5 thoughts and an instant reaction on the Texas A&M win over Florida.
5. Jimbo Fisher got his win
Texas A&M was mediocre in a 17-12 win against Vanderbilt, and it was thoroughly outclassed in the 52-24 loss to Alabama.
Finally, he was able to beat a top five team as the Aggie head coach, but it has to be the beginning. This is what a guy with a national championship ring and a ten-year contract is supposed to do.
This needs to be the game-changer. This needs to be when Texas A&M knows it really can not only hang with the best teams in college football, but beat them.
This was tough. Florida was fantastic, the Aggies were down in the second half, and they adjusted, fought through the adversity, and they came back to pull it off. They forced the late turnover, they took advantage of the situation, and they did it.
It is possible to win really, really big games at Texas A&M.
4. Texas A&M figured out how to pound away
Kellen Mond was brilliant. This was his signature win, hitting 25-of-35 passes for 338 yards and three scores as he calmly led the way on the game-winning drive, but this all turned on the offensive line.
This was the moment when the Aggies knew they could pound away when needed.
The Texas A&M running game was fine in the first two games, but nothing special.
Isaiah Spiller had a few big runs, and super-soph Ainias Smith was used a bit, but the ground attack failed to to hit 200 yards against Vanderbilt and was stuffed by Alabama.
That all changed against the Gators, and it started with a brutal ten play, 75-yard touchdown drive after getting down 28-17 early in the second half on the way to rushing for 205 yards and averaging over five yards per carry.
The offensive line was finally able to eat. It dominated the Gator defensive front when it had to.
3. The Florida defense couldn’t close
Kyle Trask threw for 312 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He’s on a better pace than Joe Burrow was after three games last year.
Kyle Pitts was good again – at least early – and the running game was fine. There might have been a late turnover, but this one is on the defense.
The Gators were flirting with problems over the first two games, and against the Aggies, they got burned by a grilling day from QB Kellen Mond, that pounding ground game that took over in the second half, and they couldn’t come through when needed.
The Gators were beaten by big plays through the air, they were ground on when it was time to get physical, and there were problems everywhere in between.
Florida has the talent on D, and it allowed A&M to convert 12-of-15 third down tries along with a fourth down chance. It had to come up with one big stop late, and couldn’t do it.
However …
NEXT: What it means for Florida
2. What it means for Florida
It’s not over.
The defense has to be a lot better, and there are big tweaks and adjustments that have to be made, but this isn’t a killer for any of the goals still in reach for this high-powered team.
If – and it’s a GIGANTIC if – the defense can start to be more physical and more productive, the Gators can handle a shaky LSU team at home. It can beat Missouri in Gainesville.
And then comes the date with Georgia.
The finishing kick? Arkansas, at Vanderbilt, Kentucky and at Tennessee.
It’s asking a whole lot to win out after the way the first three games went on the defensive side of the ball – and beating a Georgia team with the talent it has is a massive hill to climb – but this one loss isn’t the end of the 2020 season.
But now there’s no wiggle room. Florida gave this one away, but to be fair, A&M took it, and now …
NEXT: What it means for Texas A&M
1. What it means for Texas A&M
Now the Aggies might just be in the mix for something big.
They saved their season and saved their hopes for something big after losing to Alabama – losing would’ve meant a 1-2 start, screams about Jimbo Fisher underachieving, and a big worry about the season starting to slip away. Instead, now it’s time to go on a run.
There’s no Georgia on the schedule and the LSU game is at one. Three of the next four games are on the road, but Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Tennessee are all winnable if the offensive line plays like it did against the Gators.
Winning the SEC West is still a reach – closing with LSU and at Auburn is still a problem – but now the program knows it can win games like this.
If you’re good enough to beat this Florida team, you’re good enough to beat anyone else on this schedule.
