Should Kevin Sumlin Re-Open Texas A&M QB Competition After Blowout Loss to Bama?

Texas A&M played one of the worst games it has ever played on Saturday, getting outgained by 430 yards (and at one point trailing 560 yards to 50) in a 59-0 loss at Alabama.

The final score wasn't as ugly, but the performance—especially for the first 30 minutes—was every bit as listless as that of "Oklahoma 77, Texas A&M 0," the shameful nadir of the Dennis Franchione era that took place in 2003.

Most concerning of the many concerning performances was that of quarterback Kenny Hill, who took five sacks and completed 17 of 26 passes for 138 yards, no touchdowns and one interception (which easily could have been three if not for drops).

Three weeks ago, Texas A&M was ranked No. 6 in the country, and Hill was considered a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy. But now? He's the first Kevin Sumlin-coached quarterback to ever fail to score in a game.

All of which begs the question: Should Sumlin re-evaluate the position, giving true freshman Kyle Allen a chance to start?

He was not entirely dismissive of the idea in his postgame press conference, saying "I don't know about that," when asked if the QB competition would be re-opened, per Kate Hairopoulos of The Dallas Morning News.

Allen was the No. 10 overall player and top-ranked quarterback in the 2014 recruiting class, per the 247Sports composite rankings. He was thought to have a real chance at winning the position before Hill was named the starter during fall camp.

And now might be the time to see what he's got.

Why? Because what does Texas A&M have to lose?

It is heading into a bye week—the perfect chance to integrate a new starting quarterback—and has no chance of competing to win the SEC West. It is not at risk of missing a bowl game (for which it will become eligible when it beats Louisiana-Monroe in two weeks), which means the bottom can't fall too far. The team is at a crossroads, sure, but the risk associated with subbing-in Allen would be manageable.

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The Aggies also have Kyler Murray, a 5-star dual-threat quarterback and the No. 27 overall prospect in the 2015 class, committed to join the team next season. His presence makes letting Allen play this year even more imperative. The more information they have on Allen as a potential future-of-the-program-type quarterback, the sounder their decisions will be in 2015, 2016 and beyond (and vice versa).

The only glaring downside to letting Allen play is the effect it will have on Hill, whose body of work this year does not suggest a player who needs to be benched. If he's yanked for a true freshman and knows another blue-chip kid is coming in next year, he might resign himself to his fate and consider looking at other schools.

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For obvious reasons, that would be suboptimal.

Hill is only a sophomore, and the ceiling on his game is manifest. He was not the only thing wrong with Texas A&M's offense against Alabama, whose defense dominated the line of scrimmage and played tight coverage.

More often that not, Hill had no time to scan the field and nowhere to throw the football. He was not put in a position to succeed.

Still, the Hill who teased Aggies fans in September was good enough to conjure success out of any position.

The "Kenny Trill" version of A&M's sophomore quarterback—the one who blitzkrieged South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium in Week 1 and led a manic comeback to beat Arkansas in Week 5—would have strung at least a few positive plays together. He would have prodded and poked until he found at least one pocket of space.

He would not have been content with…well, this:

The man who preceded Hill, Johnny Manziel, played two of the four best games of his career against Alabama, leading an upset of the No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide during his Heisman Trophy season in 2012 and posting 562 yards of total offense in a 49-42 loss last year.

It's unfair to compare Hill with a singular talent like Manziel, but the comparison does deserve mention after what happened Saturday.

And Hill played like no Johnny Football. 

Allen might be better. He might be worse. He might be exactly the same. And Hill might be a whole lot better than he's looked the past three weeks. A lot of quarterbacks have struggled against the Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Alabama defenses. (And a lot of those quarterbacks have not had to play them consecutively.)

But the Aggies cannot—in Sumlin's own words—"stick their heads in the sand" after a loss this historically lopsided. They need to find a way to right the ship, both now and for the next few seasons.

Who knows what Allen might do if he's given the keys to the offense?

That, I suppose, is the point.

Follow Brian Leigh on Twitter: @BLeighDAT