Matt Leinart believes Texas A&M vs. South Carolina could be 'trap game' for Aggies

Texas A&M is riding high into Columbia, South Carolina, on a seven-game win streak. However, FOX Sports analyst Matt Leinart believes the Aggies shouldn’t overlook the Gamecocks.

“This has trap game written all over it for me,” Leinart said on Friday. “If you look at South Carolina, two of their three losses — they lost to Alabama and LSU by a combined five points. This is a competitive, tough football team at night in South Carolina.”

South Carolina isn’t to be taken lightly. The Gamecocks enjoyed a bye last week after dominating Oklahoma 35-9 in Week 8. South Carolina’s defense was relentless in the win, forcing Oklahoma to commit four turnovers, two of which resulted in TDs for the Gamecocks.

Of course, South Carolina’s defense wasn’t the sole reason for its 26-point victory. On offense, quarterback LaNorris Sellers was efficient, completing 16-of-his-24 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown while also recording 28 rushing yards.

Nonetheless, South Carolina isn’t the only team with a talented QB. After Conner Weigman struggled to put points on the board for the Aggies early on Saturday, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko subbed in freshman QB Marcel Reed.

Leinart liked what he saw from the young talent.

“The story for Texas A&M last week was Marcel Reed, their backup quarterback. He came in and just absolutely lit them on fire, outscored LSU 31-6 in the second half,” Leinart said. “He led them to four straight touchdown drives. It’s just his ability in the run game. That affects the second-level defenders.

“He only attempted two passes in the second half, he rushed for three touchdowns. So moving forward, I don’t think he’s been named the starter yet. I expect them to go with him because he gives them a spark. And really Texas A&M moving forward, it is a trap game, but this is a playoff-type team if they can continue to get better with him.”

Reed finished the game with only two pass attempts, both of which he completed. Despite his lack of a passing threat, Reed gave LSU’s defense headaches and racked up 62 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the triumph.

As Leinart mentioned, Elko hasn’t yet revealed who will be the starting quarterback for the Aggies on Saturday.

“I think we’re still kind of going through our process,” Elko said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “We’ll figure that out as we go into the weekend and come Saturday night, put out the guy that we think gives us the best chance to have success as a team.”

On Saturday, Texas A&M and South Carolina will square off at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ABC.