Florida Gators Fall at No. 5 Texas A&M, 34-17

COLLEGE STATION, Tx.-- Florida suffered yet another road loss in the Billy Napier era, and the fourth-year head coach, once again, finds himself the target of criticism as the Gators fell, 34-17, on Saturday at No. 5 Texas A&M.

With the loss, Florida is now 10-10 in road games against ranked opponents under Napier, who is now 21-23 across his tenure. The Gators are now 11-16 in SEC games under Napier.

"I think our kids are battling their ass off. They're working and they're playing," Napier said. "We got to stay the course here. We're gonna have opportunities to play better going forward."

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier fell to 21-23 across his 3.5 years with the program. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

It was a quarterback duel early between Florida's DJ Lagway, who played in his first game in his home state since joining the Gators, and Texas A&M's Marcel Reed.

The two traded a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter with Lagway, who went 10-for-12 for 168 yards and two touchdowns, finding Amir Jackson for a one-yard score on the opening drive and Dallas Wilson for a six-yard score two drives later.

Reed, meanwhile, went 8-for-9 for 160 yards, including a 67-yard pass on Texas A&M's first offensive play, with a touchdown. He also had an eight-yard touchdown rush to put the Aggies on the board before throwing a 22-yard touchdown to take a 14-7 lead.

However, the two struggled the rest of the way with Lagway going 11-for-25 for 117 yards and Reed going 8-for-17 for 74 yards and an interception across the final three quarters.

Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway could not carry his strong play from the first quarter in the 34-17 loss to Texas A&M. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Florida also could not establish the run, being held to just 74 rushing yards, and the Gators made no plays in the backfield with zero sacks and zero tackles for loss.

"We were there quite a bit," Napier said. "I think the guy's tough to get on the ground, his ability to escape and extend, and then you could be free and not get him down, you know, and then he makes a play for his feet. In general, that's the challenge."

Meanwhile, Texas A&M's run game and third-down defense gave the Aggies the advantage.

Le'Veon Moss put the Aggies back in front in with a 22-yard touchdown as Texas A&M ran for 67 total yards in the second quarter, taking a 21-14 lead into the half, and after a Vernell Brown III fumble early in the third quarter, Texas A&M kicked a field goal to take a 10-point lead.

Florida was 0-for-5 on third down before a 25-yard catch by Eugene Wilson III in the third quarter set up a 45-yard field goal by Trey Smack. Florida trailed 24-17 at the end of the third quarter.

The conversion by Wilson III would be the Gators' only third-down conversion of the night as Florida finished 1-for-11.

"We’ve got to have better first down efficiency, better second down efficiency, and stay out of the third-and-longs and try to keep third and manageables and be like that," Lagway said. "And once we get in those third-and-longs, we got to just be able to execute and be clicking on all cylinders."

Texas A&M outscored Florida 20-3 across the final three quarters of play. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The Aggies extended the lead in the fourth quarter with a short touchdown rush from Rueben Owens II before Lagway fumbled on the ensuing possession, setting up a field goal for Texas A&M with just over a minute left.

Lagway was sacked three times and fumbled the ball twice.

“Man, this is gut-wrenching. I can’t imagine how I feel right now, this is not how I expected this night to go, and we’ve just got to get back to work, that’s all I can say," Lagway said.

Florida, now 2-4 halfway through the 2025 season, return home next week for homecoming against Mississippi State.

"We got a chance to be back at home next week, and we'll have to hit the reset button and get to work quickly on that plan. So, there's no quick fix here," Napier said. "The best thing to do is go win. We saw that last week. In general, here, we got to stay the course to keep going here. I think we got a lot of kids in there trying to do things the right way.  We're close.

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