By PETE IACOBELLI
AP Sports Writer
COLUMBIA, S.C. Good performance or bad, Texas A&M coach Mike Elko feels his team comes back with the same focus to get better next time out.
That won’t change, he said, after the 10th-ranked Aggies’ best showing of the year.
“I think that means the messaging is getting through,” Elko said this week. “We’ve tried to attack this thing from a mindset of we need to improve every week.”
The praise is flowing these days for the Aggies (7-1) who are the only undefeated team in Southeastern Conference play at 5-0 and look to stay on track for the league title game in facing South Carolina (4-3, 2-3) on Saturday night.
Elko heard that message back from several players during the week’s preparation and even from backup quarterback Marcel Reed after leading a second-half rally to defeat LSU 38-23 a week ago.
“Marcel on national TV, talking about the next opportunity,” Elko said. “I think they’re locked in on what we’re capable of.”
To get there, Texas A&M will have to get past the Gamecocks, who have thrown scares into LSU and Alabama this season and won at Oklahoma last time out.
LSU scored with less than two minutes left to escape Williams-Brice Stadium with a 36-33 victory two months ago. The Gamecocks were driving at Alabama in the final minute before an interception secured a 27-25 victory for the Crimson Tide.
The win at Oklahoma, South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said, gave his team a boost of belief in what they can accomplish in making a mark the final month of the season.
“We know we have five games to finish the season and it is all out there in front of us,” he said. “We don’t talk about big picture other than that and what matters is this week.”
Scourton’s success
Defensive end Nic Scourton is off to a strong start in his first season at Texas A&M after a transfer from Purdue. The projected first-round NFL draft pick has 10 tackles for losses and four sacks in five SEC games and ranks second in the nation and first in the SEC with 12 ½ tackles for loss overall this season.
South Carolina defense
The Gamecocks had a school-record nine sacks in beating Oklahoma. Edge rusher Kyle Kennard, the Georgia Tech transfer, has 8.5 sacks and is tied for the SEC lead. Freshman Dylan Stewart ranks ninth in SEC sacks with 4.5.
On the run
The Aggies have excelled at running the ball and stopping the run this season. They were great in those categories against LSU when they piled up 242 yards rushing and held the Tigers to just 24.
“You guys can go back to when we started in this league and what it looked like when we used to play those guys,” Elko said. “That’s a strong statement of where our physicality has gotten to.”
Texas A&M’s rushing attack, led by Le’Veon Moss, ranks ninth in the nation by averaging 221.5 yards rushing a game. The Aggies are 18th in the country by allowing 104.5 yards rushing a game.
Rising safety
South Carolina junior Nick Emmanwori leads the SEC with four interceptions, two which he’s run back for pick-6 scores. Emmanwori might have had a third if his interceptions and dash to the end zone weren’t overturned by a Gamecocks penalty. He’s seen his NFL draft profile rise during this time, but says he’s concentrating on finishing the season strongly.
Two-headed quarterback
Elko was not sure whether Marcel Reed or Conner Weigman would start at quarterback this week. Weigman started last week, but was benched in favor of Reed, who sparked the Aggies to a 31-6 run in pulling away from LSU.
“They will do some different things with Reed in there, for sure,” South Carolina’s Beamer said. “You have to have a good plan for both of them. For us, it starts with whoever is at quarterback. We have to affect him.”
