The dangers of facing a team in desperation mode
Billy Napier and his Gators find themselves in desperation mode for the second season in a row. Last year, after a slow start and rumors swirling over the future of its head coach, Florida ripped off a 5-2 finish to the year with big wins over LSU and Ole Miss to make amends for its slow start. The Gators started the 2025 season 1-3, including a horrible loss to USF, and are now on the hunt to right the ship for the second year in a row.
The emotions behind desperation spots in college football are a way bigger deal than people give it credit for. It's the reason why Florida upended Texas last week, why Alabama stole a win in Athens the week prior, and why Texas A&M was able to get over its ranked road-game hump at Notre Dame two weekends before that. It's never a guarantee that you'll get the win, as we saw with Penn State losing at home to Oregon and LSU losing at Ole Miss that same day, but it certainly makes for closer outcomes than you could possibly imagine.
I'm not saying this week ends in the Aggies' first loss of the season — only that Mike Elko's crew needs to be ready to respond to every sucker-punch the Gators throw their way when they hit the gridiron.