Texas A&M lost quarterback Nick Starkel and defensive back Donovan Wilson over the course of Sunday night’s 45-44 loss to UCLA, and those losses will continue in the coming weeks and months.
Kevin Sumlin announced during his weekly radio show that both players underwent surgery on Monday. While Sumlin did not say so himself, surgeries are typically season-ending procedures.
Sumlin said on radio show Nick Starkel had surgery on broken ankle & Donovan Wilson had foot surgery. Don't know if will return this season.
— Brent Zwerneman (@BrentZwerneman) September 5, 2017
The bigger loss here is, obviously, Starkel. The redshirt freshman won the job out of camp, and his absence leaves the Aggies with no good options. Texas A&M turned to true freshman Kellen Mond on Sunday, who proved himself not ready for primetime in hitting just three of his 17 pass attempts in the midst of the Aggies’ second half collapse.
Texas A&M could also turn to fifth-year senior Jake Hubenak, who has considerably more experience both on the field and in Noel Mazzone‘s offense than Mond, with 13 appearances and one start to his credit. And yet, despite that experience, there is a reason the A&M coaches chose to play Starkel and Mond ahead of Hubenak.
Either way, Texas A&M has a couple of weeks to find out its quarterback without Starkel. The Aggies host Nicholls State and Louisiana-Lafayette over the next two weeks before SEC play begins with a must-win game against Arkansas at AT&T Stadium.