In 1834, James Bonham organized the Mobile Grays, a militia that would aid in Texas’s War for Independence from Mexico. Bonham was a lawyer from the Palmetto State, where he attended **South Carolina College**. He was expelled during his senior year after leading a rebellion of his own, protesting the quality of food being served in the school’s dorms. In his legal career, he was outspoken against Andrew Jackson and the Federal government. So outspoken that he climbed the ranks of society, military, and state government. Seeking an opportunity to continue his rebellious ways, he moved to Alabama.
In 1835, Bonham sent a message to Sam Houston, major general of the Texian Army: The Grays will fight with Texas for free. Bonham made it clear he didn’t desire land, cattle, or wealth — only liberty. His unit arrived in San Antonio in January of 1836, stationed at the Alamo. With Mexican troops beginning a siege on the fort, Bonham was sent to request support from Colonel James Fannin, who marched with his troops numbering over 300. Fannin’s relief was a failure, as the crew couldn’t make it past the San Antonio River and stopped at Fort Defiance in Goliad.
A few days later, on March 6, 1836, Mexican forces attacked the Alamo, killing all 187 men inside, including James Bonham. Bonham is remembered in Texas lore as a hot-headed fighter, fierce as a gamecock and resilient as a farmer. His death at the Alamo represents the support from several states towards Texas, who gained independence less than two months later, on April 21.
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175 years later, Texas A&M University declared independence from the oppressive Big 12 government. In 2012, the Aggies landed amongst allies in the Southeastern Conference, one of them being South Carolina. The movement (along with the Missouri Tigers) shook the foundations of the conference, irritating the historic fabric of rivalries and logical divisions. Texas A&M was to join the west division, while Missouri headed to the east. The now-14 team conference instituted protected rivalries, named so because the idea protected the sensitive feelings of the Auburn, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee athletic departments.
Digging deep into the rich history of the Texan Revolution instead of recent college football happenings (and a map), the biggest wigs in the SEC agreed that Texas A&M’s rival shouldn’t be Missouri, whom the Aggies met 8 times in the Big 12, resulting in 4 wins for both sides and 4 single-possession games. Instead, the protected rivalry should be South Carolina: the only pairing of teams in the newly rebuilt conference who had never before met on the gridiron and were separated by over 1,000 miles.
In preparation for the hate-filled rivalry, then-governors Rick Perry of Texas and Nikki Haley of South Carolina commissioned the Bonham Trophy in 2013, a prize for the winner of the annual tradition. In part due to the Aggies’ domination, the trophy never changed hands and was consequently lost somewhere in the Alamo archives in San Antonio.
Dormant, yet intriguing — incredibly symbolic of this series. Let’s remember a few games.
2014
The 2014 season opened with an abundance of manufactured fanfare: the inaugural Battle for the Bonham Trophy would be featured as the inaugural Battle for the SEC Network.
Entering the dark cave of a post-Manziel future, the Aggies were led onto the field by Kenny Hill, with a torch in one hand and 511 passing yards in the other. Hill flamed the Gamecock defense, completing 3 TD passes in the first half. A late Tra Carson rush extended the lead to 38-14 at halftime. Armani Watts grabbed an interception to end the third quarter and put an exclamation point on the rout.
Texas A&M began the season with a 52-28 victory that, as far as anyone in Aggieland was concerned, highlighted the 2014 campaign before it had the chance to pick up speed.
As the old saying goes: "always trade a 5-0 start and a 2-5 finish as a result of an artificial QB battle that would only serve as a precursor of things to come, for a win over your arch nemesis."
2015
Wait, you mean that precursor was only a year early? Texas A&M starts the season 5-0 again, but consecutive losses to Alabama and Ole Miss call for Kyler Murray to take the reigns. The 5-star freshman earned his first start in the rivalry game, this time hosted at Kyle Field on the morning of Halloween, accompanied with strategically planned glow-in-the dark helmet decals.
The Cocks presented a more formidable opponent this time around, matching every Aggie score through the first half. Murray completed a TD pass to Josh Reynolds, and a pair of rushing scores pegged the teams at 21 at half time. A 60-yard pick-six by Donovan Wilson put the good guys up by two scores, and South Carolina couldn’t mount the comeback. Five punts in the final quarter accurately illustrate the hard-nosed type of football you get in a heated rivalry like this.
The Noble Men of Kyle were victorious, 35-28, putting together a win streak over the Carolinians that is sure to keep the QB room happy with Aggieland for years to come.
2022
The story was the same for years, much to the chagrin of South Carolina. Texas A&M won eight straight competitions. Riding the high of one of the greatest recruiting classes in history, Jimbo Fisher marched his boys into Columbia, unknowingly for the last time.
Xavier Legette returned the opening kickoff for a 100-yard TD return, warning both sides of a change in the tides. The Gamecock rushing game got started early, pulling away 17-0 in the first quarter. After two field goals, Haynes King connected with Max Wright for a TD, then Evan Stewart for two-points, bringing the game to 17-14 at halftime. MarShawn Lloyd and Devon Achane traded scores, but Lloyd had the last laugh, capitalizing on an 80-yard drive with three minutes to play.
South Carolina won, 30-24, cementing the rivalry as one of the SEC’s most historic. A few weeks later, the Aggies would discover that this game contributed to a six-game losing streak, the longest in school history since the campus hosted Emory Bellard with his wishbone offense while the cadets slept with rocks in their tents. Jimbo Fisher was fired just over a year later.
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Leave no doubt: this is a rivalry on par with the Aggie-Longhorn games of yore. Though the sacrifice of James Bonham has become the symbol of this historic matchup, let all fans be informed to the highest degree of the contempt between the schools. "House Divided" signs litter front yards across the two states. Cousins argue, sometimes violently, after the annual feast of National Deviled Egg Day. Bragging rights are at stake this weekend, and when we earn those rights, we’re gonna put them in a basement in the Alamo and completely forget about them.
And that’s exactly what we’re gonna do to them, Ags.
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