GAINESVILLE — Texas A&M desperately needed a big play from its big playmaker Christian Kirk. He didn’t disappoint, returning a Florida punt to the Gators’ 29-yard line late in the fourth quarter, setting up a 32-yard game-winning field goal from Daniel LaCamera with 58 seconds left for a 19-17 victory.

LaCamera went to high school near St. Petersburg and returned to haunt the Gators in The Swamp, making all four of his field goal attempts, including three in the final 13 minutes.

The Aggies hadn’t won in the state of Florida in more than 70 years. Their only prior taste of victory in the Sunshine State was a 70-14 romp of Miami in 1944. It was only Texas A&M’s second visit to Gainesville. The first was a 42-6 stomping in 1962, long before The Swamp earned its name.

The Gators broke a 10-10 tie on the first play of the fourth quarter when Dre Massey scored his first touchdown as a Gator, a 6-yard run. It came one play after QB Feleipe Franks scrambled 79 yards, eluding tackler after tackler, zig-zagging for the longest run by a Gators quarterback since before 1996.

The Aggies had a potential game-tying touchdown called back by penalty and had to settle for a 43-yard field goal from LaCamera, cutting the Gators’ lead to 17-13 early in the final period. He added a 25-yarder midway through the fourth quarter to make it a one-point game after Mond threw 42 yards to Damion Ratley and then scrambled for 11 yards on a third-and-10 run to the Gators’ 9-yard line.

The Aggies tied the game at 10, reaching the red zone for the first time on their first possession of the second half. Mond ran 18 yards to the Gators’ 9-yard line. Three plays later he carried it the rest of the way to cap a 6-play, 55-yard drive.

Florida claimed a 10-3 edge just before halftime, taking advantage of a short field and converting a 4th-and-1 along the way. Lamical Perine ran over right guard on the following play, through a demoralized Aggies defense, for 15 yards and the only touchdown of the first half.

The Gators drove 63 yards in 13 plays for an early 3-0 lead. Franks engineered an opening drive with an accurate 6-for-8 passing for 54 yards. The drive ate up 5 minutes, 49 seconds of the first-quarter clock.

Franks ignited the drive by escaping the grasp of Aggies’ pass rusher DT Zaycoven Henderson and flipped a shovel pass to Malik Davis, who scampered for a 20-yard gain. But the drive stalled at the Texas A&M 12 and Eddy Pineiro booted a 29-yard field goal to get the Gators on the board first.

Florida has now scored in 367 consecutive games, extending the NCAA all-time record. The Gators set the all-time mark last week against LSU.

But the Aggies answered, going 38 yards in seven plays, culminating in LaCamera’s 46-yard field goal to tie the game, 3-3. Like his counterpart, Mond came up with the key play of the drive, escaping the Gators’ pass rush then finding Ratley on a crossing pattern. Ratley hauled in the throw, completing a 30-yard gain.

But, as with the Gators’ initial drive, the Aggies were forced to settle for a field goal.

First-half Futility of both offenses was no more evident than second-quarter interceptions tossed by each quarterback on successive plays. Aggies’ senior DB Armani Watts picked off Franks in the end zone, halting a Gators’ drive, and on the following play it was Florida CB Jeawon Taylor snatching a long pass from Mond to put the Aggies’ defense back on the field.

For Watts, it was his 10th career interception. He is the 11th Aggie with double-digit career picks.