Three Takeaways From Texas A&M’s Win Over the Florida Gators

Another SEC game at Kyle Field, and another win for the No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies, who denied the Florida Gators their second straight conference win with a 34-17 win Saturday night during their throwback game to the 1975 Aggies team that won the Southwest Conference championship.

With the No. 3 Oregon Ducks losing to the No. 7 Indiana Hoosiers and the No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels narrowly avoiding defeat at the hands of Washington State, a rise in the AP Top 25 is likely in the Aggies’ future come Sunday afternoon.

But as for now, the Aggies now must shift into road warrior mode as they begin a three-game stretch of road conference matchups starting next weekend with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

With the Maroon and White still one of few undefeated teams in the country and one of two in Texas alongside the Texas Tech Red Raiders, here are three takeaways from the Aggies’ 34-17 home win over Billy Napier and the Florida Gators.

Texas A&M defensive lineman Albert Regis said in his postgame interview that there was no secret to the team’s remarkable defense on third downs since conference play has begun, but I’m still not 100 percent sure that he’s being truthful.

The “Wrecking Crew” again lived up to their name against the Gators Saturday night, only allowing Florida to convert one of their 10 third-down attempts, bringing their total for conference play to 2-for-33 on third-down conversions.

Yes, you’re reading that right, and my jaw is on the floor as well.

Led by Cashius Howell, who secured his nation-tying eighth sack in the win Saturday night, the team held the Florida rushing game to just 74 yards, with the team overall showing an advancement in discipline, only committing three penalties the entire night, which according to linebacker Taurean York at his postgame conference, earned the team some golf carts for transportation, courtesy of head coach Mike Elko.

The Texas A&M fans likely had their hearts skip a beat when running back Le’Veon Moss was slow to get up in the second quarter with what seemed to be a lower body injury, which would have served as the second major injury suffered by the running back in a calendar year, though he needed some support in getting up and off the field, he was able to walk back to the sideline on his own feet, but was not seen on the field for the rest of the game.

The team’s rushing attack still flourished sans the senior halfback, combining for 183 yards and three touchdowns, with Moss still doing his damage in the little bit that he played, finishing with 46 yards and a 22-yard touchdown that saw Moss refuse to go down, going through the Florida defense like a knife going through butter.

The Aggie offense came out firing on all cylinders to start the game, and it all started with Reed connecting with wide receiver Mario Craver for an astounding 67-yard gain to start their opening drive, which then led to an eight-yard rush from Reed to put Texas A&M on the board early on.

Reed has struggled lately with his deep ball passes, notably overthrowing KC Concepcion on a few big plays early on in the season, but the work in practice has seemed to finally translate to the field, especially between Reed and the former Mississippi State wideout in Craver, who is atop the SEC in terms of receiving yards.

The Aggies travel to Fayetteville to combat the Razorbacks next Saturday at 2:30 PM.