Kellen Mond, No. 21 Texas A&M Upset Kyle Trask, No. 4 Florida 41-38
October 10, 2020
The No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies scored an upset victory at home Saturday, defeating the No. 4 Florida Gators 41-38 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.
With the score tied 38-38, Texas A&M's DeMarvin Leal recovered a fumble by Florida running back Malik Davis with 3:40 remaining, and kicker Seth Small hit a game-winning 26-yard field goal as time expired.
Texas A&M improved to 2-1 in both SEC play and overall, while Florida's SEC and overall records fell to 2-1.
Leading the way for the Aggies was running back Isaiah Spiller, who ran wild in the second half, rushing for a pair of touchdowns and helping Texas A&M overcome an 11-point deficit. Quarterback Kellen Mond stood out as well with three touchdown passes.
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask kept his Heisman Trophy candidacy alive with four touchdown passes.
Notable Stats
Kyle Trask, QB, FLA: 23/32, 312 YDS, 4 TD, 0 INT
Nay'Quan Wright, RB, FLA: 6 CAR, 31 YDS, 1 TD; 1 REC, 26 YDS
Kadarius Toney, WR, FLA: 7 REC, 92 YDS, 2 TD
Kyle Pitts, TE, FLA: 5 REC, 47 YDS, 1 TD
Kellen Mond, QB, TAMU: 25/35, 338 YDS, 3 TD, 0 INT
Isaiah Spiller, RB, TAMU: 27 CAR, 174 YDS, 2 TD; 1 REC, 18 YDS
Caleb Chapman, WR, TAMU: 9 REC, 151 YDS, 2 TD
Chase Lane, WR, TAMU: 5 REC, 52 YDS, 1 TD
Trask, Florida Offense Fuel Gators Again
All eyes were on Trask during Saturday's game after he threw 10 touchdown passes in the Gators' first two games, and he didn't disappoint.
The senior signal-caller led the way as the Gators struggled to run the football. That did little to deter Trask, however.
He threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts midway through the first quarter, allowing his big, talented tight end to go up and make a play:
ESPN's Andrea Adelson pointed out that Trask did well to take advantage of a mismatch and that Pitts used his size and athleticism to nab a high throw:
Trask threw his second touchdown pass late in the first by hitting wide receiver Kadarius Toney from 11 yards out.
As noted by Alligator Army, that put Trask on a better pace than LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was on at the same point last season on his way to 60 touchdown passes:
Trask's third touchdown pass was a beautiful 37-yard heave to Toney in the third quarter, which helped extend Florida's lead to 28-17:
After Texas A&M took a three-point lead in the fourth, Florida tied it up with a field goal, and Trask then led the Gators on a go-ahead drive after an Aggies fumble, throwing a one-yard touchdown pass to Dameon Pierce.
ESPN NFL draft expert Todd McShay praised Trask for his poise on the drive:
The Aggies tied it on the next drive, but Florida got the ball back, and Trask had the opportunity to orchestrate a game-winning drive.
After a 23-yard pass to Davis and an incompletion, Davis' fumble ended the drive near midfield, and Texas A&M never gave the ball back, spoiling Trask's remarkable showing.
Spiller, Mond Shine for Aggies
If not for the play of Spiller, there is little doubt Texas A&M would have been unable to mount a comeback.
With Florida leading by 11, Spiller took over the game.
His first touchdown was a three-yard score late in the third quarter that capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive and helped cut the deficit to 28-24.
Spiller's performance on that drive impressed many, including AL.com's Joseph Goodman and Billy Liucci of TexAgs.com:
Spiller then put Texas A&M on top early in the fourth quarter when he capped a 10-play, 66-yard drive by converting a 4th-and-2, scampering 19 yards for a touchdown:
Former Texas A&M and current Cincinnati Bengals running back Trayveon Williams loved what he saw out of Spiller on those drives:
Despite Spiller's strong showing, Texas A&M trailed by seven in the fourth quarter after Trask threw his go-ahead touchdown pass.
It was at that point that Mond took control and threw arguably the biggest pass of his career.
With just 4:30 remaining, Mond threw a 51-yard touchdown toss to Caleb Chapman to help tie the game and shift the pressure back to Florida.
The Gators were unable to handle it, and the Aggies took advantage.
Mond ran for two yards on 3rd-and-1 and then completed a 16-yard pass to Chase Lane on 3rd-and-8 from the Florida 35-yard line with under a minute to play. Two plays later, Small hit the game-winner and gave Texas A&M its first win over a Top Five team during head coach Jimbo Fisher's tenure.
What's Next?
Texas A&M will attempt to keep the positive momentum moving forward when it travels to Starkville, Mississippi, next week to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Meanwhile, Florida will attempt to bounce back when it hosts the struggling 1-2 LSU Tigers next weekend.