Gators vs Texas A&M Stock Report: Another Loss Napier Can't Afford

The Florida Gators fell to Texas A&M, 34-17, to fall to 2-4 on the year on Saturday. Like every week, we evaluate who saw their stock rise and who saw their stock take a hit. 

We got two that went up and three that went down this week. Here is the post-Texas A&M loss stock report. 

Stock Up

DJ Lagway 

It’s relative to how he had been playing before that, which helped his stock go up. He didn’t throw an interception, which is progress from the five he threw a few weeks ago. He also had multiple touchdown passes in back-to-back games for the first time this year. These are the two FBS games in which he has thrown multiple touchdowns. 

Yes, he had multiple fumbles and turnovers came in that sense. I don’t want that to go ignored. But as said already, it’s relative to previous performance. In the future, if his play continues to improve, it could mean a stagnant stock that doesn’t make the report, or even goes down. 

KD Daniels

He saw action in the face of being down multiple running backs, and he didn’t look too bad. He averaged 9.3 yards per carry, and his biggest game was on par with Jadan Baugh’s. Is it much? No, but for someone who sees limited playing time at all, he boosted his stock. 

Stock Up

Third Down Offense

Let me know if you’ve heard this one before. The Gators struggled to convert on third down. This time, they went 1-for-10. It does help when a team fumbles twice on third down. It makes it hard to convert. The play calling was perplexing at times, such as running it up the middle on a 3rd & 6 situation. Another time a pass was actually completed on third down, the Gators lost three yards. 

It symbolizes core issues on offense. You’re not going to get any sustained drives going past your own 35 when you have to get a first down exclusively on your first two plays. 

Gators Defense

It’s the first time this year that the defense truly had an off-night. The Aggies put up 417 yards of offense and converted on third down nine times out of 17 opportunities. Jordan Castell got another interception. That’s one highlight. 

The offense didn’t do them any favors. A few key drives can either cause them to lose the ball on a fumble or turnover on downs helped A&M score at least 13 of their 34 points. Neither side of the ball looked good. 

Billy Napier

Just as he was getting himself out from under his back, being against the wall, he took a loss on the road. Not sure what else there is to say at this point that hasn’t been said in the past. 

If this had been their first, or even second, loss of the season, he could be cut some slack. They could just shake it off and get ready for the second half of the slate. But it’s the fourth loss, and the team is 2-4 overall. This comes after losing to USF, having two combined offensive touchdowns against LSU and Miami. Following up the win against Texas with another top-10 win would have been everything. It probably would have saved him until at least the end of the season. Now, who really knows?

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