Chad Cross, a DFW native, began his career in the roofing industry in 1996. Out of a desire to provide quality and excellence in customer service, Chad launched his own company, CLC Roofing, Inc. in 1999. Chad is a second-generation Aggie, a member of the Class of ‘94 and was a member of the Corps of Cadets Squadron 12. Chad is married to wife Lynee ‘95 and they have 3 Aggie sons: Cade ‘22, Carson ‘25 and Chase ‘27. Chad enjoys playing golf, reading, watching sports and spending time with family at their home in Southlake, Texas. As multi-sport season ticket holders, Chad and Lynee are blessed to spend a lot of time in Aggieland attending Aggie sports events.

Chad has more than 25 years of experience in the roofing industry, including sales, project management, manufacturer representation, as well as catastrophe adjusting. Chad and his team at CLC Roofing, Inc. strive to make sure clients just like you receive the level of excellence in service and workmanship that you deserve! For your roofing needs, contact Chad Cross at (972) 304-4431 or info@clcroofing.com and mention Aggieyell.com.

The Aggies (2-1, 1-0 SEC) dominated the Gators (1-2, 0-1 SEC) from the start, hammering Florida 33-20 in a game that was not as close as the final score indicated.

“It’s been exactly zero days since we won a road football game,” coach Mike Elko quipped.

While Florida came into the game expecting to play both Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway, the Aggies only needed one quarterback — even if it wasn’t the one expected at the start of the week.

Quarterback Conner Weigman went through all of pregame warmups, but was clearly in pain when he threw. Elko turned to redshirt freshman Marcel Reed, who had made his first career start, when it became clear Weigman could not go.

“Coach Elko came over to me and said, ‘It’s your game,’” Reed recounted. “‘Just go run the show.’”

Reed responded to the opportunity almost immediately, picking up 31 yards on a scramble on a 2nd and 21 from the A&M 14 on the fourth play from scrimmage.

He hit receiver Moose Muhammad for a 20-yard catch and run on a 3rd and 10 from the Aggie 45, then threw across his body while scrambling to find tight end Tre Watson for 15 yards on 3rd and 12 from the Gators 27.

It looked like the Aggies had scored a touchdown on their first possession when receiver Jabre Barber caught a quick bubble screen and took it in from 11 yards out on 3rd and 9, but a block in the back call on tight end Theo Ohrstrom wiped it out. Randy Bond came on and hit a 31-yard field goal to give A&M a 3-0 lead.

Florida’s drive started at their own 35 after Jared Zirkel booted the kickoff out of bounds, but the drive only lasted five plays. After Florida’s punt pinned A&M at their own 8, Reed and the offense came out and went to work again.

On the first play, running back Le’Veon Moss (18 carries, 110 yards), who appeared to be tackled on two different occasions, bullied his way through the Florida defense for a 27-yard gain to get the Aggies out of trouble. Reed converted another 3rd and long a couple of plays later, hitting running back Amari Daniels for a 22-yard catch and run on 3rd and 8 from the Aggie 37.

It looked like A&M’s drive was on the verge of stalling just outside of field goal range, when they faced a 4th and 5 at the Gators 36. But Florida cornerback Jason Marshall was called for defensive holding when he grabbed Aggie receiver Cyrus Allen, giving the Aggies a first down.

Three plays later, Reed found a wide open Ohrstrom in the middle of the field for an easy 29-yard touchdown, the first of Ohrstrom’s career — and just his second catch. That play, Reed said, was when he truly felt comfortable.

"That was a full progression read, and I made it through just about all the way, and I kind of took a little hit at the end," Reed said. "I was like, 'I can do this, I'm not a little kid, but I can make plays in this in this conference.' And, you know, that one just set me up for some success, and gave me the confidence I needed to go play the rest of the game."

The heavens responded to Baby Thor’s success, with a lightning delay a couple of plays later as the first quarter ended. The two teams returned to action 47 minutes later, and the Aggies forced a three and out that included a 15-yard sack of quarterback DJ Lagway by Shemar Stewart and Solomon DeShields.

Taking over at their own 45, the Aggies had a short but still effective drive, getting close enough for Bond to kick a 48-yard field goal to make the score 13-0.

Mertz, who started the game, came back in on Florida’s next possession and immediately hit wideout Chimere Dike for a 39-yard completion to the Aggie 41. But a 5-yard penalty, followed by a near interception and a receiver screen disrupted by Stewart for a 1-yard gain, forced another Florida punt.

The punt by Jeremy Crawshaw was perfect, pinning the Aggies at their own 1 as rain began to fall at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. With an inexperienced quarterback and adverse weather conditions, it looked like the recipe for disaster. Instead, A&M simply blasted the Gators off the line of scrimmage all the way down the field.

The Aggies went 99 yards, including 97 on the ground, on a 15-play drive that took 7 minutes, 23 seconds off the clock. Reed plunged in from a yard out to make the score 20-0, which put an alleged crowd of 89,933 in a rather unpleasant mood.

“I thought that one was critical, because, you know, we're backed up. It's still a game. It was 13-0 at the time, and we’ve got to run a quarterback sneak just to get it off the goal line,” Elko said. “That's how tight we're backed up in there. And, you know, for us to be able to do it, then obviously we start driving, and here comes the rain. And so now … the throwing conditions are challenging, and it's really hard to throw it at that point. And so you're kind of on the ground a little bit during that drive as it's kind of raining sideways for us, to put that in the end, that was huge.”

After A&M safety Marcus Ratcliffe picked off a Hail Mary attempt from Lagway to end the second quarter, the Gators were serenaded with loud boos from the remaining fans at The Swamp. When a public service announcement showing Napier urging people not to drink and drive, the boos for the coach — who was still on the field doing a TV interview — were even louder.

The unpleasant reaction may have provided a spark for the Gators, as Mertz came back in at quarterback to start the third quarter and marched his team 75 yards for a touchdown, a 14-yard pass to receiver Elijhah Badger. Reed took care of those positive vibes two plays later, as he rolled out and found a wide open Cyrus Allen behind the secondary for a 73-yard touchdown to put the Aggies up 26-7.

“My read told me to throw the flat, but I just saw that Cyrus’s cover guy just sitting there and Cyrus passing him,” Reed (11-17, 178 yards, 2 TD passing; 13 carries, 83 yards, 1 TD rushing) said. “I know that guy's a fast dude, so I let him get the ball.’

After an ineffective series from Lagway, Mertz returned at quarterback after the Gators forced the first Aggie punt in more than six quarters. Mertz moved the Gators out to their own 36 before he threw a pass over the middle to Badger that was contested by cornerback Will Lee, and the ball was tipped up into the air, where A&M safety Bryce Anderson picked if off and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. Anderson made a “shhh” gesture to the remaining fans as he neared the goal line and essentially put the game to bed.

Even though Elko wasn’t pleased with 13 penalties for 114 yards and Florida scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns to make the game closer, the numbers — 488 yards of total offense, including 310 on the ground, three interceptions and a 15-minute advantage in time of possession — indicated the game was an Aggie blowout.

“Every kid that played on the line today, every kid that played at running back, played with the demeanor that we wanted to play with,” he said.

For veterans like Anderson, the win meant something more. For the recruiting class of 2022, it was the first road win that was not at a neutral site.

"Finally," he said. "That's the one word I can use, is finally. It's a big step for us this year."