Losing ways continue for maroon & white: 5 Observations from Texas A&M’s 41-24 loss to Florida

Texas A&M ran on to Kyle Field Saturday riding a four-game losing streak. The Aggies were down several players, including their freshman quarterback Conner Weigman due to a flu outbreak; and the losing streak has now moved to five games for Jimbo and A&M.

Here are five thoughts on the Texas A&M loss to Florida:

1. Aggie Defense Humbled

The A&M defense has been impressive at times this year, often keeping the Ags in games despite a severely inconsistent offense. A&M defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin was without some of his players on Saturday due to the flu-outbreak in College Station, but there is no excuse for A&M’s disastrous efforts to stop the Gators from moving the ball throughout the afternoon.

The Florida Gators ran whenever they wanted to against the Aggies, averaging six yards per rush attempt while piling up 292 total rushing yards on their way to a victory in College Station, Texas.

Florida dominated the time of possession against A&M, a common trend in 2022 for whoever the Aggies find themselves matched up with each week. Florida held the football for 37 minutes of the game, pounding the rock drive after drive.

2. Next Man Up; A&M QB Haynes King

Haynes King was notified he would be the starting quarterback for Jimbo Fisher this week only 12 hours before kickoff in Aggieland. The 12th Man undoubtedly was looking forward to seeing more of their true freshman QB Conner Weigman who showed some good things last week against Ole Miss, but the Longview native Haynes King was under center as Weigman dealt with the flu.

King completed 23 of 45 passes against the Gators for 279 yards and one touchdown pass. The fourth quarter was where the problems for King really arose as he turned the ball over twice on two different sack fumbles amidst key drives for the Aggies.

3. A True Playmaker; A&M RB Devon Achane

There is an argument to be made that Jimbo & Texas A&M have failed to fully utilize arguably their strongest offensive weapon throughout most of this failed season, but that was not the case in the loss to the Florida Gators.

Achane was off and rolling quickly in the first half of action. As the game entered halftime, Achane had already collected two rushing touchdowns and added a touchdown reception from Haynes King. Those three first-half scores would be the only visits to the end zone for Jimbo’s offense all day at Kyle Field.

Achane finished the day with 16 carries for 122 yards (7.6 yards per carry).

4. More Growth for A&M WR Evan Stewart

The five-star recruit has slowly but surely been showing in recent weeks that he can be a viable weapon for the Aggie offense. The young wide receiver’s development continued to show against the Gators. Stewart, even with a change at quarterback 12 hours before kickoff, showed more good things on the field this week as he reeled in a team-high eight receptions for what was also a team-high 120 receiving yards.

In what has been a very down year for this Texas A&M football program, the 12th Man should be excited to see Stewart continue to grow and develop as a dangerous weapon that Aggie opponents will have to game plan for.

5. Aggies Allergic to Scoring 30+

There has still only been one single game in 2022 in which the Texas A&M offense was able to score more than 30 points, and that came against the juggernaut that is Sam Houston State.

This week’s matchup with the Florida Gators started out promising as Jimbo Fisher’s offense managed to score two quick touchdowns in the first quarter. After that, things slowed down significantly for the A&M offense. The Ags went on to score only 10 more points on the Gators and were shut out completely in the second half of game play.