South Carolina 17, Texas A&M 9: Sellers' late 41-yard run settles it

Texas A&M had the ball longer, gained more yards and did not turn it over. It still left Williams-Brice Stadium with nine points, all of them from field goals. That gap between yards and points decided the game, and South Carolina closed it out when LaNorris Sellers ran 41 yards for a touchdown with 1:19 left.

The No. 21 Gamecocks won 17-9 to move to 6-3. Texas A&M falls to 4-5 after its second straight loss.

How it was won

The scoring did not start until the second quarter. David Olano hit a 40-yard field goal at 14:48 to put the Aggies up 3-0.

South Carolina answered less than three minutes later. Sellers found Mazeo Bennett Jr. for a 1-yard touchdown at 11:54, and Malik Orsan's kick made it 7-3.

Olano added a 46-yarder as the first half ended, cutting it to 7-6, then made a 44-yarder at 13:14 of the third quarter. That gave Texas A&M a 9-7 lead, and it held into the fourth quarter.

Orsan put the Gamecocks back in front with a 43-yard field goal at 8:14. With the margin at 10-9 and the Aggies one kick from taking the lead again, Sellers broke his 41-yard run at 1:19, and Orsan's extra point made it 17-9.

The box score reads like an A&M win. The Aggies finished with 457 total yards to South Carolina's 360, 26 first downs to 17, and held the ball for 34:36. They converted 9 of 19 third downs; South Carolina converted 4 of 12. Texas A&M had no turnovers. South Carolina had one.

Rueben Owens II carried 19 times for 137 yards, and KJ Edwards added 37 on 10 carries as the Aggies ran for 206 yards. Marcel Reed completed 25 of 43 passes for 251 yards without a touchdown. Isaiah Horton caught five passes for 78 yards and Aaron Gregory five for 48.

Sellers was 20 of 31 for 251 yards and a touchdown, and ran six times for 34 yards, most of them on the run that ended it. Nyck Harbor caught four passes for 70 yards, and Bennett had three catches for 66 yards and the score. Isaiah Augustave led the Gamecocks on the ground with 50 yards on 10 carries.

South Carolina scored twice in the end zone in two chances that mattered. Texas A&M moved the ball all afternoon and got three kicks.

Against the number

South Carolina closed as a 6.5-point favorite and covered by a point and a half, a result that turned entirely on the final touchdown. Before Sellers' run, the Gamecocks were up one and the Aggies were on the right side of the spread.

The total closed at 52.5. With 26 points scored, the under cleared by more than 26 points, never in doubt in a game with one first-half touchdown.

On the moneyline, South Carolina closed at -250 and Texas A&M at +205. The underdog led for most of the third quarter and the start of the fourth before the favorite came back. Full closing prices are on the game page.

What's next

Texas A&M hosts No. 13 Tennessee on Saturday, November 14. The Aggies are 1-5 against SEC opponents, with their lone conference win a 34-7 result against Arkansas, and they need two more wins to reach six.

South Carolina travels to Arkansas the same day, on SEC Network. The Gamecocks have won four straight, including a 27-24 win over Tennessee and a 42-25 win at Oklahoma, and are 4-3 in conference play.