Mike Gillislee is why the Gators can beat Texas A&M

[travisduncan]

By Travis Duncan
Gator Envy writer


Update: The Billboard has been removed according to the Orlando Sentinel.

There is now a billboard in Gainesville which reads "You've been annexed by Aggie Nation. The Best Academics & Cleanest Program in the SEC. WHOOP! Real Football. Real Tradition.”

Aggie Nation is pumped, and rightfully so. They have entered the promised land of college football, the SEC.

ESPN will be on site with the studio show College GameDay broadcasting live outside Kyle Field for the Aggies first game of the year. It's also A&M's first game as a member of the SEC.

Much of the original interest for Saturday's game was generated on the idea that the Gators and A&M were evenly matched. Let the best team win. But in just a week's time, the Aggies opener was canceled due to Hurricane Isaac and the Gators had a sloppy day against Bowling Green. A sloppy day which Spencer Hall of EveryDayShouldBeSaturday called a "Giftory".

In all reality the Gators would lose that game 9 out of 10 times if it wasn't for equally sloppy play by the Falcons.

None the less, there is one major reason why the Gators can beat the Aggies on the road Saturday, which would be a hallmark W for the Mushcamp era.

His name is Mike Gillislee.

Gillislee was named the Gators offensive player of the game by coach Will Muschamp after his 148 yard, two touchdown performance against BG.

The Aggies defensive line has question marks and the running lanes should be there for Gilislee. His ability to break tackles and allude Aggie linebackers will be another key factor. The Aggies have a strong LB core which features three seniors : Sean Porter OLB Jonathan Stewart MLB Steven Jenkins OLB

The Aggies secondary is inexperienced and A&M finished 8th in the Big 12 last year against the pass allowing 276.3 yards per game, however the Gators have yet to prove they can develop any type of threat through the air dating back to last season.

Gators OC Brent Pease said this week he would like to expand the Gators offense with sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel named the starter for the foreseeable future. Wanting to do something and actually doing it are two different things, ask Charlie Weis.

Pease told the media this week "About 15-22 (carries), somewhere in there, is where they start to get a rhythm. He's going to get stronger as his numbers get up. That's where you see if they're still getting the hard yards where they're carrying people, getting to 3-, 4-, 5-yard gains and then eventually they're breaking one."

Unless Driskel and the Gator receivers find a magic not found in '11 or to this point, and assuming the Gators defense is able to slow down a fast-tempo Texas A&M offense, the game very well could come down to one factor.

Mike G. this one is on you.

 

[DRU2012]

Can't argue with your reasoning, but I happen to believe that we'll HAVE to have at least the beginnings of a passing game, enough to be talking about "more of a balanced attack" after this one, if we are to get out Kyle Field with a win today.
They're gonna be comin' after Gilly, loading up the box with 8 and 9 men if/when he starts ripping off nice gains on 1st down, and so on--and this week Pease will be allowed to open up the playbook, go to some slants and timing patterns over the middle (at LEAST if they want to sustain drives), and Driskel will have to just loosen up and hit the open guy. That will sometimes mean stretching the field and going LONG. Those plays are IN Pease's offensive game plan, you can be sure, and it'll be up to Jeff, as the newly-tapped starting QB, to recognize the situation, who the "hot" receiver is and deliver the ball accurately and on time.
Driskel executes the Pease offensive gameplan well, comes up with another 27 points or more again, this time against a worthy Big 12 line-up whose personnel is more than up to their former-conference's well-deserved rep for running up points in bunches, and I'm confident our "D" can hold 'em well enough for a 7-to-10-point win.