#Gamecocks brand Aggies in Columbia 30-24 (AUDIO/VIDEO)

**USC DT Zacch Pickens celebrates the team’s first-ever win over Texas A&M with fans (Chris Gillespie)**

Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia–With the fair across the street and some of the state’s finest cattle on display, Shane Beamer pulled out his own branding iron inside Williams-Brice Stadium and applied it to the hindside of the Texas A&M Aggies. The Gamecocks 30-24 victory in front of a sold-out, rowdy crowd of better than 77,700, was their first ever over the Aggies.

The win extended the USC winning streak to four games, their longest since 2013, and it makes them 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the SEC. All of a sudden, this USC season has taken on a whole new outlook. They will be favorites in their next two games against Missouri and Vanderbilt, so seven or eight wins now become more of a possibility than a pipedream.

Thanks to a 100-yard kickoff return by Xavier Legette, a field goal following an interception, and a touchdown off a fumble recovery, the Gamecocks led 17-0 after the first five minutes. It was the first time they had led A&M in a game since 2017. The Aggies scored the next 14 points to make it 17-14 at halftime. The teams exchanged third quarter touchdowns, and the Gamecocks basically put the game away with a Marshawn Lloyd four-yard touchdown run with 3:08 left.