Texas A&M completed the largest comeback in program history after storming back from 27 points down to miraculously pull off a 31–30 victory.
But before the celebration, the Aggies dug themselves into that deep hole, and it wasn’t just turnovers and flat-out bad football. One of the biggest reasons Mike Elko’s squad fell behind was the rough afternoon from its starting kicker, Randy Bond.
Bond, a graduate student, missed a 45-yard field goal that would have cut the deficit to 10–6. To make matters worse, he later pushed a freebie 24-yard field goal that kept South Carolina ahead by 17 points. That attempt came immediately after a Dalton Brooks interception that breathed life back into the Aggies. In one kick, that momentum evaporated.
Bond has been notorious for struggling in the 40 to 49 yard field goal window. Across his four years as a starter, he is 18 for 31 from that distance, a 58 percent clip. Before today, he was 4 for 6 in that range. Make that 4 for 7 after today.
To put that into perspective, a 58-percent probability is technically “likely,” but it is barely better than a coin toss. Here are a few things more likely to happen than Bond hitting from the 40-49 yard range.
The inconsistency has been there throughout his career. In 2023, he went 26 for 36, including six misses from that infamous 40 to 49 yard range.
He followed that with an impressive bounce-back year in 2024, making 20 of 24 attempts. He went 7 for 9 from the 40 to 49 range, which suggested he may have finally erased that weakness.
But in 2025, the issue has resurfaced, and this time it has spread beyond the long-range kicks. Bond has attempted 15 field goals and has made only 10 of them, a 66.7 percent mark.
At the beginning of the season, Elko announced that Georgia transfer Jared Zirkel would be the starter. Elko even said Zirkel had been “phenomenal” throughout the offseason and won the kicking job “by a wide margin.”
After Zirkel suffered an injury, Bond reclaimed the starting duties.
Whether it was a confidence hit after losing the job or just a continuation of an old flaw, the struggles have been apparent since his first start of the season against Notre Dame. Bond missed a 52-yard field goal that would have extended the halftime lead to 7. The trend continued against Auburn, where he missed two kicks on back-to-back drives, then another 40-yard attempt against Florida, and now two costly misses against South Carolina that made an already difficult comeback even harder.
But hey, on the bright side, if he hadn’t missed those two, the Aggies wouldn’t have pulled off the biggest comeback in school history.
In this week’s episode, hosts Matthew and Eleanor speak with Texas Tribune reporter Colleen DeGuzman and Houston-based immigration attorney Paul Pirela about immigration enforcement in Texas. What’s ICE doing in Texas? How are Texas immigrants being affected? And what is the Trump administration saying about its efforts?
Watch the video above or subscribe to the TribCast on iTunes, Spotify, or RSS. New episodes every Tuesday.
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Rooted In Texas Tree Care
Rooted In Texas Tree Care has received over 50 verified customer reviews on Google since opening in 2018.
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More information available at https://www.rootedintexastreecare.com/
Every review tells a different story, a problem a certain customer faced and how the company solved it. This helps demonstrate that the reviews are authentic and based on real customer experiences. These reviews also serve the purpose of marketing for Rooted In Texas Tree Care. When a new customer searches for a reliable team, these reviews help them make a confident decision.
The company responded to increased service demand during severe weather events in 2025. The team worked extended hours during January ice storms that damaged trees throughout Central Texas. During these high-stress periods, customers valued same-day emergency response and accurate damage assessments. Storm recovery work tested the company’s capacity to maintain service standards under pressure. Customer feedback from these events shows homeowners appreciated direct communication about tree hazards and realistic timelines for repairs.
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About Rooted In Texas Tree Care
Rooted In Texas Tree Care is a trusted local tree company serving Central Texan cities, such as Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Round Rock, and Georgetown. Their services include trimming, removal, cutting, stump grinding, cabling and bracing, and more.
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DALLAS – A powerful geomagnetic storm impacting Earth could cause the Northern Lights to be seen much farther south than normal Monday night.
What we know:
According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, a blast of charged particles from the Sun, called a coronal mass ejection (CME), is behind the G4-level or “Severe” storm. This is the second-highest level on the agency’s storm-rating scale.
The G4 storm is also accompanied by an S4-level solar radiation storm. The last time this type of storm was observed was in October 2003, according to the SWPC.
Northern Lights in Lone Oak, TX via Lisa Leder
Dig deeper:
At this level, SWPC said, widespread voltage control problems can occur with power systems. Spacecraft can experience tracking problems and satellite navigation can be degraded for hours.
The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, can be seen as far south as Alabama during this type of storm, according to the SWPC. This means that, while they will likely be faint, the best chance for viewing the lights in Texas will be across northern parts of the state.
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