Headed to Gainesville, Florida in search of its first road win since 2021, Texas A&M football came out of The Swamp victorious against Florida with a 33-20 win after a rain-soaked Saturday afternoon.
The question on everyone’s mind was who the Aggies were going to start at quarterback after redshirt sophomore Connor Weigman was listed as a game-time decision with an injury in his throwing shoulder. On the first drive of the game, the Aggie faithful got their answer with coach Mike Elko trotting out redshirt freshman QB Marcel Reed to lead the offense.
Reed excelled in the role, throwing for 178 yards and two passing touchdowns while providing a dual-threat element with 83 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. The Gators had no answer to the Aggies’ rushing attack as they rushed for more than 300 yards for the second straight week on the back of Reed and the one-two punch of junior running backs Le’Veon Moss and Amari Daniels.
“Obviously, the physicality in the game is going to be the big story,” Elko said. “When you win the rushing battle 310 to 52 yards, that’s going to win you a lot of football games.”
On the first drive of the game, Reed showcased his legs, scrambling for 31 yards after the Aggies were backed up on a long second down. Two plays later, Reed found senior wide receiver Moose Muhammad III on a dig route for a gain of 20 yards that took A&M to field goal territory. The Maroon and White continued marching into the red zone, but the drive stalled out after an illegal blocking penalty and the Aggies settled for a 31-yard field goal to get the first points on the board.
True freshman phenom QB DJ Lagway was coming off of a record setting game against Samford, but Florida coach Billy Napier decided to roll with the veteran redshirt senior QB Graham Mertz. Napier promised that both quarterbacks would see the field against A&M, but the Gators would be left without their biggest weapon, sophomore WR Eugene Wilson III, who was ruled out with a lower-body injury.
The Aggies’ rush defense has been the team’s weakest point of the past two weeks but looked up to the challenge, stuffing senior RB Montrell Johnson Jr. for short gains and a tackle for loss that led to a punt at midfield.
Moss got caught up in the middle to start the drive but managed to keep his balance and bounce it to the outside, trucking a Florida defender to make it a 27-yard gain. On third down, Reed found Daniels in the flat, who sprinted down the sideline for 22 yards. Following a holding penalty that gave the Aggies a new set of downs, Reed stayed strong in the pocket before unleashing a strike down the middle to sophomore tight end Theo Melin Ohrstrom for a 29-yard touchdown.
With A&M up 10-0, the Gators sent in Lagway in search of a spark, but lightning in the area led to a weather delay after one play. After the game resumed over 45 minutes later, the pair of senior linebacker Solomon DeShields and junior defensive lineman Shemar Stewart sacked Lagway for a 15-yard loss and a three-and-out.
The Aggies started with good field position near midfield and a steady stream of runs led to another field goal from senior kicker Randy Bond, this one from 48 yards out.
Mertz went out for the Gators next and fed senior WR Chimere Dike for a 36-yard gain after Dike got behind the A&M linebackers. The drive stalled following the chunk play, but senior punter Jeremy Crawshaw and the recovery team proved their worth by pinning the Aggies on the 1-yard line.
Deep in their own end zone, the Aggies went on their best drive of the day on the backs of their dominant rushing attack. Moss ran straight up the middle for 22 yards, punishing Florida defenders who tried to tackle him. Daniels was next up and didn’t disappoint. His back-to-back gains of 12 and 18 yards took A&M into Gator territory, graduate RB EJ Smith got in on the action, running hard to give the Aggies another first down.
Two penalties on A&M pushed the Aggies back to 1st-and-35. The Maroon and White had new life after Florida senior defensive back Trikweze Bridges was ejected from the game with a relatively light targeting penalty against junior WR Noah Thomas. An RPO run by Reed was stopped at the 1-yard line, but a sneak by Reed gave the Aggies the touchdown and the 20-0 lead.
The Gators looked motivated coming out of the half, with Mertz finding senior WR Elijhah Badger for a 38-yard pass before Badger got open for a touchdown on a 14-yard corner route that gave the Gators their first points of the afternoon.
The Aggies answered right back after Reed found junior WR Cyrus Allen wide open, streaking down the left sideline for a 73-yard touchdown, A&M’s longest play of the season.
A pair of punts by both teams followed before Mertz’s pass bounced off his receiver into the waiting hands of junior DB Bryce Anderson, who took it to the house for a 45-yard pick six and a 33-7 A&M lead.
Not wanting a blowout, the Gators put up their first sustained drive of the afternoon, aided by a targeting call on sophomore DB Dalton Brooks and punctuated by a 7-yard Lagway throw to Dike who just got his foot in the end zone.
Mertz was able to find gaps in the Aggies’ secondary, finding Badger and sophomore tight end Arlis Boardingham for big gains. A change of running backs to junior Ja’Kobi Jackson was effective as Jackson ran it up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown to end the drive.
A&M recovered the Florida onside kick, but Bond missed his second 40-yard field goal to keep the Gators’ dreams alive. An interception by sophomore DB Jayvon Thomas ended that dream quickly and gave the Aggies the victory.
The Aggies hope to continue their winning ways at Kyle Field against Bowling Green on Saturday, Sept. 21.
