After a comfortable 52-10 beatdown against McNeese State, Texas A&M heads to The Swamp to face Florida in its first SEC matchup of the season.
The ferocious A&M defense lived up to its reputation last week, nabbing two interceptions while holding the Cowboys to under 100 pass yards. There were no sacks to show for it, but backup quarterback Kamden Sixkiller was pressured all day, leading to many off-kilter throws.
Despite the secondary being a no-fly zone, the front seven let up many chunk gains on the ground. After giving up 198 rushing yards in their season-opening loss to Notre Dame, the Maroon and White struggled to stop the run again with McNeese gaining 180 yards.
“I think at halftime, we had really controlled the rushing game,” coach Mike Elko said. “In the second half, we didn’t do nearly what we wanted to do on defense in terms of running — stopping the run.”
The Aggies will have to perform much better plugging the gaps if they hope to prevent the Gators from exploiting their weakness.
The question on everyone’s mind this week will be who Florida head coach Billy Napier plans on starting at quarterback. Starting in place of redshirt senior quarterback Graham Mertz, who was out with a concussion, true freshman QB DJ Lagway lit it up versus Samford, throwing for a Gator freshman-record 456 yards with an outstanding 18.24 yards per attempt.
Lagway’s last touchdown of the night didn’t require as much effort, with a simple flip to sophomore wide receiver Eugene Wilson III, who outran the entire Bulldog secondary. Barring any setbacks, Mertz is in line to start this Saturday’s game, but don’t get it twisted. Lagway will see the field.
“When you look at them on offense, they’ve got two extremely talented quarterbacks who kind of have different skill sets,” Elko said. “So it’ll be a challenge for us defensively to prepare for both and make sure that we’re ready for both.”
No matter who’s throwing the ball, the Aggies will have to keep a watch out for Florida’s biggest weapon: Wilson. The 5-foot-10 receiver has a slight build, but his quickness and agility means he’s liable to take it to the house anytime he gets the ball.
Sophomore defensive back Jayvon Thomas will be the one tasked with containing Wilson. He will need help from the A&M pass rush to prevent routes from developing deep, an area of the field where the Maroon and White can be exploited. Junior defensive lineman Nic Scourton will need to get to the quarterback quickly to disrupt the Gators’ timing.
Even if the Aggies stop the dynamic Florida pass catchers, it’ll be hard to win the game if they can’t stop anybody on the ground. Senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr. is running behind an experienced offensive line, and the Gators will want to establish the run to open up the play-action game. A&M’s linebacker core, headlined by sophomore Taurean York, will have to shoot its gaps to stop a formidable rushing attack.
