Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond threw four touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the No. 7 Aggies to a rout of South Carolina, 48-3, on Saturday night in Columbia, SC.
Mond set the school mark with the 68th touchdown pass of his career, a 52-yarder to Devon Achane in the third quarter with the game long decided. He finished 16 of 26 for 224 yards.
“You always think you can be dominant,” Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said. “The experience has helped on each side of the ball. Learning to win each play and, in turn, the bigger picture is coming together.”
The Aggies’ defense held the Gamecocks to 150 yards of total offense, while A&M rolled up 530 total yards. The Aggies had a balanced attack of 264 rushing and 266 passing yards in the win. South Carolina didn’t break 100 yards of offense until 5:37 in the third quarter. Ryan Hilinski replaced Collin Hill at quarterback and got the Gamecocks into TAMU territory, but the drive stalled and Parker White hit a 49-yard field goal for the Gamecocks only score.
South Carolina has surrendered 1,071 yards and 100 points in losses to LSU and the Aggies its past two games.
The Gamecocks (2-4), who had two weeks to prepare coming after an off week, looked more like a team that had been quarantined for two weeks. The Aggies dominated from the opening kickoff. To make things worse, Texas A&M threw a 42-yard touchdown pass with 1:02 remaining in the game leading 41-3 rather than just running out the clock.
South Carolina quarterback Hill was 8 of 21 for 66 yards and two interceptions before getting lifted in the fourth quarter for last year’s starter and current backup, Hilinski. “Really never got in a rhythm tonight,” said Hill. “Nothing changes for me. I’m just going to continue to show up, prepare and go to work.”
Kevin Harris, the SEC’s second-leading rusher coming in, was limited to 39 yards on 13 carries.
South Carolina head football coach Will Muschamp said “I hope (fans are) pissed off, After the last two performances, I don’t think there’s any doubt they should be.”
As for a potential QB change, Muschamp left it open. “We’ll make that evaluation tomorrow,” he said. “Whatever gives us the best opportunity to win the game at whatever position it is, that’s what we’ll do.”
The Gamecock home crowd of 16,253 voiced its displeasure with boos through the game and began to chant “Fire Muschamp!” in the third quarter as South Carolina trailed 34-0.
Texas A&M improved to 5-1 – all in the Southeastern Conference – for its best start since opening 6-0 in 2016. The Aggies are 7-0 against the Gamecocks all-time.
