(Photo credit: Florida Gators)
The Florida Gators have always had trouble beating Jimbo Fisher’s football teams, and for a half on Saturday, it looked as though that trouble would continue.
Then the second half started. Adjustments were made. Things started clicking. And thirty very different-looking minutes of football later, the Florida Gators had emphatically shattered their Jimbo demons- and got a great head start on another possible “November to Remember.”
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Florida (now 5-4) used a pair of strip-sack fumbles as well as two rushing and two passing touchdowns from Anthony Richardson to take down Texas A&M (now 3-6) by the score of 41-24. Florida now improves to 2-4 in the SEC after overcoming their 23 month SEC road win drought. The is the Gators’ first win over Texas A&M in ten years, amassing a two-game losing streak to the Aggies.
The victory is also Florida’s first over Jimbo Fisher in ten years. Fisher, who once led rival FSU to the national title, dominated Florida in his eight years in Tallahassee, amassing a 7-1 record there. Fisher also coached Texas A&M to a 41-38 win over Florida in 2020 on Kyle Field- a frustrating football game that Florida led 28-17 in the third quarter and seemed to be in control of before falling apart and ultimately losing on a Seth Small field goal. That day seemed to embody Florida’s struggles against Jimbo Fisher-coached teams- the Gators just couldn’t catch a key break.
This day, though, belonged to the Florida Gators. And as they like to say in Aggieland, Florida did indeed beat the hell out of TTexas A&M.
It didn’t come easy in the first half. Both the Aggies and the Gators scored on every possession in the first quarter, resulting in a 17-14 Gators lead after fifteen minutes. In fact, each of the first seven total possessions resulted in scores, the result of which made it 20-17 Gators early in the second quarter.
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But that was all the scoring for the Gators in the first half. Florida went three and out on its final possession of the half, and then Devon Achane, who finished with two touchdowns, capped the Aggies’ two minute drill with a two-yard touchdown to put Texas A&M up 24-20 at the break.
The Gators, though, never backed down. Instead, they adjusted.
Florida’s defense opened the third quarter with a quick defensive stop, taking only 56 seconds off the third-quarter clock. A quality punt return by Xzavier Henderson brought Florida all the way to the A&M 40-yard line. Two nice throws by Anthony Richardson and one incredible, jaw-dropping catch by Ja’Quavion Fraziars put the Gators on top 27-24 early in the 2nd half.
And from there, Florida began to strengthen its grip. Two fast-developing Aggie punts later and the Gators put together a nice drive up three; 10 plays, 81 yards, over five minutes. And it all capped off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Douglas which put the Gators up double-digits.
Florida had a chance to put the game away with a short 28-yard field goal, but Adam Mihalek- who connected on a 50-yarder to start the scoring- missed it early in the fourth quarter. Thankfully, the Gators’ special teams were bailed out by the defense.
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On the next possession, deep in Florida territory, Aggie QB Haynes King was belted by Princely Umanmielen, dislodging the football. Lloyd Summerall fell on it. Gator football.
Florida’s offense couldn’t do anything with the ball, and had to punt. But fans who may have missed that strip-sack had a chance to witness a real-life instant replay mere minutes later. After a quick Florida three-and-out, King was leveled in the backfield again, this time by Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. Amari Burney recovered the ball. Gator football again.
Florida then sought to put the game away with its ensuing drive, looking to take a a three-score lead about halfway through the fourth quarter. But the drive was snuffed out on fourth-and-goal at the one, when Montrell Johnson Jr. was blown up in the backfield for an eight-yard loss. That handed the Aggies the ball back with less than five minutes to go, down ten.
But once again, the Gator defense came onto the field for this drive ready to play. Texas A&M eventually turned the ball over on downs when King’s last-gasp heave on fourth and ten fell incomplete, and Florida salted the game away when Montrell Johnson Jr punched it in with just over a minute remaining in the contest to create the final score of 41-24.
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A few interesting stats were generated along the way. Among the more noteworthy ones was that Florida made up for having twice the amount of penalties by having twice the amount of rushing attempts, resulting in 291 rushing yards compared to 134 from the Aggies. This is also Billy Napier’s first multi-score victory at Florida over an FBS team, as well as his first road victory at Florida.
Most importantly, Florida can wrap up bowl eligibility with a win at home next week vs South Carolina. To be clear, that is not the goal for any Florida Gators football team, but in a clear rebuilding year for a new era of this program, that’s not a bad start.
