Texas A&M (1-1) will face its first true road test of the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon when the Aggies travel to Gainsville to face the Florida Gators (1-1).
In two games, which include a 23-13 opening season loss to Notre Dame and last Saturday’s 52-10 romp over McNeese State, Texas A&M’s question marks outweigh what we know about this team before SEC play ramps up, starting with a matchup that could make or break either team’s season.
On Monday, head coach Mike Elko spoke to the media, quickly noting that despite Florida’s struggles against Miami to open the season, the Aggies will face plenty of challenges on both sides of the ball.
“Offensively, it’s a group that has played a lot of football. Very experienced and talented.”
“Defensively, it’s an SEC group when you look at them. They’re long and tall. … In SEC play, you get a different level of twitch, and we’ll prepare for that accordingly.”
Texas A&M starting quarterback Conner Weigman, who showed improvement after throwing his first two touchdowns of the season against McNeese, will need to continue increasing his level of play coupled with the wide receiver rotation finding more separation in their routes.
Defensively, the Aggie pass rush, which has only produced one sack, should have an opportunity to make an impact against both Florida quarterbacks who will look to test Texas A&M’s secondary.
A new depth chart shows several depth-based offensive changes with a new week ahead.
https://twitter.com/carterkarels/status/1833181881455485377?s=61&t=kAVEkOSdiWQ6uID4FtpLTA
At center, the season-ending injury to Mark Nabou has led to freshman OL Ashton Funk taking over as the backup option behind starter Koli Faaiu. At wide receiver, senior Jabre Barber, who returned to the lineup after playing eight snaps vs. McNeese, is now listed as a backup slot receiver behind Cyrus Allen. However, according to Elko, he will unlikely be at full strength before Texas A&M faces Arkansas on Sept. 28.
Texas A&M will travel to Gainsville to take on the Florida Gators on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will air on ABC.
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