After downing the then-No. 9 Texas Longhorns in an electric offensive showing Oct. 4, the Gators came out hot against Texas A&M, scoring on their opening drive and building momentum from their best performance of the year.
Despite the early success, Florida’s (2-4, 1-2 SEC) offense became stagnant in the second half, scoring just a single field goal in a 34-17 loss to the Aggies (6-0, 3-0 SEC) at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, on Saturday.
“Our kids battled their ass off tonight, but I think in general, the parts of football that you have to do to win, we did not do and they did,” head coach Billy Napier said.
The glaring issue throughout the game was Florida’s struggles on third down. The Aggies held their last two opponents to 1-23 on third down attempts, and the Gators finished 1-11 on third down attempts. However, it didn’t start that way for the Gators.
Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway picked up right where he left off following his 298-yard, two touchdown performance against then-No. 9 Texas. Lagway went a perfect 6-6 in the game’s opening drive, throwing for 58 yards and connecting with redshirt freshman tight end Amir Jackson for a touchdown.
Texas A&M took just two plays to answer. The Gators’ defense gave up a 67-yard catch-and-run to sophomore receiver Mario Craver that set up the Aggies for a Marcell Reed touchdown run. The redshirt sophomore quarterback entered the end zone untouched on his 8-yard score.
Florida entered College Station without defensive linemen Caleb Banks and LJ McCray and missed cornerbacks Dijon Johnson and Aaron Gates among its secondary. The holes in its defense became apparent early, as Reed went 5-5 and threw for 136 yards and a touchdown in just two drives.
“Our kids early on defense started a bit slow, offensively we started fast and then we kind of settled in on defense and struggled to generate many points from that point forward on offense,” Napier said. “We didn’t sack their guy and then obviously we struggled to protect DJ at times, especially late.
However, UF’s duo of true freshman receivers, Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson, continued to cause trouble for the Aggies’ defensive backs. The duo combined for 57 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter alone, as Brown nabbed difficult catches, totaling 45 yards, and Wilson caught a 6-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 14-14. Lagway finished the first quarter with 10 completions on 12 attempts for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. In total, the freshman tandem finished with a combined nine catches for 97 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
“Obviously we’ve got good matchups outside … we’re going to keep attacking those corners if they want to play cover one,” head coach Billy Napier said to ESPN after the first quarter.
Nevertheless, A&M’s defense showed up in the second quarter as UF’s offense fizzled out. TAMU held the Gators to just 19 yards of total offense through 15 minutes of play. At the end of the first half, UF trailed 21-14.
“They showed up playing a little more man coverage, man pressure,” Napier said. “Once we proved that we could win outside, I think they settled down and played a little bit more post safety zone. We were running into light boxes at times.”
UF’s defense emerged on very few occasions throughout the game and the Gators’ offense appeared out of sorts after punting four straight times. It even fumbled at the beginning of the second half.
At the start of the fourth quarter with the Aggies leading 24-17, Jordan Castell intercepted Reed in the endzone on the first play of the fourth quarter.
However, the Aggies defensive line posed too much of a difficulty for Lagway and Florida’s offensive line to overcome in the final moments. Texas A&M redshirt senior defensive end Cashius Howell entered the game with seven sacks on the season. No other Aggie had more than 2.5.
He continued to be a disruptive force against UF, consistently beating redshirt senior lineman Austin Barber at the line of scrimmage and affecting Lagway. Howell finished with one sack, one pass break up and two QB hits.
Texas A&M defensive end Dayon Hayes beat Barber at the line and hit Lagway to force a fumble that would ultimately seal the game. The 6-foot-3 graduate finished with two total tackles, one sack and one forced fumble as he got the ball back into Reed’s hands with a 14-point lead and under five minutes to play.
From there, the Aggies had no issue keeping Florida’s ice cold offense at bay and closed out the game with a 34-17 win over the Gators.
“There was plenty chances out there to make the plays to tie the game and even be in control of the game,” Napier said. “We were right there. We had our opportunities. We got to make the plays.”
Florida will return to action against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-2, 0-2 SEC) at 4:15 p.m. Oct. 18 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is a third-year journalism-sports & media major who currently serves as the football beat reporter for The Alligator, now in his third semester with the paper. When not at his computer screen writing, Curan enjoys spending time outdoors, hanging with friends, family and pets, and watching the Patriots lose (no, he doesn't miss Brady).
