Nationally-ranked Texas A&M is a three-touchdown favorite at home in Saturday night’s game against South Carolina, but coach Jimbo Fisher already wanted his team. The Aggies have not lost to South Carolina since entering the SEC and have blown out the Gamecocks each of the past two seasons by an average margin of 34.5 points per game.
“All games are trap games,” Fisher said. “You’ve got to understand the importance of your opponents being faceless, no matter when you play them. And I think that’s when you start to become a program, that your practices don’t reflect who you play, it reflects how you play.”
The Aggies (5-2, 2-2) have won consecutive games since back to back losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State derailed national title hopes. One of those wins includes a home victory over then top-ranked Alabama.
The Gamecocks start former graduate assistant Zeb Noland at quarterback after Shane Beamer announced this week starter Luke Doty would miss the rest of the season with a foot injury. Noland is 2-1 over three starts this fall, the loss coming at Georgia in Week 3. There is little depth behind Noland for the Gamecocks, who plan to suit up JUCO transfer Jason Brown as their No. 2.