Even with Texas A&M receiving increasing talk about being a College Football Playoff contender, there is no way to explain the 48-3 throttling the Aggies handed South Carolina on Saturday.

This was a South Carolina team coming off a bye week during which the coaching staff gave all 3 quarterbacks a good, long look. The Gamecocks still went with Collin Hill, and even after the offense struggled, the coaching staff kept him in the game for several series too long.

After the game, Will Muschamp said a “major emphasis” during the week was 3rd down. But that resulted in Texas A&M converting 12-of-16, while South Carolina managed just 3-for-14.

Hill was 8-for-21 for 66 yards and 2 interceptions before he was pulled in the 4th quarter for last year’s starter and current backup, Ryan Hilinski.

This was a South Carolina team facing a Texas A&M team that had just surrendered 222 rushing yards to Arkansas. Yet by halftime, the Gamecocks had attempted just 10 runs, compared to 22 for the Aggies.

This is a South Carolina team that has multiple 5-star defensive linemen and multiple defensive backs with NFL futures, yet the Gamecocks have given up 1,072 yards and 100 points in losses to LSU and the Aggies their past 2 games. For a longer view, the Gamecocks now have 13 losses in their past 19 games.

The box score will say the Gamecocks finished with 150 yards — 100 passing and 50 rushing — while the Aggies had a near perfect balance of 530 yards with 266 through the air and 264 on ground. But most Gamecocks faithful will remember this as the worst loss of the Muschamp era, and South Carolina’s worst conference loss since it fell 56-6 to Florida in 2008.

The Gamecocks avoided their first shutout since 2018 on Parker White’s 48-yard field goal with less than 6 minutes to play. Muschamp said after the game that he chose to kick there because he wanted White to gain confidence, and that the Gamecocks “don’t have a 41-point play in their playbook.” The last time South Carolina was shut out in an SEC game was 2006 against Georgia.

“I hope they’re pissed off,” Muschamp said of the Gamecocks fans. “After the last two performances, I don’t think there’s any doubt they should be.”

The offensive game plan for some reason all but ignored Kevin Harris, the SEC’s second-leading rusher, who mustered 39 yards on 13 carries. And most of that came on a 2nd-quarter run that went for 28 yards.

“They were loading the box, and we were going to take our shots deep, that’s what we did and we didn’t catch them,” Muschamp said. “We need to catch the ball.”

The only other big play was a 24-yard catch by Shi Smith in the fourth quarter.

It’s unclear if a more long-term quarterback change would make a difference. as Hilinski and Luke Doty appeared in Saturday’s game. But it hasn’t been ruled out.

“We’ll make that evaluation tomorrow,” Muschamp said. “Whatever gives us the best opportunity to win the game at whatever position it is, that’s what we’ll do.”

The fan base has all but moved on from this season. Many are resigned to Muschamp’s $13 million buyout protecting him from being dismissed, while others see the combination of poor play-calling and questionable scheming paired with dismal play at key positions being a bridge too far to remain interested.

If the 1st half were marked by too many overthrown passes and no running lanes for Harris, the 2nd gave way to drops. Then came the boos and a “Fire Muschamp!” chant in the 3rd quarter as the Gamecocks kept Hill in the game and punted on 4th-and-3 facing a 34-0 deficit.

“Really never got in a rhythm tonight,” Hill said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t move it too well. … Nothing changes for me. I’m just going to continue to show up, prepare and go to work.”

Hill added that control over his job is 100 percent out of his hands.

“My job is to show up and be ready and prepare like I’m the guy,” he said.

South Carolina linebacker Ernest Jones said the most disappointing thing was playing this poorly after a week off.

“It’s very frustrating,” he said. “We had an extra week, and we just didn’t come out and play to the best of our ability, and we got beat.”

Are wholesale changes needed?

“No, we’ve just got to make the adjustments,” Jones said. “Just come back to work tomorrow and correct the mistakes that we had in this game and just move forward.”