Mike Elko is undefeated in SEC play and on the road
Well, that was therapeutic. Texas A&M, after going nearly three years without winning a road game, dominated Florida at The Swamp. Thanks to a couple garbage time touchdowns, the final score looked a bit closer than the game really was (33-20), but when you’ve lost 10 straight road games, you tend to not be picky.
Certainly a day full of positives for this A&M team, but let’s call out the biggest ones:
Marcel Reed
With starting QB Conner Weigman out with a shoulder injury, the redshirt freshman stepped up and played about as well as you could have possibly expected. Reed looked calm and in control, used his legs effectively and was accurate with the ball, especially when it counted most, hitting open pass-catchers for two long touchdowns.
We don’t know how long Weigman’s injury will hinder him, and after this performance, many will ask if Reed should challenge for the starting job. But that’s a conversation for another today. For now, enjoy that the Ags had competent QB play that led them to a comfortable SEC road win.
The run game
Name an Aggie running back, and I’ll show you a guy who had a good day. Le’Veon Moss got over the century mark, and he and Amari Daniels both ran hard through many holes all day long. The A&M run game allowed them to dominate time of possession and essentially suffocate any chance the Gators had of winning before the game even started. That 99-yard run-heavy touchdown drive at the end of the first half was especially sexy.
The Maroon Goons
As great as Reed and the running backs played, a lot of that wouldn’t matter if we saw offensive line play like we did the past two seasons. While there’s a lot of season left to go, the Aggies played pretty fantastically up front today, opening holes consistently for running backs and giving Reed time to survey the field in the passing game. It wasn’t perfect (had some frustrating penalties), but this line seems to at least be competent, and after what we’ve seen in Aggieland in recent years, A&M fans will most certainly take it.
Run defense
Mike Elko called his team’s run defense “pretty terrible” in Monday’s press conference, and the group certainly seemed to answer that bell against the Gators. They bottled up the Florida run game all night long, as they averaged a paltry 1.1 yards per carry. The biggest difference was this group not really giving up any long runs, which had been their achilles heel in the first two games.
Turnovers!
After not getting any takeaways against Notre Dame, it was awesome to see the Aggie defense get three picks, including a pick six by Bryce Anderson that really put the game out of reach in the third quarter. Another pick by Jayvon Thomas iced the game once again late as the Gators mounted a desperation comeback attempt.
Icy White redemption!
I was hesitant to talk too much about it, but the last time A&M had worn all-white uniforms was the infamous 2017 game against UCLA that effectively ended Kevin Sumlin’s tenure in College Station. Do I actually think what uniform you wear impacts the outcome? No. But that said, if we lost in these (and went to 0-2 in the white helmets), it would be a lot harder to get excited about alternate looks going forward.
Road dominance/competence
All of that led to a true road win, something that had not happened for the Ags in more than 1,000 days. It’s nice as a fanbase (and I’m sure for those players) to get that monkey off of their back, but at the end of the day, that losing streak was Jimbo’s. Elko’s Aggies are undefeated on the road, and undefeated in SEC play. They’ll get a home game against Bowling Green next week before their opportunity to continue that SEC unbeaten streak against Arkansas on Sept. 28.