Texas A&M is in a bit of a state of panic this season after losing three straight games in SEC West play. After starting the year with five straight wins, with quarterback Kenny Hill throwing 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions, the Aggies have lost to Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Alabama by a combined score of 142-51. Hill was intercepted six times in those games, and now it may be costing him his job as the team’s starting quarterback. On Tuesday, Texas A&M offensive coordinator Jake Spavital confirmed the quarterback competition has been reopened as the Aggies look to turn things around.
“We opened it back up,” Spavital said, per ESPN.com. “It’s still wide open. We’re going to split the [first-team] reps [Tuesday] and possibly on Wednesday and by Thursday we’ll probably have a declared starter and they’ll take all the reps for that Thursday practice.”
Head coach Kevin Sumlin suggested Texas A&M was going to have to evaluate the quarterback situation as well as just about every position during the bye week last week. The Aggies return to action this week, at home against Louisiana-Monroe. It figures to be a good week to fix some issues before finishing the season in sEC play, with games against Auburn, Missouri and LSU still to play.
Kyle Allen is the other option for Texas A&M. Allen has been backing up Hill this season, and he has appeared in four games so far. In his time on the field, the freshman has completed 23 of 38 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions. Allen was the nation’s top pro-style quarterback and the top prospect in the state of Texas in the Class of 2014 according to Rivals. He arrived in College Station with loads of talent and high expectations.
A decision on which quarterback will take over as the starting quarterback for the final stretch of the season is expected to be announced on Thursday. It is still early to suggest Hill will be unable to turn things around. Let’s not completely dismiss the difficult stretch he and Texas A&M just ran into on the schedule. However, if Allen is perceived to be the future quarterback at Texas A&M, then giving him some meaningful starts now could pay off in 2015. Sumlin has a good history with quarterbacks, and Allen could be his next prodigy. With Texas A&M out of the SEC West title chase, it may be worth seeing how Allen leads the offense as the starter.