One play away.

Jimbo Fisher said it again at his postgame press conference on Saturday following a 31-28 loss to Ole Miss at Kyle Field.

One play away. It’s almost become the team motto.

Texas A&M is 3-5 on the season overall and 1-4 in the SEC, and over 4 of those the Aggies have lost by an average of 4 points. So, maybe there’s something to that.

It certainly has to be frustrating. A play here, a play there, and those 1-possession losses could have possibly gone the other way.

But as the old saying goes: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

That’s especially true with as young a team as the Aggies are. And it’s an “us-against-the-world” mentality that is what the Aggies must rally behind when they welcome in an equally struggling Florida team with first-year head coach Billy Napier.

The SEC matchup with 4-4 Florida (1-4 SEC) is set for 11 a.m. CT on Saturday at Kyle Field, and it couldn’t come at a better time for Texas A&M. The Gators have had their share of struggles, especially on defense, but have had their moments as well with close-call losses. They came as close as anyone has so far this year to beating No. 2 Tennessee, falling 38-33 in Knoxville in September.

So, like Texas A&M, the potential has been there for a much better won-loss record.

But the Gators’ defense hasn’t been good, especially lately, giving up 45 points at home to LSU and another 42 to Georgia on Saturday. The Florida defense ranks 11th in the SEC against the pass, which must be music to the ears of Conner Weigman, who threw for 338 yards (28-for-44) and 4 touchdowns (0 interceptions) on Saturday in his 1st collegiate start.

The Gators are even worse against the run, rating no better than 12th in the conference, which has to bring a smile to the face of running back Devon Achane. It’s a chance for the junior workhorse to build off a stellar performance on Saturday that included the 8th 100-yard game of his career. His 138 yards on a career-high 25 carries pushed him past the 2,000-yard mark (2,039) for his career with what appears to be, on paper at least, a golden opportunity to add much more this Saturday.

It’s probably 1 of the main reasons why the Aggies have been installed as an early 9.5-point favorite. Texas A&M scored 28 points last Saturday, which doesn’t sound like a lot. But it was the Aggies’ most points since the season opener, a 31-0 win over Sam Houston State.

And that’s a start.

You have to figure that Weigman will only get better with every game, and against a porous Florida defense he should generate enough offense to reach the end zone with even more regularity this Saturday. That’s taking into consideration that Achane will also build off his performance last Saturday and balance out the offense by powering the Aggies’ running game.

By all indications, Florida offers the Aggies a much-needed opportunity to find and execute that elusive “1 play away” that has tormented them for much of the 2022 season.

It would be a big victory for the Aggies on several levels if they could manage to pull it off on Saturday. Breaking a 4-game losing streak would, of course, top that list. You have to go all the way back to 1980 to find the last time a Texas A&M team lost 5 consecutive games. That year, Tom Wilson’s Aggies went 4-7.

But a victory on Saturday would also give the Aggies at least a glimmer of hope for a possible postseason berth. It would lift them to 4-5 on the season with just 2 more wins in the final 3 games needed to become bowl eligible. Games at Auburn and at home against UMass are winnable, and then the tussle with LSU at Kyle Field closes the regular-season schedule.

Earning a bowl bid would be huge for those extra days of practice, as this young team continues to grow and work toward putting behind it that “1 play away” motto.