It was a tale of two halves,
but it added up to the University of Florida taking its SEC opener at Texas A&M, 20-17, in front of a boisterous crowd at Kyle Field
in College Station.
For the second straight week,
Florida(2-0, 1-0 SEC) scored the game’s final 13
points, this time erasing a 17-7 second quarter deficit in the process.
Mike Gillislee
has a pair of touchdown runs, including a 12-yarder early in the fourth quarter
to give the Gators the lead for good, while Caleb Sturgis has helped Florida
erase a 10-point deficit with a pair of field goals. Johnny Manziel and
Christine Michael helped Texas A&M (0-1, 0-1 SEC)
out to an early lead.
The Aggies, in their first
game as an SEC program, took the opening kick and marched 65 yards in 15 plays
to grab the lead. The Gators appeared to get an early stop on the third play of
the game, getting a stop on 3rd-and-long, however a personal foul
extended the drive and the Aggies made UF pay. Taylor Bertolet
knocked home a 27-yard field goal to give Texas A&M
the early lead. Manziel, the first freshman to start
the season opener at A&M since 1944, completed 6-of-8 passes for 33 yards
and ran twice for 19 yards on the opening drive.
The Gators turned to
sophomore signal-caller Jeff Driskel, making his
first complete start under center. Driskel and the
Gators came up with a strong response, marching 75 yards in 13 plays to take
the lead. Facing a 3rd-and-11, Driskel hit
Frankie Hammond for a 17-yard gain to the Texas A&M
46 that helped propel the drive.
Facing a 4th-and-1
at the Aggies’ 16-yard line, the Gators lined up for a field goal but faked it
and Trey Burton got the first down and additional yardage was tacked on for a
face mask. Two plays later Gillislee gave the Gators
a 7-3 lead with 3:51 remaining in the opening quarter. Driskel
looked very comfortable on the opening drive, hitting 3-of-3 passes for 37
yards. Gillislee rushed six times for 26 yards on the
drive picking up where he left off last week when he rushed for a career-high
148 yards on 24 carries.
The Aggies came right back,
however, as Manziel marched A&M 81 yards in 13
plays to grab a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter. Manziel
raced in from 11 yards outs out to cap the drive as the Aggies regained the
lead with 13:39 left in the first half.
After forcing the first punt
of the game by the Gators, the Aggies got the ball back and again kept the
Gators off balance. Manziel used play-action to hit
Mike Evans for a 27-yard gain down the right sideline to put the Aggies at the
UF 13-yard line. Moments later Michael scored from 1-yard out to give the
Aggies a 17-7 lead with 7:01 left in the half. Manziel was near-flawless
in the first half finishing 16-of-20 passing for 141 yards and rushing nine
times for 41 yards.
Needing a big response, the
Gators got some momentum back with a nine-play, 37-yard drive that ended with a
51-yard field goal from Caleb Sturgis, the seventh career field goal of 50+
yards for the senior, extending his school record. The field goal was set u p
by a 30-yard pass play from Driskel to Jordan Reed.
Florida received the kick off
in the second half and marched 67 yards on 10 plays all the way down to the
Aggies’ 8-yard line where Sturgis booted his second field goal of the game, a
25-yarder, to cut the lead to 17-13 early in the third quarter.
After offense dominated the
first half, the game settled down and UF held the Aggies to just 29 yards of
offense in the third quarter.
Early the in fourth quarter Driskel hit Omarius Hines for a
38-yard pass down the right sideline setting up the Gators at the A&M
18-yard line. Gillislee scored his second touchdown
of the game moments later, dancing along the sideline and in from 12 yards out
to make it 20-17 with 13:01 remaining.
Driskel was efficient in his first full
start, completing 13-of-16 passes for 162 yards. Gillislee
finished with 14 carries for 83 yards in another solid outing. Florida finished
with 306 yards of offense, 165 in the air, 141 on the
ground.
After piling up 269 yards of
offense in the first half, A&M managed just 65 the remainder of the game. Manziel finished 23-of-30 for 173 yards through the air.
The road ahead gets no easier
for the Gators, as next up a trip to upstart Tennessee next Saturday evening at
6 p.m. on ESPN.
