Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko wasn’t sparing in his praise for his opponent this week. Previewing the matchup with Florida this Saturday, Elko said he expects the Gators to be the toughest test his undefeated team has faced.

“I think Florida's far and away the most talented team that we've played this year,” Elko said.

On the one hand, that’s high praise from the coach of the undefeated No. 5 team in the country in the middle of its SEC schedule. On the other hand, it could just be posturing to inspire his players or perhaps lower expectations against a dangerous but unranked UF squad.

A&M’s SEC slate to this point hasn’t exactly been rigorous. It beat a struggling Auburn team 16-10 two weeks ago and took down a resurgent but still less-than-stellar Mississippi State team 31-9 last week, both in College Station.

However, A&M’s week three matchup with No. 16 Notre Dame was a classic – a 41-40 win in South Bend. Based on Elko’s comments, he thinks UF will be even tougher.

“They've got an excellent group of players,” he said. “They've played in two Top-10 road environments already, so they're going to be well-versed in what this is like and what it's going to be like coming into Kyle Field. Coming off of a huge Top-10 win last weekend, so they'll be full of confidence and certainly very excited to come in here and give us their best shot.”

Here's what else Elko had to say about Florida:

Question: What assessments do you have of [Texas native and UF quarterback] DJ Lagway so far?

Elko: "DJ's obviously a kid that we've known. Tried very hard to get him here. An extremely talented quarterback. I think, again, media narratives to me are so funny. I think he's playing so much better. I think he's made a lot of growth and taken a lot of strides. You see him very, very comfortable back there. And so, yeah, I think he's playing at a really, really high level. He's a really talented kid."

Question: As you started to dive into Florida and their offense, what really stood out to you the most about them and the way they were able to pass the ball this last weekend against Texas?

Elko: "I don't really know that I looked at it like that. I didn't just watch one game, so I don't know that I have a great feel for that question. I think they're really physical. I think they have really talented pieces on the outside. They create a lot of stress on you in terms of how you commit numbers to the run versus commit numbers to coverage. And they're able to kind of take advantage of you in a lot of different ways. So I would say they just present a lot of challenges to you in terms of defending them."

Question: I was wondering if you could speak about the Florida offensive line. Defensively, I think most folks who watched thought they'd be pretty good defensively. As you watch their offensive line, what stands out for them?

Elko: "They've got four of five starters back from last year. They're a really talented group. They were a really talented group last year. They've got multiple NFL draft prospects on the line. I think their left tackle is probably one of, if not, the best tackles in the conference. So they're a really, really talented group."

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