Game preview: Florida's offense vs. Texas A&M's defense

AggieYell.com’s look at the matchup between No. 5 Texas A&M (5-0, 2-0 SEC) and Florida (2-3, 1-1 SEC) continues with a look at the Gators offense vs. the Aggie defense.

Where, when, weather and TV

Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

When: Saturday, Oct. 11, 6 p.m. central time

Weather: Sunny, high of 90; temperature likely dropping through the 80 and possibly the 70s during the game

TV: ESPN (Mark Jones (play-by-play), Roddy Jones (analyst), and Quint Kessenich (sideline reporter))

How they got here

Texas A&M (5-0)

Beat UTSA 42-24

Beat Utah State 44-22

Beat Notre Dame 41-40

Beat Auburn 16-10

Beat Mississippi State 31-9

Florida (2-3)

Beat Long Island University 55-0

Lost to USF, 18-16

Lost to LSU 20-10

Lost to Miami 26-7

Beat Texas, 29-21

Florida offensive depth chart

QB: #2, DJ Lagway (6-3, 247, So.)

#17, Tramell Jones Jr. (6, 203, Fr.)

RB: #13, Jadan Baugh (6-1, 231, So.)

#24, Ja’Kobi Jackson (5-11, 214, RS-Sr.-TR.)

TE: #89, Hayden Hansen (6-8, 269, RS-Jr.)

#86, Tony Livingston (6-5, 264, Jr.)

WR (X): #6, Dallas Wilson (6-3, 213, Fr.)

#11, Aidan Mizell (6-2, 185, RS-So.)

WR (Z): #9, J. Michael Sturdivant (6-3, 213, RS-Sr.-TR.)

#4 TJ Abrams (5-10, 196, RS-Fr.)

WR (Y): #8, Vernell Brown III (5-11, 178, Fr.)

#3, Eugene Wilson III (5-10, 194, RS-So.)

LT: #58, Austin Barber (6-6, 315, RS-Sr.)

#76, Mark Faircloth (6-5, 315, RS-Fr.)

LG: #77, Knijeah Harris (6-3, 313, Jr.)

#75, Kamryn Waites (6-8, 364, Sr.-TR.)

C: #66, Jake Slaughter (6-5, 303, RS-Sr.)

#50, Jason Zandamela (6-3, 308, RS-Fr.)

RG: #70, Damien George (6-6, 365, RS-Sr.-TR.)

#71, Roderick Kearney (6-4, 310, RS-Jr.)

RT: #63, Caden Jones (6-8, 333, RS-So.)

#53, Bryce Lovett (6-5, 321, RS-So.)

Texas A&M defensive depth chart

DE: #50, Dayon Hayes (6-3, 264, Gr.) OR #18, TJ Searcy (6-5, 255, Jr.) 

#30 Solomon Williams (6-1, 250, RS-Fr.) OR  #92 Sam M’Pemba (6-3, 252, RS-So.) 

DT: #5, DJ Hicks (6-3, 295, Jr.) OR #11, Tyler Onyedim (6-3, 295, Gr.) OR #17, Albert Regis (6-1, 317, Gr.) 

#55, Dealyn Evans (6-4, 314, RS-Fr.) OR #99, Landon Rink (6-2, 294, Fr.) 

NT: #17, Albert Regis (6-1, 317, Gr.) OR #5, DJ Hicks (6-3, 295, Jr.) OR #11, Tyler Onyedim (6-3, 295, Gr.) 

#88, DJ Sanders (6-3, 315, Fr.) OR #99, Landon Rink (6-2, 294, Fr.) 

DT: #11, Tyler Onyedim (6-3, 295, Gr.) OR #17 Albert Regis (6-1, 317, Gr.) OR #5, DJ Hicks (6-3, 295, Jr.) 

#59, Chace Sims (6-3, 294, Fr.) OR #99 Landon Rink, (6-2, 294, Fr.) 

JACK: #9, Cashius Howell (6-2, 248, R-Sr.) 

#15, Rylan Kennedy (6-3, 239, RS-So.) OR #10, Marco Jones (6-5, 258, Fr.) OR #92, Sam M’Pemba (6-3, 252, RS-So.) 

LB: #21, Taurean York (5-10, 227, Jr.) 

#54, Jordan Lockhart (6-1, 229, So.) OR #27 Daymion Sanford (6-2, 222, Jr.) 

LB: #0, Scooby Williams (6-2, 230, Sr.) 

#27, Daymion Sanford (6-2, 222, Jr.) OR #23, Noah Mikhail (6-2, 223, Fr.) 

NICKEL: #7 Tyreek Chappell (5-11, 180, RS-Sr.) 

#19, Bravion Rogers (5-11, 188, Jr.) OR #8, Jordan Shaw (5-11, 182, RS-So.) OR #14, Jayvon Thomas (5-11, 196, Jr.) 

CB: #4, Will Lee III (6-1, 189, Sr.) 

#6, Julio Humphrey (6-1, 195, R-Jr.) 

#14, Jayvon Thomas (5-11, 196, Jr.) 

CB: #2, Dezz Ricks (6-1, 188, R-So.) 

#6, Julio Humphrey (6-1, 195, R-Jr.) 

#20, Adonyss Currie (6-0, 174, Fr.) 

S: #1, Bryce Anderson (5-10, 186, Sr.) 

#29, Myles Davis (6-1, 196, So.) OR #13, Rashad “Tom Tom” Johnson Jr. (6-1, 198, Fr.) 

S: #25, Dalton Brooks (6-0, 193, Jr.) OR  #3 Marcus Ratcliffe (6-2, 209, Jr.) 

#33, Jarred Kerr (5-11, 190, Sr.) 

#13, Rashad “Tom Tom” Johnson Jr. (6-1, 198, Fr.)

Injury update

Florida: RBs Treyaun Webb and Duke Clark are OUT.

WR Muizz Tounkara, RB Ja’Kobi Jackson, OL Devon Manuel and Roderick Kearney and TE Tony Livingston are all questionable.

Texas A&M: Safety Jarred Kerr is questionable.

LB Scooby Williams is probable.

Florida offensive statistical leaders

Passing: Lagway, 104-151 (68.9%), 988 yards, 7 TD, 7 INT

Jones, 12-18, 131 yards, 2 TD

Rushing: Baugh, 76 carries, 396 yards (5.2 YPC), 3 TD

Jackson, 27 carries, 98 yards (3.6 YPC)

Receiving: Brown, 26 catches, 291 yards (13.9 YPC)

Hansen, 17 catches, 151 yards (8.9 YPC), 1 TD

Sturdivant, 10 catches, 118 yards, 1 TD

Wilson, 6 catches, 111 yards (18.5 YPC), 2 TD

Texas A&M defensive statistical leaders

Tackles: York, 34

Ratcliffe, 28

Lee, 23

Tackles for loss: Howell, 8

Sanford, 4.5

York and Hicks, 3

Sacks: Howell, 7

Sanford, 2.5

Eight players with 1

Interceptions: Sanford and Scooby Williams, 1

Forced fumbles: Williams, Kerr, Shaw and M’Pemba, 1

Fumble recoveries: M’Pemba and Brooks, 1

Head to head: Florida’s offense vs. Texas A&M’s defense

Category	Florida	National/SEC rank	Category	Texas A&M	National/SEC rank
Scoring offense	23.4 PPG	97th/16th	Scoring defense	21 PPG	48th/13th
Total offense	354 YPG	92nd/13th	Total defense	289.6 YPG	21st/5th
Rushing offense	130.2 YPG	100th/13th	Rushing defense	109.2 YPG	32nd/9th
Passing offense	223.8 YPG	72nd/12th	Passing defense	180.4 YPG	32nd/7th
First downs	100	92nd/12th	First downs allowed	81	24th/6th
3rd down conversion %	34.8%	113th/14th	3rd down conversion defense	22.4%	5th/3rd
Red zone %	94.1%	24th/6th	Red zone defense	92.9%	109th/16th
Sacks allowed per game	1.8	69th/9th	Sacks per game	3.6	6th/3rd
Tackles for loss allowed per game	6.6	115th/16th	Tackles for loss per game	8.2	9th/2nd
Turnovers	8	97th/13th	Turnovers forced	4	104th/13th
Turnover +/-	-2	91st/11th	Turnover +/-	EVEN	69th/8th
Time of possession	32:49	18th/4th	Time of possession	31:58	29th/5th

What Florida wants to do

Bottle what they did against Texas.

The Gators had shown virtually no life offensively before last Saturday, then put up 457 yards of total offense on Texas while scoring 29 points, their best output by far against FBS opponents. They got a big game from Lagway (21-28, 298 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) and Baugh (27 carries, 107 yards, 1 TD) and got a new dimension for their offense in true freshman Dallas Wilson, who was the first player in Florida history to catch two touchdowns and go over 100 yards of receiving in his first game. They held the ball for over eight minutes more than Texas.

The Aggies are not Texas, and Kyle Field is not The Swamp.

Still, the same ideas apply — hold onto ball, move the ball steadily through the ground game and short to moderate passing game and then take your shots over the top.

Baugh has been a solid rusher for the Gators for most of this season, but he’s gotten no help and everyone behind him on the depth chart is currently questionable or already declared out. Duke Clark carried the ball nine times against Texas, then got hurt and he won’t play Saturday. Baugh’s going to have to carry almost all the load for Florida.

In the passing game, there’s reason for more optimism. With the exception of playing Miami in a monsoon and the disastrous 5 interception night against LSU, Lagway’s played pretty well. Florida’s passing game has largely been short and over the middle, with the Gators only averaging 9.65 yards per completion (122nd nationally). Brown had been their only real threat in the passing game, with Hansen serving as Lagway’s security blanket with his huge catch radius.

Until last weekend, that is.

Wilson totally changes the complexion of the offense, as he has the speed to get deep, the size to out-jump defenders and the strength to shed them — ask the Texas secondary. Dezz Ricks and Will Lee are on another level compared to what Texas put out there last week, but Florida’s still going to take their shots.

The Gators definitely want to avoid third and long situations because they’re horrible in that scenario — worse than the Aggie offense — and A&M’s defense is elite getting stops. They also don’t want the A&M defense teeing off on Lagway because they know he’s throwing. They’re going to want to help Lagway, and the line, by running, getting the short and intermediate passing game going and then seeing if they can’t get Wilson and Brown going down the field.

How the Aggies may counter

Win first down in order to win third down.

This is really simple: Florida desperately does not want to be in a third and long scenario, while A&M absolutely wants them there. The Aggies are in the top 10 in tackles for loss, while Florida is worst in the SEC in allowing them. This will be more like a scheme used against Mississippi State, because Lagway really isn’t a threat to run (his season high is 19 yards, with a long of 10). They’re going to key on stopping Baugh or getting Florida receivers on the ground on first contact.

Before holding Texas without a sack last Saturday, Florida had given up four to Miami and three to LSU. Both have pretty good pass rushes, but A&M’s has been at a higher level. They need to figure out ways to continue that Saturday night. Howell leads the SEC and the Power 4 conferences in sacks, but they’ve come in bunches — six of his seven came against Utah State and Mississippi State. They’ll need him to remain hot Saturday.

A&M has been playing their safeties, Ratcliffe and Brooks, in the box to shut off the run and the short passing game (and to blitz). It has been extremely effective against Auburn and Mississippi State, but Florida may have better personnel to counter that. Wilson and Brown will be a challenge for Lee and Ricks, but they’ve already had to deal with Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton of Auburn and Brenen Thompson and Anthony Evans of Mississippi State, duos that are very talented in their own right.

The question will be whether the Aggies can continue to apply pressure to the backfield. If they can, and the offensive line’s performance against Texas was a one-off, the Lagway’s going to have trouble. A&M wants to make sure they put Florida’s offense in a position where they can find out.