As South Carolina scrambles to recover from the injury losses of receiver Deebo Samuel and linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams, the Gamecocks must keep pace in an SEC East race where they increasingly have little margin for error.

Given the loss to Kentucky two weeks ago, and how undefeated Georgia has looked so far this season, the Gamecocks travel to Texas A&M this week needing a win to keep up with Florida and Georgia in the division race. The Gators and Bulldogs are both still undefeated in the SEC.

Not only is the Texas A&M offense the best South Carolina has played thus far, coach Will Muschamp said the Aggies, who are third in the SEC in total offense at 461 yards per game, could be the best the Gamecocks will face all season.

“There’s no question that when you look at their numbers, they have been extremely explosive,” Muschamp said. “They have had a lot of explosive playmakers. They do a good job of getting their players in who can make plays in space and make you tackle in space. I don’t think there’s any question that this is the most explosive offense we’ve had to face all year.”

Many of those playmakers deliver speed, and Muschamp on the SEC coaches teleconference singled out receivers Christian Kirk and Damion Ratley as two Aggies who are especially dangerous.

“They run extremely well, and if you miss a tackle, you’re liable to give up a big play,” he said. “We’ve got to tackle and keep the ball bottled up as best we can in the run game, and keep them cut off down the field.”

The Gamecocks will need to keep pace with the Aggies without Samuel and Allen-Williams, arguably their two best players. Muschamp said filling those production holes is something several players and position groups must come together on. For Samuel, the coach mentioned at least seven players who must adjust their role.

It’s a problem Muschamp faced in his third year at Florida, 2013, when the Gators lost 15 starters to season-ending injuries. While South Carolina hasn’t reached that level, the psychological loss of leadership has an impact, he said.

“You’ve got to make sure your team understands you’ve got to continue to prepare the right way,” Muschamp said. “Understand your preparation creates a separation on game day.”

Preparation may be important for the South Carolina defense against the high-powered Aggies, but it’s the red zone offense that has struggled to show any traction early on. The Gamecocks are 119th in the country in red zone conversions, with four touchdowns in nine attempts. That area also has exposed the problems in field goal kicking that the team has experienced already this season.

“It’s multiple things, obviously, it’s not one thing you can put your finger on. Obviously we need to coach better in the situations, because if our players aren’t executing, that’s a coaching issue, in my opinion,” said Muschamp, who added that the running game is more important when the passing area is condensed. “There isn’t as much yardage to get free. That’s why we play pretty good red zone defense when teams have a hard time running the ball.”

While Samuel’s absence is one reason the offense has struggled, the Gamecocks have yet to get the running game on track, and remain 12th in the SEC in rushing offense at 100 yards per game. Part of that is because of injuries and shuffling along the offensive line with Zack Bailey and Cory Helms out with injuries, and replacements Sadarius Hutcherson and Malik Young filling the void.

“The issue we’ve got now is that we’ve got to score more points,” Muschamp said. “We’ve had missed opportunities in the high fringe and the area of the red zone. We’ve got to convert those into points and touchdowns in those situations. That’s something we just have not done.”

The 3-1 Gamecocks, who are 1-1 in the SEC, face the Aggies (3-1, 1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday in a game to be televised on the SEC Network.