This is another fairly quick write-up this week, mainly because there’s not much to complain about, which I’m not complaining about.

My biggest question about the game that won’t be answered is why Billy Napier left the track meet game in the first quarter. Florida had two beautiful drives, during which they scored touchdowns, making the game 14-14.

Texas A&M scored a touchdown on their third possession to go up 21-14, and then Florida took their fourth possession but suffered a three-and-out, having to punt.

It was that moment when the game’s style changed. Both sides seemed to want to slow it down for whatever reason. It went from a Big 12 shootout game to a traditional SEC game over who could win the line of scrimmage.

It seemed like Napier did it first, and Elko was happy to follow suit.

I don’t get why Napier did it. His only chance of beating A&M on the road was to get into a track meet game. He has the horses with Lagway and his receivers, which were shown on their two touchdown drives.

It seemed like Napier thought he could switch gears and grind out a victory like he did against Texas the prior week.

He was wrong because the Aggie defense continued to shine and basically shut down the Florida offense for the rest of the game.

The Florida offense had 150 yards on those two touchdown drives. They had 169 yards the rest of the game. When Napier decided to tap on the brakes of his offense, the Aggie defense just pushed back.

This is the third consecutive game in which the Aggie defense has stepped up and exerted its will against an SEC opponent. Florida scored 14 points in the first quarter and three points the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, thanks to that 21-14 lead and the Aggie defense stepping up, the Aggie offense slowed things down and looked to wear down the Florida offense. It mostly worked as the Aggies pulled away in the fourth quarter.

The big dagger was the 50-yard drive, during which the Aggies ran 12 plays with only one pass. The other 11 plays were runs, during which the Aggies chewed up eight minutes of clock and put the game away.

Florida wasn’t likely winning that game, but that 50-yard drive made any chance of a comeback obsolete.

I was very critical of Elko after last season’s late collapse, but I have to give the man credit—halfway through this season, this team looks completely different from last season. It really does.

This was by far the Aggies’ most complete game so far, but it was far from perfect. Marcel Reed threw a terrible interception in the second half, and the Aggie defense was driven on for two drives in the first quarter.

But at the end of the day, the Aggies beat a very talented Florida team. That wasn’t an easy win, but the Aggies made it look fairly easy.

I’m optimistic because the Aggies have yet to play a perfect game. They have yet to play a stinker of a game, but we’re winning while overcoming mistakes. That’s the sign of a good football team.

Here are some random things from the game.

Marcel Reed:

Marcel Reed is not getting enough credit for the quality of football he’s playing.

Sure, he’s a little erratic throwing the ball sometimes, but the dude is playing excellent football. He started off the game completing his first eight passes for 160 yards. That included an absolute money throw to Mario Craver that covered 60 yards in the air, if not more.

That throw set the tone for the game and let Florida know we were prepared to respond to anything they could do on the night.

Reed was a little erratic the rest of the game, going 8 for 18, including that interception, but he was pretty good at keeping the Aggies out of trouble.

The best part of Reed’s games is his pocket awareness. The offensive line gives Reed plenty of time to throw, but Reed’s ability to sense pressure to move and reset is outstanding.

Reed will have to continue to adapt, as it’s clear that teams will try to remove Concepcion and Craver from the picture. A little more on that later.

Defensive Third Downs:

During Mike Elko’s time as a defensive coordinator in Aggieland, he was really good at getting off the field on third downs.

We weren’t that great last season, and the first three games this season. Since the SEC play, Mike Elko’s calling card has been back. On Saturday night, the Gators went one for ten on third downs. Florida attempted to convert one fourth down and wasn’t successful.

SEC teams are 2 for 33 on third downs and 0 for 3 on fourth downs.

That is crazy. I don’t know if the Aggies can keep that up, especially on the road. Still, Elko and the defense are doing a tremendous job of anticipating what the opposing offense wants to do or setting them up for difficult conversion distances.

Daymion Sanford:

Sanford led the team in tackles and once again was all over the field making the plays.

I’m not sure it’s a coincidence that the defense has looked different with him starting and playing meaningful minutes.

The defense has definitely worked together to improve from the first three games, but he’s an obvious variable.

I know Scooby is healthy, and you hate to see guys lose their starting spot and playing time due to an injury. However, you can’t take Sanford off the field with the way he’s playing.

York has also been better in the last three games than in the first three games.

Maybe it’s just the competition, but there’s definitely something to Sanford bringing a different element to this defense.

Offensive Line:

The offensive line shuffling continued on Saturday night. I don’t know what’s happening, but Elko and Cushing are still trying to figure out who the best five guys are.

I think they believe it’s Fatheree and Crownover at tackle with Zuhn at center.

I say that because the center is getting the most rotation.

I’m good with trying it because Zuhn is likely an interior lineman at the next level. Crownover has definitely improved, and if we can get Fatheree anywhere near his freshman level of play, this will be a better offensive line.

They’re doing a decent job right now, but there’s room for improvement.

Penalties:

Technically, the Aggies had three penalties for 30 yards called on them Saturday night. In reality, they didn’t have any penalties called on them.

The first was a delay of game, during which the offense was clearly trying to get the Florida defense to jump offsides. The five-yard penalty meant nothing.

The second penalty was the excessive celebration penalty after the fumble recovery in the fourth quarter. That was the final dagger for Florida’s chance to win, so the game was over.

And the final penalty was on Florida’s final drive when they had zero chance of winning.

I don’t expect the Aggies to play penalty-free football every game, but it was great to see after what happened against Auburn and Mississippi State.

If the Aggies can play mostly penalty-free football, they’ll likely advance to Atlanta and the CFP.

The lack of penalties is far and away the most significant development from this game.

Punt penalty:

In the second quarter, Florida punted a ball that went 66 yards and wound up at the Aggie 18-yard line. On the play, Florida was called for a facemask.

A&M had the option of taking the ball at the Aggie 33-yard line or pushing the Gators back to their 7-yard line and punting again.

Elko correctly pushed Florida back and made them punt again. The second punt went 36 yards to the Florida 43-yard line. That gained the Aggies 24 yards.

I feel like Elko would have just taken the ball at the 33-yard line last season.

It’s minor, but I’m glad to see Elko fully aware and making wise decisions rather than just being conservative.

Third Receiver:

It’s obvious that teams are scheming to slow down Concepcion and Craver. Those two guys are seeing double and bracketed coverage, which will leave someone else open, so someone needs to step up.

I’d love it if Terry Bussey finally took that step, but I just don’t know. He and Bethel-Roman had zero receptions on Saturday night despite playing a good portion of the evening.

We’re halfway through the season, with opportunity knocking, and these guys have yet to produce anything meaningful.

The tight ends had a good night, catching eight balls for 88 yards. That’s a great night for them. Maybe they’ll be the guys to step up with the focus on Concepcion and Craver.

If the Aggies can find someone to take advantage of the defense’s focus on Concepcion and Craver, this offense would reach the next level.

Running Back:

We lost Le’veon Moss on Saturday night for a few games.

As you saw on his touchdown run, he’s head and shoulders above our other running backs. That doesn’t mean our other running backs are bad; it’s just a statement of how good Moss is.

Owens struggled up the middle on Saturday night, but he didn’t have any runs for losses to his credit. Up the middle is not his strength, but he can at least grind out some yards. He’s just not going to create yards after contact like Moss can.

I’m cautiously excited about Jamarion Morrow. He’s a true freshman but looks to have some real talent. He’s really compact and strong.

If he grows up quickly, the Aggie offense can keep rolling.

Everyone close to the program thinks Morrow can be an absolute stud. I hope he proves them correct.

Overall:

It’s hard to question much from this game. Sure, a few things could have been better, but the Aggies played their most complete game of the season by a large margin.

It shows serious improvement at the halfway mark.

Looking Forward:

We have two really tough road games the next two weeks.  

We travel to Fayetteville, where Bobby Petrino will make his first home appearance as the Arkansas head coach. The team and fans will be fired up for this game.

Don’t let their 2-4 record fool you. They’re two late fumbles away from being 4-2 and potentially 5-1 as they only lost to Tennessee by three points last week.

After Fayetteville, we travel to Baton Rouge for a night game. I don’t need to waste words on the challenge that will be.

Let’s see what happens in Fayetteville before we get too far ahead of ourselves for what could be for the rest of the season.

I like what I’m seeing, but we’ve got six games left, and they’ll be the most challenging five games of the season, other than the Notre Dame game.

Let’s hope this is a different Aggie team than we’ve seen in the past.