Five bold predictions for Texas A&M football vs. Florida: A&M ground game takes over

Five bold predictions for Texas A&M football as the Aggies take on the Florida Gators

Texas A&M football is facing a decisive moment in their week three matchup versus the Florida Gators. The Aggies have had one awful performance and one great performance so far this year; a road game in a hostile environment will give a lot more context to which of those games is a better reflection of this A&M team.

Let’s make some bold predictions for what we might see in this one.

Aggies go for 250+ on the ground

I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen out of the Aggie rushing attack so far this season. Notre Dame boasts a strong defensive front, but the A&M offensive line more than held their own when run blocking, which has been a rare sight against any opponent since 2020.

Though the Gators have a talented defensive line and a solid linebacker in Shemar James, I’m not high on their discipline against a run game like Klein’s. I think A&M relies on the ground game to pick up some big yards in this one and are able to grind down the UF front.

A&M wins turnover battle

Last time I predicted this, Conner Weigman tossed two bad interceptions to the Fighting Irish. Not to be deterred, I refuse to believe that I am jinxing anything! 

After Will Lee and Marcus Ratcliffe snagged a pick each against McNeese, the Aggies are back to a net zero in the turnover column. I think they can move to a positive there with the pressure they can create up front—after all, that’s what generated the two interceptions they’ve gotten thus far.

A&M holds UF under 150 yards rushing

Both Aggie opponents thus far have put up a lot more rushing yards than Mike Elko wants to give up. However, that’s not because of an ability to consistently get push up front; rather, it has to do with generating explosives on the ground.

For both Notre Dame and McNeese, this came at the end of the game, but for different reasons. I think we see the Ags better able to bottle up the rushing attack in this one; UF may hit a big play at one point, but I anticipate setting the edge being a point of emphasis in practice this week for A&M.

Gators get a big play through the air

The game plan for UF last week was clear: set up maximum protection for DJ Lagway and have the talented signal caller throw a bomb downfield. Against Samford, that works fine—but will that replicate against stiffer competition?

Especially if the Aggies get up early in this one, I think we see UF give this strategy a shot at some point in this game. They certainly haven’t seemed organized enough yet to work their way up and down the field efficiently, so I’m hedging that they’ll hit one of these plays—but more often than not, I think this turns out poorly for the Gators.

But so does Weigman

Aggie fans have been clamoring to see a big downfield passing game for this A&M team. It has yet to materialize at this point in the season, but we’ve seen flashes. Weigman threw some absolute dimes against McNeese that ended up incomplete due to receiver drops or interference on the part of the corners.

I think it’s possible, given an efficient ground game, that we see a big downfield pass or two against the Gators. UF will commit to the box and dare the Aggies to beat them downfield; I think we see that exact thing happen at some point during this contest.