No. 4 Florida Gators Upset 38-41 by No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies

The No. 4 Florida Gators were unable to come away with the victory Saturday against the No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies, after dominating over the first two weeks of the season. While the team’s offense remained impressive, the defense was unable to get enough stops, allowing the Aggies to come away with the upset.

Florida falls to 2-1 on the season after the 38-41 loss to the Aggies.

With the SEC transitioning to an offense-only league this season, the Gators’ defense struggled to keep the Aggies off the field, allowing several long drives that ended in scores. Texas A&M was able to convert, 14, 10 and 10-play drives into touchdowns throughout the game, while converting a 14-yard drive into a field goal to end the half.

The Gators’ offense posted another stellar effort, racking up 402 total yards. Quarterback Kyle Trask was able to complete 23 of 32 of his passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns. The Gators spread the ball out once again, completing passes for eight different receivers.

While the Florida defense was not stellar against the pass, it was its deficiency against the run during the third quarter that truly hurt Todd Grantham’s defense, allowing Texas A&M running back Isaiah Spiller to rush 27 times for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

Florida would go into halftime with a 21-17 lead on the heels of efficient play by Trask, who completed 9 of 13 for 207 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter.

While tight end Kyle Pitts has been the team’s big-time offensive weapon through the first two weeks, the team’s No. 2 most-impressive offensive weapon, Kadarius Toney, was the difference-maker in Saturday’s game. On the day, Toney hauled in seven catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns, while running the football once for nine yards. 

It was a bad day for the Gators to see Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond come away with his biggest game of the year, as he completed 25 of 35 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns.

The Aggies’ game-tying touchdown at 38-38 would come following a forced turnover by Gators linebacker Jeremiah Moon.

Near the end of the game, Gators running back Malik Davis turned the ball over following a 51-yard pitch-and-catch from Mond to receiver Caleb Chapman, who exploded against the Gators by way of nine receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns on the day.

The Florida defense would once again allow far too many yards. This time, it gave up 543 to an Aggies offense that wasn’t firing on all cylinders entering the season. The Aggies were also able to convert 12 of 15 of their third downs on the day, and scored either a touchdown or a field goal on seven out of nine of its drives. Florida forced one punt, and one turnover on the other two drives.

Able to milk the rest of the clock near the end of the game, the Aggies were able to come away with the game-winning field goal, taking the lead with no time remaining, 41-38, and handing the Gators their first loss of the season in an absolute upset.