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The Florida Gators and their high-flying offense have been off to a rousing start this season. The Gators rank near the top in nearly every offensive category in the SEC, and are posting stellar enough numbers to be ranked highly in the national rankings too. Senior quarterback Kyle Trask is having a strong start to the season, while Kyle Pitts is proving to be one of, if not the best tight end in the country. Everything is going swimmingly for Dan Mullen’s Gators, who figure to once again be jostling with the Georgia Bulldogs for control of the SEC East later this season.
For the Texas A&M Aggies, it’s been a sluggish start. Despite winning their first game of the year against the Vanderbilt Commodores, they certainly didn’t look too great. Then they were roughed up big time by the Alabama Crimson Tide in last week’s SEC on CBS affair. The Tide’s bludgeoning of the Aggies once again meant that a Nick Saban assistant couldn’t beat the master himself. And once again, it caused the Aggies to lose to the Tide, as they’ve yet to knock them off since their first trip to Tuscaloosa in 2012.
Speaking of 2012, this matchup on Saturday marks the first time since the Aggies’ inaugural year in the SEC that these squads will combat in College Station. On that day, Florida edged A&M 20-17 to give the Aggies an unceremonious welcome to the SEC. Their second go-around in 2017 didn’t go in UF’s favor, as Texas A&M clipped them 19-17 in Gainesville. In totality, this is just the fifth time that these two programs will have met. The other two matchups came in 1962 and in the 1977 Sun Bowl, when A&M was in the old Southwest Conference. The series is split right down the middle, with both teams having earned two wins apiece.
I feel like this game is a case of deja vu for A&M. They are going up against a team who is head and shoulders above them offensively. Their defense has plenty of talent, and they can probably hang with Florida in the opening salvos of this one, just as they did last week against ‘Bama. But can it continue? I’m not sure the Aggies quite have the firepower to matchup with the Gators. They especially don’t have anyone as explosive or as dynamic as Kyle Pitts, who should be able to have a strong game yet again. They will likely bully Trask a bit in the beginning, but he can and likely would take over towards the end of it.
Now, granted, Florida’s defense has been shaky. They’ve given up a lot of yards and a lot of points to both the Ole Miss Rebels and South Carolina Gamecocks. The former isn’t too surprising when you consider that the Rebs do have some strong talent. Last week’s game against SC looked shaky for UF, but they were able to keep away from them. But even with that said, once again, I’m just not sure the Ags have it in them to keep up with them if this turns into a shootout style of game.
How to Watch
Time: Noon ET/11 a.m. CT
TV: ESPN
Watch Online: WatchESPN
Odds
Spread: Florida -6.5
Total: 58.5
I just see this being a mismatch in favor of Florida, so I would definitely lean Gators -6.5 if I were making a pick. Granted, anything can happen of course. But A&M just hasn’t been able to keep up offensively and they were incredibly spotty against the pass in their first two games of the season against Vanderbilt and Alabama.