Advertisement
Published Sep 10, 2024
TTFT, sponsored by Brent Campbell
Default Avatar
Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
Publisher
Twitter
@mbpRivals

Sponsored by Brent Campbell, Fighting Texas Aggie Class of 1998. Brent is a Commercial Real Estate Broker, serving all of Central Texas and specializing in sales, leasing & development. He leads a retail acquisition and sales team and was recognized by the Austin Business Journal as a Commercial Real Estate Heavy Hitter in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 & 2023.

In the last 22 years, he has closed deals with a total transactional value of over $375 million and has leased more than 4.5 million square feet. Brent currently serves as the president of the board of directors for Habitat Homes, Inc. and Pathways Youth and Family Services. He is a former president of the Heart of Round Rock Neighborhood Association and a former member of the Round Rock Zoning Advisory Committee, the Round Rock Business and Retention Committee, and the City of Round Rock Ethics Commission, which has led him to begin developing in Williamson and Travis County.

An Austin native, Brent lives in Round Rock where he and his wife have raised four boys. Brent works for Don Quick and Associates, Inc. in Round Rock, TX and can be reached at brent@donquick.com.

Here's the Florida week edition of 10 Things for Tuesday:

1) Florida's 45-7 win over Samford looks good in the final boxscore, but looks can be a bit deceiving. The Gators were only up 14-0 at halftime and it was 21-7 midway through the third quarter. There was just simply no way Samford could keep up with DJ Lagway's bomb-throwing, though, and that allowed Florida to pull away late.

Samford actually won in The Swamp a few years ago, but this team is a far cry from that one. They lost their season opener at home to West Georgia, a team that was playing in its first FCS game after moving up from Division II.

2) Lagway’s line was impressive: 18-25 for 456 yards and 3 TD. But, as A&M’s gameplan against McNeese was to simply grind them down quickly, Florida’s was to check it deep as much as possible. A lot of Florida’s plays were max protection with one guy going long. It worked well against Samford. It probably wouldn’t be as much of a success against an SEC team. Still, it’s got to be something A&M prepares for seriously, because it only takes one to hurt you.

3) Florida is still 112th in pass defense, even after the Samford game. They got carved up by Cam Ward and Miami. Are they that bad? Probably not, but they were only 70th against the pass last year. So they’re probably not that good either. There could be opportunities for Conner Weigman here, if the line continues to hold up.

4) All that being said, the most important player in this game might be Le’Veon Moss. Moss has 154 rushing yards so far this year, or almost 1/3 of his total from last season. He’s healthy and has been running with some oomph. But the point is that A&M wants to run the football and pound on opponents, and Moss has to be the key element there. If he gets going early, then A&M has a real advantage.

5) Florida intends to play Graham Mertz and Lagway Saturday. Mertz is a sixth-year senior and a very different kind of quarterback from Lagway. He’s patient — maybe too patient, because he took a lot of sacks last year. The Gators were 114th in sacks allowed last season, giving up 3.25 a game. Miami had three sacks and eight tackles for loss in their win.

6) This is the week where the Aggie defensive line has to take off (in a good way, not like going on vacation). They threw a lot at Riley Leonard, but he was able to do just enough to move the ball for Notre Dame. They were as vanilla as you can be against McNeese and the first team (predictably) shut them down. I’ve been seeing a good number of complaints about the play of Florida’s offensive line, so it’s time for the highly-hyped defensive line to do more than hold up — they need tackles for loss and sacks.

7) The longest pass the Aggies have given up so far is 20 yards. Florida will definitely try to beat that. Will Lee, Jayvon Thomas and Dezz Ricks are going to be tested in this one by receivers Eugene Wilson and Elijhah Badger, so they’re going to have to be on their game. If A&M blitzes like expected, they’re going to be in man coverage, and they can’t afford to get beat.

8) Someone in A&M’s receiver corps has to step up and be the guy who makes Florida hurt. It doesn’t matter if it’s Noah Thomas, Jahdae Walker, Cyrus Allen or even Moose Muhammad, but it has to happen. Jason Marshall is a quality corner, and he may get Thomas, but Thomas has a 5-inch height advantage on him. The rest of the corners are pretty average, so somebody needs to step it up.

9) It’s also important that A&M get the ball in Terry Bussey’s hands in a way that isn’t a jet sweep. That’s what teams are gunning for, and they immediately look to it when he goes in motion. But if they motion him out and don’t go with the jet sweep and use playaction off of it, it may bait someone to get out of position. And then you could throw the ball to Bussey as he heads downfield or throw it to someone else — and find another way to get the ball in 2’s hands.

10 In 2020, the Florida game was where we found out a lot about the Aggie football team. This year holds the same potential. If you win this game, and do so with some authority, then you’re a team that can make some noise the rest of the season. Honestly, this is a team the Aggies should beat, Swamp or not. If you lose, then it’s shaping up to be another year of disappointment with a new coach, who has to find a way to break the negative streak.


Advertisement
Advertisement