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Whether or not Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin wants to acknowledge it, he has a quarterback controversy on his hands. That shouldn’t really come as any big surprise, because it’s a position that’s come under great scrutiny ever since Johnny Manziel became Johnny Football.
Freshman Kyler Murray only added to the controversy with an outstanding performance in his debut, a 35-28 victory over the Gamecocks on Saturday. He threw for 223 yards and a touchdown, added 156 rushing yards and another score and compiled a QB rating of 150.1. That was exactly the kind of results Sumlin hoped for when he made the decision to open up competition for the starting position last week.
Sumlin said he liked what he saw in terms of tempo in the offense with Murray under center. Performing like a seasoned pro rather than a freshman making his first career start, Murray ran 82 plays against a porous South Carolina defense.
Nonetheless, Sumlin heaped praise on his rookie quarterback for letting the game come to him and not forcing things against a South Carolina defense that yields 6.1 yards per play, most in the SEC.
There were plenty of positives to come out of Murray’s performance, but now what? Does this signal the end for sophomore QB Kyle Allen, who started the previous 12 games before struggling against great defenses in Alabama and Ole Miss on back-to-back weeks?
And where does sophomore QB Jake Hubenak fit in? Entering Saturday’s game when Murray lost his helmet and by rule had to sit out a play, Hubenak offers yet another option in the equation. Sumlin said Hubenak was the “next in line” to enter the game.
He refused to rank the three by what’s commonly referred to as a depth chart but said that based on the end of last week’s game and practices leading up to Saturday’s game that Hubenak was “next in line” to play quarterback for the Aggies.
That’s quite a juggling act Sumlin’s got going down in College Station. He didn’t pick a starter until Thursday and prided himself on keeping it a secret for two days. For someone who appears to be trying to keep a lid on this bubbling cauldron, he sure does a good job of stirring it up.
Murray appears to be the guy – for the moment. His timing is impeccable. After debuting against the second-worst defense in the SEC, Murray faces the worst on Saturday. No team in the SEC gives up more yardage per game than Auburn (446.5). After that, the Aggies face Western Carolina and then a middle-of-the-pack Vanderbilt defense.
It was the perfect time to make a change at quarterback, with four games to settle in before the season finale with LSU.
But don’t think the carousel won’t continue to spin. We’ve seen, since the departure of Johnny Football, that Sumlin won’t shy away from pulling the plug if things begin to go south.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
