UTSA 14 Texas A&M 45
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — When Texas A&M fell behind by a touchdown early on Saturday against UTSA, the Aggies needed something to get them going quickly.
They got it in a 60-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Spiller on the first play of the next drive and the freshman's big day helped the Aggies to a 45-14 win.
"When you hit those one play drives it demoralizes people. It does," coach Jimbo Fisher said. "It takes the heart out of guys on the other side. It takes a mature team to bounce back from that and on offense it gives you that adrenaline."
Spiller set season highs with 217 yards rushing and three touchdowns to lead the Aggies to their third straight victory and make them bowl eligible for the 11th straight season.
The Aggies (6-3) were up by 14 when a 50-yard touchdown run by Spiller made it 28-7 early in the third quarter. Spiller padded the lead on an 8-yard run later in the third quarter on a drive where he had a 42-yard run.
"He was the catalyst today," Fisher said. "He's growing each and every day."
Kellen Mond threw for 211 yards and a touchdown, and his 1-yard TD run on the first drive of the fourth quarter made it 42-7. He was replaced on A&M's next drive with the Aggies in control of the game.
Mond said the development of the running game has really helped him in the passing game and he's been impressed by the growth of Spiller this season.
Lowell Narcisse had 90 yards passing and ran for 54 yards and a touchdown before injuring his right thumb early in the third quarter on a hard hit by Anthony Hines. He had to be helped to his feet and off the field. He walked to the locker room but did not return to the game.
Jordan Weeks took over and threw for 48 yards with an interception.
UTSA coach Frank Wilson was happy with his team's effort in the loss.
"I'm extremely proud of them," he said. "They never quit. They continued to fight ... unfortunately today our best wasn't good enough against a very quality football team."
The Roadrunners cut the lead to 45-14 when Dadrian Taylor intercepted a pass from backup Zach Calzada and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown with about five minutes left.
"We can see that we're getting better in a lot of areas (but) you can't relax, you've got to reload," Fisher said. "There's going to be three great games and we've got to get better and better"
Texas A&M's defense was in the backfield for much of the day and finished with four sacks, seven quarterback hits and 10 tackles for losses.
Narcisse put UTSA (3-5) on top in the first with a 2-yard touchdown run that made it 7-0. That play was set up by a 44-yard catch and run by Sincere McCormick two plays earlier.
The Aggies tied it when Spiller ran 60 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the next possession. Spiller is the fourth freshman in school history to run for at least 200 yards and the second Aggie freshman to run for three TDs in a game.
Cordarrian Richardson put Texas A&M on top 14-7 later in the first quarter with a 19-yard touchdown run.
Mond connected with Jalen Wydermyer on a 7-yard touchdown pass near the end of the second quarter to push A&M's lead to 21-7 at halftime.
THE TAKEAWAY
UTSA: While this one wasn't close, the 38 1/2-point underdog Roadrunners didn't look terrible against the bigger and stronger Aggies. Narcisse made some good plays before he was injured and Wilson said he thinks he'll be able to return next week.
Texas A&M: The Aggies didn't dominate the Roadrunners, but were solid and played clean football to pull away in the second half and get the convincing win. But they'll need to be better if they hope to finish out Southeastern Conference play strong with trips to No. 8 Georgia and top-ranked LSU coming later this month.
THEY SAID IT
UTSA cornerback Cassius Grady on the feeling on the sideline after the Roadrunners took the early lead: "I honestly thought for a minute we were going to win this game. They weren't that good at all. They were good, but not what we thought they were going to be. We just fell short."
UP NEXT
UTSA: Visits Old Dominion next Saturday.
Texas A&M: The Aggies are off next Saturday before wrapping up their home schedule on Nov. 16 when they host South Carolina.
No. 8 Georgia 24 No. 6 Florida 17
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jake Fromm was a little late to the after-party.
He was in the third and final wave of Georgia players leaping into the stands at the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party."
It was a fitting spot for Fromm considering how effective he's been on third down against Florida.
Fromm threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns, including a 52-yarder to an uncovered Lawrence Cager in the fourth quarter, and the No. 8 Bulldogs beat the sixth-ranked Gators 24-17 on Saturday.
It was Georgia's third consecutive victory in the Southeastern Conference rivalry and sixth in the last nine years.
Fromm was the main reason for the last two. He has five touchdown passes in two years against Florida, with four of them coming on third down.
"When Jake has time, he's really efficient," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "I was so proud of him this game."
Fromm's most important throw came on a third-and-7 play with a little more than 2 minutes remaining. The Gators (7-2, 4-2) rallied twice to make it a one-score game in the final quarter, and Fromm needed one more completion to end any chance of a comeback.
He found tight end Eli Wolf for a 22-yard gain. Game over.
"We had the belief the whole game that we just needed the one stop, and we didn't get that unfortunately," Florida linebacker David Reese said.
Fromm completed 20 of 30 passes, including one to Dominick Blaylock for a 3-yard score on third down in the first quarter.
Fromm struggled in his last two games, both at home, but played considerably better against Florida for the second straight season.
"There's been a lot of outside noise, and this has been a challenge to our guys to not listen to the outside noise but to really gel within our locker room," Fromm said. "To come out and respond and play the way we did today, it really shows what our guys are made of, their hearts and what we mean to each other."
Cager finished with seven receptions for 132 yards, both career highs.
D'Andre Swift added 86 yards rushing to help Georgia (7-1, 4-1) move a step closer to winning the SEC's Eastern Division for the third consecutive year and strengthen their College Football Playoff resume.
The Gators, who now need lots of help to win the East, looked lost on both sides of the ball most of the afternoon.
Florida abandoned an ineffective ground game early, and its defense got little pressure on Fromm — even with disruptive pass-rushers Jon Greenard and Jabari Zuniga back for the first time in weeks.
"The only people we can be disappointed with are ourselves because they didn't do anything we didn't expect them to do," said Trask, who completed 21 of 33 passes for 257 yards and two scores.
Trask gave his team life down the stretch. He escaped a collapsing pocket and found Van Jefferson for a 23-yard touchdown pass and later found Freddie Swain in the flat to make it seven-point game with 3:11 remaining.
But Fromm and Wolf closed it out.
"It was amazing, amazing," Swift said. "We're an elite team on third down and we got to show it today."
Third downs proved to be the difference.
Georgia converted 12 of 18 chances on the all-important down; Florida was 2 of 9.
"Needed to stay on the field better on offense and get off the field better on defense," Florida coach Dan Mullen said.
THE TAKEAWAY
Georgia: After consecutive lackluster performances at home, the Bulldogs looked much more like a team that can make the CFP.
Florida: The Gators rallied three times earlier this season to win after trailing in the fourth — against Miami , Kentucky and South Carolina — but they couldn't do it again.
OFFICIATING COMPLAINTS
Mullen walked off the field with SEC officials at halftime, still miffed by a number of questionable calls.
There was a no call on what looked like pass interference against tight end Kyle Pitts on a fourth-down play. There was a pass interference call on cornerback CJ Henderson when the ball seemed uncatchable. And officials let Cager's 12-yard catch stand upon review in the second quarter after it appeared the ball hit the ground before the receiver got control. Fromm's first TD pass came three plays later.
"I saw what you saw," Mullen said. "I asked the official, but they said that decision's made in Birmingham. So they couldn't even give me an explanation."
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Georgia should jump Florida in the next AP Top 25 college football poll .
KEY INJURIES
Georgia defensive end Malik Herring limped off the field in the fourth quarter.
Florida linebacker Jeremiah Moon left the field and walked into the locker room in the first half.
UP NEXT
Georgia: Hosts Missouri next Saturday. The Bulldogs have won five in a row in the series.
Florida: Hosts Vanderbilt, which has dropped five straight and 27 of 28 in the series.
Games in Progress
Ole Miss 7 No. 11 Auburn 10 HALF
UAB 0 Tennessee 23 HALF
Vanderbilt 7 South Carolina 14 HALF