Texas A&M Aggies defense collapses after loss to South Carolina

What was the Texas A&M Aggies’ biggest strength this season turned into their biggest weakness.

In Saturday night’s loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Aggies’ usually strong defense completely collapsed in front of a national audience. As if allowing 44 points — nearly double the Aggies’ previous record of 24 this season — wasn’t bad enough, they let quarterback LaNorris Sellers (13 of 27, 244 passing yards, 106 rushing yards, three total touchdowns) ) allowed, running back Raheim Sanders (144 rushing yards and two touchdowns) and tight end Joshua Simon (four receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns) to walk all over it.

As head coach Mike Elko admitted after the game, the execution just wasn’t nearly good enough.

‘We didn’t take our feet with us’ Elko said. “We didn’t tackle the big backs the way we needed to. They’re big, powerful kids. If you want to tackle big, powerful kids, you have to put your body through it. We didn’t do that.”

Perhaps the most disappointing issue was the plethora of missed tackles during the match. Most notably, Simon shook two would-be tacklers on a 57-yard touchdown, ultimately putting the game out of reach.

“The missed tackles kept increasing,” Elko said. “Sometimes the hardest thing to learn is in victory. It’s hidden and masked. Some of the things we played and won definitely showed up tonight and in a very bad way. That’s on me. It’s my job as a coach to help them understand that at the level they need to solve it, I didn’t do that.”

Another problem is the fact that the Aggies were down 14-0 early, and Elko even admitted that they are not built to play from behind like that. Even when they briefly took a 20-17 lead before halftime, they were never really in control. That’s a problem for both units, but the defense couldn’t do enough to keep the game exciting.

The defensive performance, and the game in general, was incredibly disappointing for the Aggies, but not all is lost. They are one of five teams with one loss in SEC play (Georgia, Tennesee, Texas, LSU) and still have a strong chance to make the conference championship game. However, their margin for error is now non-existent.

“We’re tied for first place in the SEC. We’re still in control of our own destiny for Atlanta. We’re still in control of our own destiny for the College Football Playoff. It very much feels that way, because it’s so is,” Elko said.

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