Staff picks: South Carolina at Texas A&M, other Week 9 matchups

South Carolina is in dire need of a win this weekend. But it will have to do so against Texas A&M in one of the toughest environments in college football.

There’s also plenty of other good games going on this weekend. So here’s how the GamecockCentral staff sees this game going plus a few predictions on other key matchups.

Chris Clark: A&Ms front seven – likely the best in the SEC – is not a good matchup for a Gamecocks offense that will arrive in College Station beat up and struggling to play well up front. The Aggies’ offense isn’t great by any means, but it’s hard to see USC being able to score enough in this one. Texas A&M 27, South Carolina 10

Terry Ford: Too many injuries in key spots on offense to overcome. A beat-up, struggling offensive line vs one of the best defensive fronts in the country is not a good match-up. Texas A&M 27, South Carolina 17.

Griffin Goodwyn: Last year against the Aggies, South Carolina started the game with an electrifying play – a 100-yard kickoff return by Xavier Legette – and rode that momentum the rest of the way to earn a 30-24 upset victory. The Gamecocks will have to do something similar to beat Texas A&M this time around, but I don’t expect them to do so in one of the toughest road environments in college football. And having so many players on the shelf – especially on the offensive line – will make this even more difficult. Texas A&M 34, South Carolina 17

Tyler Head: Carolina is really limping into this game. A&M’s offense isn’t setting the world on fire, but their defense is aggressive up front and I don’t see the Gamecocks overcoming that. Texas A&M 31, South Carolina 14

Joe Macheca: South Carolina needs to stop the skid and cannot do it this week against A&M. I have a stigma around noon kicks on the road in-conference and it doesn’t favor the road team. South Carolina needs to execute early and often and I just don’t think that happens this week. Texas A&M 35, South Carolina 21 

Wes Mitchell: This was a bad matchup for South Carolina even before the Gamecocks suffered their rash of injuries on the offensive front. Texas A&M swallows teams up front and they’ll be facing a Gamecock offensive line that’s going to potentially have yet another combination of starters and won’t have Vershon Lee back. A&M hasn’t been particularly impressive on offense this season but they’ll face a Carolina defense that has not been able to get off the field. Texas A&M 35, South Carolina 17

Jay Phillips: With the Missouri game going much worse than expected, the reasons for optimism are dwindling around Carolina football. That said, Coach Beamer has found ways in multiple instances to inspire his teams to big wins after bad losses in his three years in Columbia. While that is something to point to, the fact is this team is so ravaged by injury, especially on the OL, that it’s difficult to see them being productive enough against a very strong A&M defense. Special teams and defense must come through in a big way if the Gamecocks have a chance at Kyle Field. Texas A&M 27, South Carolina 13

Kendall Smith: South Carolina has been struggling and they’ve never beaten A&M on the road. I don’t think this will be the year unfortunately. Texas A&M 38, South Carolina 20

Mike Uva: Heading into College Station as heavy underdogs, South Carolina needs to play nearly a flawless game. That starts with giving Spencer Rattler time to make plays, finishing in the red zone on offense, and forcing a takeaway on defense for the first time since the Tennessee game. While it’s not impossible for all three of these things to happen this weekend, it’s a tough list of tasks for a team who is struggling to play consistently good. Texas A&M 30, South Carolina 20

Jack Veltri: South Carolina just isn’t very good right now. I think things are only going to get worse before they get better. On paper, the Aggies are better this year. While the record might not completely reflect that, they have a chance to cover the spread and win big. I’m also expecting someone on Texas A&M to have a career day because that seems to be what happens every week when an opponent plays South Carolina. It’s never easy to go into College Station and come away with a win. South Carolina hasn’t done it yet, and I don’t expect it to come close to doing so this time around. Texas A&M 34, South Carolina 14

Chris Wellbaum: Both programs are in a bad place. Again I’m going to take the team with the better quarterback, but I have no confidence in either team. South Carolina 18, Texas A&M 16

	Oklahoma at Kansas	Clemson at NC State	Georgia vs. Florida	Duke at Louisville	Oregon at Utah	Marshall at Coastal Carolina	Air Force at Colorado State	Ohio State at Wisconsin
Chris Clark (46-26)	Oklahoma	NC State	Georgia	Louisville	Oregon	Coastal Carolina	Air Force	Ohio State
Terry Ford (46-26)	Oklahoma	Clemson	Georgia	Louisville	Utah	Coastal Carolina	Air Force	Ohio State
Griffin Goodwyn (51-21)	Oklahoma	Clemson	Georgia	Louisville	Oregon	Coastal Carolina	Air Force	Ohio State
Tyler Head (43-29)	Oklahoma	Clemson	Georgia	Duke	Oregon	Coastal Carolina	Air Force	Ohio State
Joe Macheca (44-28)	Oklahoma	Clemson	Georgia	Duke	Utah	Coastal Carolina	Air Force	Ohio State
Wes Mitchell (51-21)	Oklahoma	Clemson	Georgia	Louisville	Oregon	Marshall	Air Force	Ohio State
Jay Philips (51-21)	Oklahoma	Clemson	Georgia	Duke	Oregon	Coastal Carolina	Air Force	Ohio State
Kendall Smith (46-26)	Oklahoma	NC State	Georgia	Duke	Oregon	Coastal Carolina	Air Force	Ohio State
Mike Uva (52-20)	Oklahoma	Clemson	Georgia	Louisville	Oregon	Marshall	Air Force	Ohio State
Jack Veltri (42-30)	Oklahoma	NC State	Georgia	Duke	Oregon	Marshall	Air Force	Ohio State
Chris Wellbaum (44-28)	Oklahoma	Clemson	Georgia	Duke	Oregon	Coastal Carolina	Air Force	Ohio State

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!