Texas A&M's wild win over South Carolina proves this year may really be different for Aggies

Texas A&M fans have long been accustomed to seeing their beloved Aggies collapse in November.

Just look at 2024, when a 7-1 A&M squad lost three of four in November and went from potentially making the College Football Playoff to losing to USC in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Or 2016, when another 7-1 Aggie unit lost three of four in November and went from being ranked No. 4 in the nation to losing in the Texas Bowl to Kansas State.

Or 2013, when not even Johnny Manziel could help a Texas A&M team bound for a potential 10-win campaign avoid losses to LSU and Missouri to end the season with an 8-4 record.

Texas A&M fans have seen their share of November collapses, to be sure, and another almost commenced in College Station on Saturday.

The No. 3 Aggies, who entered Saturday's contest against South Carolina with a perfect 9-0 record and a 6-0 mark in Southeastern Conference play, were primed for a relatively easy SEC win that would lock up a College Football Playoff berth.

Texas A&M nearly blew it... but didn't

That was until South Carolina jumped out to a 30-3 halftime lead that saw a raucous A&M crowd fall silent in the midst of the worst half of Aggie football that had been played all season.

It was a bright spot for a South Carolina squad that came into Saturday needing to win out just to earn bowl eligibility.

As the country readied itself for the beginning of yet another heartbreaking Texas A&M November collapse, Mike Elko and the Aggies began a rally that will be talked about until the end of time in College Station. 

After a horrendous first half, TAMU quarterback Marcel Reed tossed three touchdowns on three consecutive scoring drives. The Aggie defense also stepped up, stifling a Gamecock offense that had done whatever it wanted in the first half. 

A 98-yard touchdown run gave A&M the lead in the fourth quarter, and one final defensive stand helped the Aggies escape with a win and sent South Carolina back to Columbia searching for answers. 

Critics of Texas A&M will note that the Aggies have yet to play or beat an SEC team with a winning record in conference play. That will change when they play rival Texas in Austin on Nov. 29, but the notion that A&M has yet to be truly tested this season is a fair one. 

But great teams find ways to win games they have no business winning, and that's exactly what Texas A&M did on Saturday. That's why there is a reason to believe this season is different from years past. 

"For them to go out in the second half and do what they did, that's championship-level football," an emotional Elko said in his postgame news conference. 

Barring a miraculous loss to Samford on Nov. 22, the Aggies will enter their matchup with Texas at 11-0 with a playoff berth sealed and a trip to the SEC Championship Game on the line. 

That was made possible by A&M's Hollywood-esque comeback on Saturday that shows just how much fight Elko's second Aggie squad has in it.