GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With Texas A&M’s 33-20 basting of struggling Florida, the Aggies defined how the effort of an entire team could show an invincible force for the entire 60 minutes.
The 13-point margin did not adequately show the command of A&M on Saturday. The Aggies rolled up 488 total yards to Florida’s 301 and the rushing game was a major force. Texas A&M amassed 310 yards rushing on 55 carries, while the Gators only managed 52 yards on 25 rushes with 2.1 yards per rush.
Texas A&M freshman quarterback Marcel Reed was a multiple force with his running and passing attack. He enjoyed his first start for the Aggies when Connor Weigman was unable to play due to a shoulder injury.
The win served as Coach Mike Elko’s first SEC win as a head coach in the conference and the Aggies’ first SEC road win since they beat Missouri, 35-14, in 2021.
“Obviously, the physicality in the game is going to be the big story,” said Elko. “Win the rushing battle 310-52 yards; that’s going to win you a lot of games.”
Le’Veon Moss led the Aggies’ rushing attack with 110 yards on 18 carries. He had a 27-yard run off the right side on the first play of the second drive, which ended in Texas A&M’s first touchdown.
Reed completed 11 of 17 passes for 178 yards and a pair of touchdowns and tallied 83 yards on 13 carries.
He capped a 99-yard drive on 15 plays as he scored on a one-yard run with just 44 seconds left in the first half.
“How about ’10’? I thought he was lights out,” noted Elko. “We kind of took the air out in the second half and kind of protected the game the way that I think you should when you go into ballgames on the road.”
Reed immediately turned the momentum in the game after Florida scored on its first drive of the second half when he threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Cyrus Allen. Reed rolled left as he hit Allen on the sprint up the left sideline for the score.
“I prepared like I was going to start this week,” said Reed, who was tabbed as the starter before the game. “I got the green light and I did what I had to do.”
Reed’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Theo Ohrstrom gave Texas A&M a 10-0 lead with 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter and the entire play gave Reed even more confidence as he moved forward in the game.
“I think the first touchdown I threw to Theo (Ohrstrom), our tight end, was a progression read and I made it through, almost all the way,” explained Reed.” I took a little hit and I was like ‘I can do this. I can make plays in this conference.’ That one just set me up for success and I could go and make the plays we needed to win this game.”
The Aggies’ defense was a torturous entity for Florida as Bryce Anderson’s 45-yard interception was exclamatory in the Aggies’ win. It allowed Texas A&M to seal the victory with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter.
Gators Can’t Matchup With Physicality of Aggies: Texas A&M controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and when the Aggies went up, 33-7, A&M pulled back its defensive attack.
Florida was able to score on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Graham Mertz to Chimera Dike before Ja’Kobi Jackson scored on a 2-yard run that culminated a nine-play 78-yard drive.
Meanwhile, embattled head coach Billy Napier continued to try to take the blame, but also explain how much this team had improved in his postgame press conference. He seemed self-contradictory with his comments.
Florida was once again outplayed and pushed around by the physicality and dominance of the Aggies, who controlled the football for 37:46.
