Texas A&M Football: Florida Preview and Breakdown

The Texas A&M football team welcomes in the Florida Gators to Kyle Field this Saturday, hoping for their fourth win on the season and to snap this current 4-game losing streak.  This is a key game for the Aggies, as a loss here would require them to win out to achieve bowl eligibility.  Luckily, freshman QB Conner Weigman has reignited hope within the fanbase by showcasing his dynamic abilities in last week’s loss to Ole Miss, and the Aggie faithful are hoping he can put up a similar performance against the Gators.

So how do the two teams stack up?  What should A&M fans expect from the Gators?  Let’s take a look.

When UF has the ball

Florida is a running team, straight up.  QB Anthony Richardson has only exceeded 275 yards passing twice this year— once against Eastern Washington, and once, strangely, against Tennessee.  His game against UGA wasn’t bad, either, throwing for 271 on 7.3 YPA against a really good passing defense, but he has a tough time with consistency; for example, he threw for only 66 yards against Missouri coming off his best two passing games of the year.

Where he can hurt you most, of course, is with his legs.  We saw last week how much a running QB can affect this Texas A&M football team, so defending him well in that aspect will be key.  Missing Antonio Johnson and Edgerrin Cooper really hurt the Aggies last week in that dimension, so, should they return, I expect them to have key roles.

Florida’s top three runners are Montrell Johnson (449 yards @ 6.4 YPC), the aforementioned Richardson (410 yards @ 6.1 YPC), and Trevor Etienne (388 yards @ 6.0 YPC), with Nay’quan Wright (175 yards @ 4.0 YPC) seeing a bit of time as well.  This feels like a game where the Aggies can more comfortably load the box and rely on their excellent pass defense to cover the back end.  Bryce Anderson and Antonio Johnson’s availability will be key.

When UF is on defense

This Gator defense has struggled at times, and it looks like this Texas A&M football team might just be rounding into form on the offensive side of things.  The Gators average giving up 8 yards per attempt through the air, and 4.65 yards per carry— not exactly stellar numbers.  The Gators also give up an average success rate of 47%, meaning they’re not the best at knocking teams off-schedule.  Every teams that has played Florida has exceeded their average success rate, save Kentucky and Georgia (strangely enough), so it’s a safe bet that the Aggies can do so as well.

The Gators are susceptible to the run, with most opponents exceeding their averages on the ground against them.  With the exception of Utah and South Florida, every team that has played UF has approached their average passing mark as well, meaning they’re a middle-of-the-road pass defense as well.  Amari Burney is their leading pass-rusher as far as sacks, with 4 on the year.  Brenton Cox, who was in second with 2 but led in total TFLs, has been dismissed from the team following last week’s game, so that’s one less difference-maker up front for the Aggies to worry about.  Rashad Torrence II and Ventrell Miller, a DB and LB respectively, lead the Gators in tackles with 66 and 54.

This will be a big game for the offensive line— I’m sure many recall the tone shift that occurred in the 2020 Texas A&M football team in the second drive of the 3rd quarter in the Florida game, when they just ran over the Gator defense with Isaiah Spiller and Ainias Smith.  Neither of those guys will be playing in this matchup, but I think the Aggies stand a similar chance to control this game on the ground.  With as dynamic a QB as Conner Weigman, you don’t want to have your identity built around the ground game, but you need it to be strong so that he doesn’t have to do all the work, especially as a freshman.

The Aggies and Gators will kick off at 11:00 AM CT on Saturday, November 5th.