That was a pretty thorough ass-kicking. And there wasn't any special about it; A&M just lined up and beat Florida up.
Marcel Reed has been very, very nice. No freshman mistakes (ok, maybe one); no worries about the crowd. He's made every play he's needed to make. The 31-yard run on the first drive really set the tone, with him letting Florida know they'll have to do a lot to hold him down.
The Aggies are 4-8 on third down, but they converted two 4th downs and got field goals on the other two. Reed has converted a 3rd and 12, a 3rd and 10, a 3rd and 8 and a 3rd and 5. He has been unfazed. Overall, he's 10-15 for 105 yards, a touchdown pass and a touchdown run.
A&M has absolutely dominated up front. They went 99 yards, in the rain, with 97 of those yards coming on the ground. I said Le'Veon Moss may be the most important player in the game, and he's been up to the task. He has 71 yards on just 9 carries, including a 27-yarder and a 22-yarder, both of which got A&M out from the shadow of their own goal line. He's just running through people. There's nothing subtle about it.
Amari Daniels has 43 yards on 7 carries, and EJ Smith has 13 on 3. Terry Bussey even had a 9-yard run, where he went through three tackles.
The offensive line has been fantastic, outside of some dumb penalties. Reed has largely been able to do what he wants in the pocket, and the Aggies are averaging 6.6 yards a carry. It would be more, but they had the 1-yard touchdown run to knock the average down. The big drive was done with TJ Shanahan and Deuce Fatheree in, so it's not just the starters battering UF. It's been an impressive performance, and there have been some really big holes, and the backs have shown outstanding vision.
Not much to complain about with the receivers, except Moose Muhammad quitting on a route that nearly became a pick. He may see his playing time evaporate, because Jabre Barber looks good and he's still not 100% yet. Cyrus Allen had a dumb penalty, but also has some nice catches. And congrats to Theo Ohrstrom with his first touchdown on a very un-tight end-like 29-yard touchdown.
The defense has been stifling except for 1 play. And they made up for it. Florida has 7 yards rushing and 79 yards total -- 39 on one play. They have been unable to run the ball, except when A&M was playing a 3-man front to prevent a big passing play.
A&M only has 1 sack, but they've had plenty of pressure on both Mertz and Lagway. Shemar Stewart has had a monster game, crashing into the pocket and making plays all over. He leads the team in tackles and has half a sack.
Nic Scourton has only one tackle -- a TFL, but he's causing fits. They ran at him once. That was enough. The Aggies have been able to get enough pressure that there's not much Mertz and Lagway can do.
I think we'll see more Mertz in the second half, because he's handling the pressure better. But that's not saying a lot. The Aggies may tee off in the second half, because UF has to throw.
The Aggies need to avoid three things: more stupid penalties, big plays in the passing game and complacency. There's not a whole lot you can do when you line up and the opponent just physically beats you, and that's what happened in the first half.
