Texas A&M knocks off #4 Florida

The Texas A&M Aggies were winners on Saturday. Faced with the task of taking down the fourth-ranked Florida Gators, the Aggies did exactly that in their home dwelling. Jimbo Fisher collected his first win at A&M against a Top 5 opponent, as the Aggies defeated the Gators 41-38.

The game was a bouncy, back-and-forth affair. The teams traded scores eight different times before the Aggies strung together two consecutive scores late in the third quarter and early on in the fourth. Florida answered back with two consecutive scores as well — a field goal and a touchdown — but A&M answered with a touchdown and then a field goal as time expired to pick up the upset win.

Florida had a strong semblance of control early on in the third quarter. They went up 28-17 following a touchdown reception for Kadarius Toney, his second of the afternoon. But A&M refused to be denied. Isaiah Spiller scored on a three-yard run to cut the deficit to four, and rumbled back into the end zone to take a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

Evan McPherson would boot one out from 53 yards to tie up the game, and then would retake the lead on a reception by Dameon Pierce from one yard out. However, the Aggies would once again refuse to be denied. Caleb Chapman hauled in his second touchdown of the day on a beautiful 51-yard pass by Kellen Mond. After a forced fumble and recovery, the Aggies exhausted the rest of the clock, and Seth Small booted one through the uprights to net the W.

Mond was pretty terrific on the day. The A&M quarterback threw for 338 yards, three touchdowns — two to Chapman and one to Chase Lane, with no interceptions. Chapman hauled in nine of Mond’s 25 completions for 151 yards, a terrific outing to say the least. Lane and Jalen Wydermyer each picked up five receptions themselves, while Ainias Smith had four. Spiller and Kam Brown rounded things out with a reception apiece.

Speaking of Spiller, he was tremendous. Spiller ran for 174 yards on 27 carries, and found the end zone two times. He was instrumental in delivering what was an exceptional day for the Aggies on the ground. They picked up 205 total rushing yards on 38 carries, good for 5.4 yards per carry. The aforementioned Smith rushed for 23 yards on five carries to add to it, while Mond had eight yards himself.

Florida’s problems certainly were not on offense. Kyle Trask had a sterling day, going for 312 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. His touchdowns went to Toney, Malik Davis and, you guessed it, Kyle Pitts. They struggled a bit on the ground, as they were held to under 100 rushing yards and 3.8 yards per carry. But the issues were most certainly on defense for the Gators. Righting the ship there may be what makes or breaks this squad going forward. But if there’s any positive takeaway, it’s that this offense kept it rolling.

Florida will play the LSU Tigers next week, who were also upset by the Missouri Tigers on Saturday. Texas A&M, meanwhile, will head to Starkville to play the Mississippi State Bulldogs.