Texas A&M's freshmen, led by RB KJ Edwards, are the bright spot of a 4-4 season

Texas A&M is 4-4 heading into its open week, but its true freshmen have given the season some of its best moments. Aggies Wire, in a review also carried by Yahoo Sports, picked out five first-year players who have made a mark through eight games. Running back KJ Edwards tops the list.

Edwards, from Carthage, leads the Aggies with 360 rushing yards on 55 carries, an average of 6.5 yards per attempt. Both of his touchdowns came in the win over Arkansas. His best game was 116 yards against The Citadel, and he was A&M's leading rusher at Alabama with 43 yards. In a separate Aggies Wire piece, Cameron Ohnysty pointed to Pro Football Network's rush success rankings, where Edwards sits fifth nationally at 56.4 percent. Ohnysty called him the reason fans will keep watching over the last four games.

Edwards has company in the backfield. Carsyn Baker, a 6-foot, 210-pounder, has 155 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries and has handled short-yardage and goal-line work. Between them, the two freshmen have 515 rushing yards and five scores.

In the passing game, 6-foot-2 receiver Aaron Gregory has 11 catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns. Six of those catches, 94 of those yards and two of the scores came against The Citadel. On defense, linebacker Tamarion Watkins (6-3, 228) had four tackles against The Citadel and also played at Alabama. Up front, guard Sam Roseborough started at left guard against The Citadel. He then played 26 snaps against the Crimson Tide, and Pro Football Focus gave him an 82.9 pass-blocking grade, which matters for a line that has struggled.

The results show why these young players are getting snaps. A&M has had little offense against good teams. The Aggies scored 6 points at LSU, 6 at Missouri and 20 at Alabama, and they are 1-4 in the SEC. The only league win was 34-7 over Arkansas. In their three nonconference wins they scored 139 points combined, while the four losses produced 53.

What it means at South Carolina

A&M's next game is at South Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 7. Kickoff is 2 p.m. Central on ESPN, according to Texas A&M Athletics. The Gamecocks were 4-3 after beating then-No. 11 Tennessee 27-24 at home, and they play at Oklahoma this weekend while the Aggies rest.

A&M has lost its last two trips to Williams-Brice Stadium, 30-24 in 2022 and 44-20 in 2024, though it still leads the all-time series 10-2. A 2-4 conference record would leave the Aggies needing two wins from their last three games to reach bowl eligibility. Avoiding that likely depends on the running game. Edwards and Baker have been the most dependable part of the offense, and Roseborough's pass protection could earn him more time on an unsettled line. Gregory is the freshman most likely to take on a bigger role if A&M wants to stretch a defense that just held Tennessee to 24 points.

The open week gives the staff time to decide how much to lean on its newest players. The South Carolina game will show whether A&M trusts these freshmen to carry more of a season that is slipping away.