Florida Gators vs. Texas A&M: Key Matchups That Could Decide the Game
The biggest test of the season looms Saturday for the Florida Gators. The nation’s No. 4 team travels to College Station, Texas, to battle the No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies, a team that came into the 2020 season with lofty expectations.
However, after an ugly 17-12 win over Vanderbilt, and a 52-24 thumping from Alabama, doubts about how good Texas A&M are trickling in.
Despite two ugly outings, the Gators cannot take the Aggies lightly. This game has “trap” written all over it for Florida; LSU the following week, 11 AM local time start on the road, Texas A&M having a chip on their shoulder and looking to prove themselves.
“This is the best offense we’re going to face all season," MONEY linebacker Amari Burney said. "Right now during the season this is the best offense we’re going to see."
If the Gators can take win the following key matchups within the game, they’ll leave Kyle Field with a 3-0 record.
Texas A&M tight end Jalen Wydermyer
It’s hard for me to make a “vs.” here because the Aggies use Wydermyer like the Gators use Kyle Pitts. Not to mention, the dude is pretty dang good too. If Pitts is the best tight end in the conference, Wydermyer is number two.
The A&M tight end stands at 6-foot-5, 260-pounds and is a very good route runner when split out wide. He lines up a bit more in-line than Pitts does, but he’s almost as much a threat in the passing game as the Gators tight end is.
"This guy has the ability to block, so he can create issues that way," defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. "You’ve just got to understand that and understand the matchups and try to get the best matchups possible to be successful in that situation.”
After a strong eight catch, 82-yard performance against the Crimson Tide, expect quarterback Kellen Mond to target Wydermyer often.
With that said, who defends him will probably vary throughout the game. When split out, expect Kaiir Elam to be on him. Elam has the length and physicality to compete with Wydermyer’s size and should be able to contain him.
When in line, this is where the Gators should be concerned. If Elam bumps down with him, that means A&M”s number-one wide receiver Chase Lane doesn’t have the best DB on the field covering him. If it’s the STAR or weak-side linebacker, that means Marco Wilson or Amari Burney will be in coverage against him. I don’t like either of those matchups.
The Gators could elect to have a safety like Shawn Davis on him, which is what Alabama tried to do most of the game, which could be the smartest move, but it’s tough to make a call against a guy as versatile as Wydermyer.
UF linebackers vs TAMU running back/wide receiver Ainias Smith
Texas A&M has two weapons on offense that, historically, give Todd Grantham defenses fits: A pass-catching tight end and a pass-catching running back. Wydermyer is that TE and Smith is that back.
A wide receiver a season ago, Smith is dynamic in open space and is an elite route runner. Against Bama, he had 6 catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns. He consistently beats linebackers out of the backfield and has the footwork to win battles with corners at the line of scrimmage.
Like Wydermyer, he’ll see a medley of players covering him. Burney, and Mohamoud Diabate, when he spells Burney, will match up with Smith when he’s in the backfield. Burney needs to clean up his game in coverage, he was lackadaisical against South Carolina, giving up a touchdown on a bad angle he took to pick up Kevin Harris out of the backfield in the fourth quarter.
Jaydon Hill will more than likely draw the assignment of sticking with Smith outside, and it will be a formidable test for the young corner.
Smith isn’t too shabby when taking handoffs either, averaging over five yards per carry on just fifteen rushes this season. He’ll be a test for the linebacker group as well, as they try to contain him.
Gators wide receivers vs Aggies defensive backs
Enough of the negative, let’s move onto a battle that the Gators can exploit and potentially put up some massive numbers: The passing game.
Through two weeks, Kyle Trask and the Florida offense has been arguably the best in the nation. The Gators own No. 7 passing attack in college footaball, averaging 357 yards through two games.
Trask threw the ball well against a stingy South Carolina secondary, tossing four touchdowns and completing over 67% of his passes. He won’t be facing as good of a secondary this Saturday.
First off, the Texas A&M secondary is in shambles. Two returning starters opted out in Elijah Blades and corner Derrick Tucker. Not only are the Aggies thin in the back end, but they’re also incredibly undisciplined.
Against Alabama, the safeties were out of position numerous times, appearing to not know what coverage scheme they were supposed to be in. This led to lots of one-on-one matchups outside with no safety help and Mac Jones and the Tide took advantage, scorching TAMU for over 430 passing yards.
Trask should be able to put up massive numbers as well. The Aggies don’t have an answer to Pitts like South Carolina somewhat did. Their top defensive back Myles Jones was beaten numerous times by Alabama’s Devonta Smith, and I expect Pitts to handle Jones as well.
On top of this, Kadarius Toney is in position to have another monster performance. The Aggies were terrible at defending crossing routes against Alabama and Toney is at his best over the middle of the field. The Aggies might also be without starting nickel cornerback Erick Young as he's "week-to-week" with an apparent shoulder injury, which would only help Toney's case. Junior Devin Morris stepped in for Young last week.
"He’s been super consistent in his route-running ability to get open and separate first-man coverage," offensive coordinator Brian Johnson said. Reading coverage, making adjustments off of different coverage reads; He’s done a fantastic job."
The rest of the receiving group is in even better shape. Texas A&M doesn’t have the depth to match up with Florida's deep pass catching group. Considering the Aggies allowed over 16 yards an attempt to the Tide, it might be another rough week for the Aggies secondary.
Florida's offensive line vs. Texas A&M's defensive line
The defensive front is the strength of the Aggie defense. Through two games they’ve allowed only 3.34 yards per rush, and even Najee Harris struggled at times to get going on the ground.
Led by 6-foot-4, 324-pound defensive tackle Bobby Brown, the Texas A&M front four will be tough sledding for the Gators to run on. However, Florida has quietly been good on the ground through two weeks, averaging over five-yards a rush.
It’ll be important for the likes of Dameon Pierce and Malik Davis to find some running room early to help make the Gators more balanced and unpredictable.
All five linemen for the Gators have been solid, particularly left tackle Stone Forsythe and center Brett Heggie. If they can move the line of scrimmage as they did against Ole Miss and South Carolina, it’ll make the offensive that much more productive.
Pass protection doesn’t seem to be as big a concern. Texas A&M only has recorded three sacks through two games, tied for 50th in the nation. That number is on par with how many sacks the Gators give up a game. The protection Trask has gotten through two weeks has been tremendous. That’s on top of his improved pocket presence and ability to step into throwing lanes and make downfield throws.
If the Gator offensive line can continue their strong start, the offense should continue to score at a high rate.
