South Carolina’s 31-30 defeat against No. 3 Texas A&M was not the team’s largest loss of the season, but it may have been the most gut-wrenching. 

The Gamecocks had the upset in hand, going into halftime up 30-3. It would have taken a miracle for the Aggies to come back from a 27-point deficit in a single half, but somehow they did. 

Texas A&M scored 28 unanswered points and shut South Carolina out for the rest of the game. The Gamecocks' offense went cold and crossed midfield just once in the entire second half. The defense, which dominated the Aggies early, struggled to maintain its play as the A&M settled in. 

“To say that I'm hurt for our guys is an understatement. I know the rest of the country was surprised with what was going on in the first half. We weren't,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “In the second half, just really disappointed with the way that we performed, coaches and players. We had our opportunities.”

Here are three takeaways from the Gamecocks' late collapse against Texas A&M. 

The team got complacent, and it cost them the game

Texas A&M was buried in the first half. Since 2004, SEC teams were 0-286 when trailing by 27 points or more. 

The Gamecocks had the win in their hands. All they had to do was have their foot on the gas and keep the Aggies in the rearview. Instead, Texas A&M came out of the half and blew right past them. 

Texas A&M scored a touchdown on each of its first four drives of the half and did it quickly. The Aggies overcame the deficit and took the lead for the first time all game with over 10 minutes still left to go. 

South Carolina’s defense struggled to contain quarterback Marcel Reed as he tormented the team with his passing. He overcame a turnover-plagued first half and finished the game with over 400 passing yards. 

“For them to throw for 439 yards against our defense is inexcusable,” Beamer said. “I don't know what happened in the second half. That was very disappointing, certainly."

Unlike in the first half, Texas A&M’s receivers found gaps in critical parts of the field and Reed hit them for big plays. This happened multiple times, including on a crucial fourth down.

“We’ve got to go back and look at it from a coaching standpoint, why we had some of those busts in the secondary,” Beamer said. 

While the Gamecocks' defense let the Aggies claw back in it, South Carolina’s offense did not help in alleviating some of the pressure. 

After an explosive first half, South Carolina’s offense just couldn’t find anything that worked. The team recorded less than 80 yards of offense in the third and fourth quarters, reverting to the sluggish, stagnant offense fans have become accustomed to. 

The team had its chances to retake the lead but never capitalized. The loss will go down as one of the toughest in recent memory, as it is the team’s largest blown lead in modern history. It also eliminated the team from bowl contention with two games to go.

“Nobody thought we'd be sitting here right now with two games left knowing that that's off the table,” Beamer said. “Competition is a core value of our program. To me, the best competitors are the ones that are intrinsically motivated, meaning they don't need something out there to motivate them. They just love to go compete. I know our guys do. They hurt. We're going through this right now, and we're going to be stronger for it next season.”

LaNorris Sellers still has plenty of room to develop 

One glaring takeaway from this entire season, but especially from the Texas A&M game, is that Sellers still has a lot of growing to do. 

In the first half, South Carolina’s star quarterback showed why he earned all the preseason praise. Like with the rest of the team, the second half was a different story. 

Sellers fell back into old habits, holding onto the ball too long, overthrowing receivers and scrambling around to extend plays. He was not sacked at all in the first half, but wound up in the dirt four times behind the line of scrimmage in the second. 

Beamer said after the game, all the blame could not go to the offensive line and that he needs his quarterback to give his receivers a shot. 

"I thought the protection was solid in there. They were covering the receivers, but like we talked about all week, and like you did earlier in the game, give those receivers a chance to go make plays,” he said. “We trust our guys to go make plays, so I'm not sure you know what he saw.”

Shane Beamer’s seat is hot 

This season has already been tough for the Gamecocks. From top-10 in week two to (3-7) after week 10 is a far fall from grace. 

After firing their offensive line coach a few weeks ago and the offensive coordinator after the loss to Ole Miss, the Gamecocks finally looked competent against Texas A&M.

The team, however, did what it’s done all year, and it found a way to lose. Missouri, LSU, Alabama and A&M---the Gamecocks had a real shot to win all of those games, and they couldn’t. 

After repeated close losses and such an underwhelming season, questions about leadership are bound to be asked. Tempers inside and outside the program rise and the seat underneath the head coach warms up. 

For Shane Beamer, that seat has never been hotter. 

Entering the A&M game, many outside pundits and fans were already calling for his job, but with such an epic collapse, those calls are going to get even louder. 

Beamer has earned a lot of grace for overperforming in most people’s eyes in his first few seasons with the program, but it is hard to defend such an underperformance. 

Things aren’t all bleak for the coach, though. Many other openings in college football could discourage the Gamecocks from opening their job if they felt they couldn’t get their guy. 

Another thing that must always be considered is the buyout.  Beamer currently has the 24th largest buyout in the country and would earn over $27 million if fired without cause. 

The team also still has two games left this season to show some signs of life. If the Gamecocks can end the season and pick up wins over in-state rivals Coastal Carolina and Clemson, the case for keeping Beamer will be greater. 

Only time will tell, but no matter what, new athletics director Jeremiah Donati has a big decision to make.