Texas
Texas A&M Aggies vs. Florida: Gators’ Offensive Players to Watch
When the Texas A&M Aggies take the field for Week 3 — their first road game — they’ll be put to the test.
In a perfect world, they’ll be fresh off of a second straight win to begin the season, having knocked off Notre Dame and taken care of business against McNeese State. Standing in front of them and a 3-0 record, however, will be the Florida Gators.
Coach Billy Napier and company had their share of struggles last season, just like the Aggies, so both teams will enter the 2024-25 season looking to make things right. The College Football Playoff is set to expand to 12 teams as well, so the chances of that happening are increased, though winning games on the road, or in Florida’s case, defending home turf are crucial to that effort.
The Aggies will be returning some strong names on defense and adding new ones, but when they take the field, they’ll be tasked with slowing down some of Florida’s best weapons. For the Aggies playing in “The Swamp,” the difference could very well come on that defensive front.
That being said, here are three names to watch from Florida ahead of Week 3.
Graham Mertz, Quarterback
Mertz will be entering his fifth year of college football next season, and second with the Gators. Last year, he put up nearly 3,000 yards at a 73 percent completion rate. By the end of the year, he’d tallied 20 touchdowns and threw just three interceptions — an SEC best. Mertz’s high completion percentage certainly spells trouble for the Aggies if he finds his groove, and with a full year and offseason to adjust, he’s likely to come out of the gate firing.
Montrell Johnson, Running Back
With the passing-heavy offense that Florida had a season ago, Johnson wasn’t who it relied on most of the time, but that didn’t make him any less of an offensive weapon. Last year, the junior tallied 817 yards on 152 carries for five touchdowns, which puts him in the top-10 among SEC rushers on the season. Johnson is quick and nimble, making him a backfield threat, but also a solid option for Mertz, as the running back finished second in the conference for receiving yards as a primary rusher. If he gets loose, the Aggies will certainly like to be in front of him rather than behind.
Eugene Wilson III, Wide Reciever
After losing Ricky Pearsall Jr. to the draft, the Gators will have to look elsewhere for the bulk of their receiving offense. Luckily for them, they have a strong replacement candidate in Wilson III, who is entering his second season with the team as a true sophomore. Last season, Wilson III tallied 538 yards on 61 receptions for six touchdowns, making him a standout, but not the No. 1 option. This year, that’s set to change, and with a full season under his belt, Florida might just be seeing their next breakout receiver if things go according to plan. That makes him a big player of interest for the Aggies.
On Friday night, two of college football’s iconic programs will meet with a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship game on the line.
The Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns have their fingerprints all over the sport’s history yet somehow have squared off only three times.
A Fiesta Bowl meeting after the 2008 season. A home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006. That’s all the history the Buckeyes and Longhorns share on the gridiron — until they take the field in the CFP Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday.
Here’s how each of those three matchups played out.
Jan. 5, 2009: Texas 24, Ohio State 21
Although the 2009 Fiesta Bowl experienced a low-scoring first 30 minutes (the Buckeyes led 6-3 at halftime), the fourth quarter offered an ending to remember.
First, Ohio State roared back into the lead with 17 unanswered points after entering the final period trailing 17-6. With just two minutes to respond, Texas put together an impressive 11-play drive that culminated in quarterback Colt McCoy finding wide receiver Quan Cosby for the winning touchdown with 16 seconds remaining.
The McCoy and Cosby connection dominated all game, with the pair linking up 14 times for 171 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Sept. 9, 2006: Ohio State 24, Texas 7
McCoy’s first encounter with Ohio State wasn’t as pleasant as the Fiesta Bowl.
In a battle of the then-No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the land, it was the top-ranked Buckeyes who made an early-season statement against the defending national champion Longhorns on the road in Austin. Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy that season, threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns as the Buckeyes scored in all four quarters of the win.
Sept. 10, 2005: Texas 25, Ohio State 22
The first meeting between the Longhorns and Buckeyes came with nearly the same high billing as the 2006 contest, with the two squads squaring off as the No. 2 and No. 4 teams in the country, respectively.
As in 2006, it was the higher-ranked visiting side that came out on top, although the game itself proved to be much closer. Texas jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but Ohio State battled back and eventually entered halftime, and then the fourth quarter, ahead.
Said final quarter, however, belonged to the Longhorns. Quarterback Vince Young’s 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Limas Sweed proved to be the winner, with Texas adding some insurance in the game’s final moments with a safety-inducing sack of Troy Smith in the end zone.
The top-five win was the Longhorns’ first major statement in a campaign that would end with a national championship.
NORTH TEXAS – This week’s snow event will end with a “few flurries” during Friday’s morning commute, according to CBS News Texas meteorologist Jeff Ray.
“But roads will have frozen over,” Ray said.
Expect hazardous road conditions in the morning, as it will be “the worst” the roads have been since the event started on Thursday morning, Ray said.
Late in the morning, temperatures will rise above freezing, which will “help drivers get around the Metroplex,” Ray said.
A cold front is expected Friday, he said.
“We are going to have wind chills in the 20s all day,” Ray said. “By nightfall on Friday, temperatures will drop quickly and water will re-freeze on the roads across the evening. This ice will remain until mid-morning on Saturday before the sun and warmer temperatures in the mid-40s clear the roadways.”
CBS News Texas will continue to provide updates as information becomes available.
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