South Carolina’s football team just keeps winning as the team pulled off a 17-9 win over Texas A&M at home under the lights of Williams-Brice Stadium. 

The Gamecocks picked up their fourth straight victory and moved up to No. 20 in the AP poll. This comes one week after the team’s key win over Oklahoma earned it a spot in the first College Football Playoff poll. 

When the next poll is released after the Chronicle’s press deadline, expect the Gamecocks to move up some, but not enough to be in top-12 talks. 

To do that, the team still has a lot of work ahead of them with games against Arkansas, No. 1 Georgia and Clemson left on the schedule. For now, the team is 6-3 overall and just clinched a bowl appearance after missing out on postseason fun in 2025. 

Before looking too far ahead, take a moment to look back at three takeaways from the most recent win over the Texas A&M Aggies. 

South Carolina’s defense finally delivered a win 

Coming into the game, LaNorris Sellers and the South Carolina offense took the majority of the spotlight during the team's recent success. The defense had been playing well, but there was plenty of room for improvement. 

Against the Aggies, when the offense was sluggish, the defense held down and guided the team to victory. 

Texas A&M moved the ball and crossed the 50 multiple times, but each time, the defense kept the Aggies out of the end zone. Texas A&M became the first team in history to have more than 450 yards, zero turnovers and zero touchdowns, but it wasn’t because of their own ineptness. 

When the field got shorter, the Gamecocks turned up the pressure and were able to affect Aggie quarterback Marcel Reed. 

With their backs against the wall, the Gamecocks held on to keep the Aggies from tying the game on the final drive. Texas A&M got 10 yards and a two-point conversion away from tying the game, but South Carolina’s defense refused to break. 

“We talked at halftime about just how gritty this team is. We’ve shown that,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “We showed, I think, that we can win games different ways.”

The Gamecocks avoided the trap

Saturday’s game could’ve easily turned into a trap for the Gamecocks, and for a while it was on track to be one. 

The Gamecocks came out slow on offense and went into halftime with a slim 7-6 lead. The team was up in points, but they were being outgained and trailed in time of possession. 

Coming out of the break, things didn’t get any better. South Carolina’s first drive ended in a punt. The second resulted in a missed 49-yard field goal attempt. 

Meanwhile, Texas A&M controlled the ball for more than 10 minutes in the quarter and made their field goal try to go up 9-7 heading into the fourth.   

The final frame was winning time for South Carolina. The Gamecocks snatched the lead back as Malik Orsan redeemed his miss from early, connecting on a 43-yard kick. 

Then, LaNorris Sellers had another Heisman moment, putting the team on his back and taking off for a 41-yard rushing touchdown in the final two minutes to go up eight. 

Sellers, who left the game earlier with an ankle injury, started with a quick burst before limping his way to the touchdown and getting carried off the field by his teammates. 

“What a warrior he is,” Beamer said. “For him to go out there and gut it out like he did and have a touchdown run there at the end of the game, I’m glad he’s on our side. That’s all I know.”

Sellers played like the season depended on it, and if the Gamecocks want to qualify for the Playoff, it did. 

Playoff odds are improving but still a ways away 

With every win, the odds of doing something that just a few weeks ago felt impossible increase. 

The Gamecocks have three games to go in their 2026 season. They are 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the SEC. They made the first Playoff poll and should move up in the second. Teams around them lost and will drop down. Things are getting a lot more clustered. 

All of that is good news for South Carolina as it tries to sneak into the College Football Playoff for the first time in history. 

If it were 2027 and the newly announced 24-team field was the policy, the Gamecocks would be sitting pretty. Unfortunately for them, it's not 2027 yet, and the competition is still in its more challenging 12-team format. 

To get in, South Carolina will have to be perfect the rest of the way. The Gamecocks can not afford to lose. 

The team should be favored in games against Arkansas and Clemson, but the Gamecocks will have to pull off one more monumental upset to seal it. 

After their game against Arkansas this week, the Gamecocks will host No. 1 Georgia in their penultimate game. The Bulldogs are 8-1 overall and 6-1 for first place in the SEC. 

That game will decide the team’s playoff fate as long as they avoid the trap in their other two games. 

South Carolina has come a long way since its 2-3 start. Talks of the hot seat have gone cold. Players’ stock is back up, and regardless of what happens, the team will be in the postseason. 

“Never ever, ever, ever, ever take for granted getting to play in the postseason,” Beamer said. “We have higher goals around here than just being bowl eligible. That’s not the standard, just getting six wins. But in order to reach the goals that you have in the postseason, you’ve got to qualify to play in the postseason, and we did that.”