Texas A&M is getting ready for a big time showdown with the Florida Gators, who are coming into this game off of a big home win over Texas. The Aggies are on a five-game win streak to start the season, but the Gators pose a particular challenge that A&M may not yet have seen.
Even so, there's a lot to like about what A&M can do against Florida. Here are three things that will happen for the Aggies to win this game.
Three reasons Texas A&M beats Florida: Aggies take advantage of Florida's spotty pass defense
For as much as has been said about the Florida defense overall, their pass defense is more than a little suspect, ranking 78th in yards per attempt allowed. Even though Arch Manning couldn't take advantage last week, he had open receivers running behind the Gators' zones for a lot of the day— it was his inaccuracy that was the issue.
The Aggies have had a little bit of trouble with downfield accuracy at the quarterback position thus far this year, but Marcel doesn't really need to go for it all on every play. The Gators will leave plenty of spots open underneath, and if he can consistently make 10-15 yard completions, Concepcion and Craver can make some magic happen in the open field.
The run defense for Florida is solid (though we said that about Auburn, and A&M dominated them up front) so the passing attack will be key here. I think the Aggies will probably run first to set up the pass, but it will be that aerial attack that gets things going in earnest in this game.
Texas A&M has the chance to do some real damage here. This is the most talented pass-catching unit that the Gators have yet seen— Craver and Concepcion are 1 and 3 in the SEC in receiving yardage, after all— so they could run right past this UF secondary.