush snaps from the linebacker spot, some through the A-gap and some off the edge. He and Jaron Willis played more linebacker snaps than they have all year.
• At times, some of the “quit” that seemed to show up for a couple of defenders against Missouri was present again against Texas A&M.
• DQ Smith was ejected in the 3rd quarter for a questionable targeting penalty. He will miss the first half against Jacksonville State. Keenan Nelson came in for Smith and missed an open-field tackle on a big run from Amari Daniels that led to an eventual touchdown.
• The Gamecocks have now gone 13 quarters without forcing a turnover (0 against Texas A&M, 0 against Missouri, 0 against Florida, and the most recent one came in the 3rd quarter against Tennessee).