Elko's Aggies employ '1-0 mentality' as they seek 10th win of 2025

Ten is a momentous number.

There are 10 Commandments. Ten years make a decade. Ten decades make a century.

Humans have 10 fingers and 10 toes. Nadia Comaneci was the first Olympic gymnast to score a perfect 10. Bo Derek was a 10.

Ten wins defines excellence in college football.

Alas, that number has eluded Texas A&M for more than 10 years. The Aggies haven’t posted 10 regular-season victories since 2012.

But the No. 3 Aggies (9-0, 6-0) can again reach that mark on Saturday when they face South Carolina (3-6, 1-6) in a Southeastern Conference clash at Kyle Field. Kickoff is 11 a.m.

Though A&M is highly favored, Aggies coach Mike Elko stressed the Gamecocks are better than they’re modest record indicates.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Texas A&M is 9-2 all-time vs. South Carolina, including a perfect 5-0 at Kyle Field.

His opinion is based on the fact that their five SEC losses were against ranked opponents. Four of them — No. 4 Alabama, No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 14 Vanderbilt — are currently in the College Football Playoff rankings.

“(They’re) obviously a team who has played one of the most challenging schedules in the country,” Elko said. “I don’t know what they did to the scheduling gods to get the schedule they’ve gotten.”

Elko can also look to last year as a reason not to overlook the Gamecocks, who are well rested after an open date last week.

A year ago, the Aggies were ranked No. 10 when they traveled to face South Carolina. They left with a 44-20 loss as Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers accumulated 350 yards of total offense and accounted for three touchdowns.

“They’ve got a quarterback who is capable of beating you with his arm and his legs,” Elko said. “They’ve got one of the most physically impressive wide receivers I’ve seen in 30 years of college football — Nyck Harbor is 6-5, 235. He’s probably going to run 4.27 or faster at the (NFL) combine. He can absolutely fly.

“They’re coming off a bye week, obviously, with a lot of confidence based on what they did to us last year, so we’re going to have a tremendous challenge. We need to come out and play our best football to have a chance to win.”

The Aggies have been playing good football.

They're among the SEC leaders in scoring. They lead the nation in sacks for teams that have played just nine games. They lead the nation in third-down defense. The offensive line, which was just named a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, has allowed the fewest sacks in the SEC.

Defensive end Cashius Howell leads the SEC with 10.5 sacks. Running back Rueben Owens II rushed for 102 yards in a win over Missouri last week. Quarterback Marcel Reed has emerged as a strong Heisman Trophy candidate.

But Reed, who wears #10, says his focus is squarely on notching the Aggies’ 10th win.

“It’s just a 1-and-0 mentality,” he said. “We have South Carolina. That’s what our focus is on. We’re just going up to get another win. They’re in our way just like every other team. We’re just going to handle business as best we can.”