The No. 4 Florida Gators had a chance to make a statement on the road against a ranked opponent. A win in College Station against the No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies could’ve shown that the Gators are ready to compete for championships with a statement win. Instead, they took a step back, in a pretty ugly way.
The Aggies pulled off the upset of the Gators 41-38, hitting a chip-shot field goal as time expired. The Florida offense had a chance to win the game, but a costly fumble by Malik Davis near midfield with four minutes left just about sealed the deal.
The offense had a chance to win, but the Gators defense is what let them down today. There’s no real other way to put it. The Florida defense was flat-out bad. The Aggies had their way offensively and seemingly could do whatever they wanted to the Gators defense. Throw the ball, run the ball, you name it, and the Aggies offense did it.
Texas A&M racked up 543 total yards on their way to victory. Sorry Florida fans, that wasn’t a typo.
Kellen Mond had a day through the air, going 25-for-35 for 338 yards and two scores. He had relatively a lot of time in the pocket all day, and on the snaps where the Gators would get some pressure, the secondary would be too soft in coverage. A glaring statistic was the Aggies converting 12-of-15 third-downs. That’s just not a recipe for success, and we all know that.
The Aggies ran the ball all over the Gators too, particularly in the second half. Florida had no answer to stop Isaiah Spiller. He ran for 174 yards in the game and found the endzone twice.
The Gators defense is struggling, and they’re struggling on every level. Every phase of the defense just isn’t doing their job, and they certainly aren’t helping each other out. They just haven’t put it together yet and it caught up to the team as a whole. Defensively, the Gators have given up 100 points in 3 games. That’s not going to get it done.
The biggest concern defensively could be the secondary, which was supposed to be the strength of that side of the ball. The Gators defensive backs just look lost out there and are giving up big plays at an alarming rate. The leader of that group Marco Wilson, had his worst game of his career in College Station. Safety play has been no short of bad, leaving the Florida corners left on islands and A&M capitalized.
The team’s performance this weekend raises quite a few questions about the Gators future in 2020. The expectations heading into the season was that Florida football would be ready to compete on the national stage again as a legit contender. But Saturday in College Station proved otherwise.
Going forward, the Gators have to make some changes defensively. Todd Grantham is one of the highest-paid assistants for a reason, he has to make some adjustments. If he doesn’t, it could spoil a Florida offense the fans have been clamoring for.
In a shortened season, losses sting even more, especially in the fashion they lost in. If they want a chance at the playoff, Florida has to win-out, no question.
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