With Auburn Looming, Texas A&M Better Figure out Who Its QB Is vs. ULM

Texas A&M opened the door to its quarterback competition during its bye week, and instead of naming one Thursday—as offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said would happen earlier in the week—the Aggies are going to string all of us along even longer.

Officially, we won't know the starter until one walks out on the field on Saturday afternoon according to Texas A&M (via: Gabe Bock of TexAgs.com):

Unofficially, though, it appears that true freshman Kyle Allen will get the edge over sophomore Kenny Hill on Saturday afternoon according to a report from Billy Liucci of TexAgs.com (subscription required).

Allen came to College Station from Scottsdale, Arizona, as a highly decorated gunslinger who's supposed to be more like former Houston quarterback and Sumlin disciple Case Keenum. The former 5-star prospect and top-ranked pro-style passer in the most recent recruiting class, Allen has seen only mop-up duty this year, completing 23-of-38 passes for 264 yards, three touchdowns and two picks. 

Hill has started every game of the season for head coach Kevin Sumlin's Aggies but has fallen on hard times lately. He has thrown as many touchdowns as interceptions—six—over the current three-game losing streak. He only threw for 138 yards and 5.3 yards per attempt in A&M's most recent game—a 59-0 loss at Alabama in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.

This can't turn into a prolonged quarterback rotation.

One contender—preferably Allen if he starts—needs to walk into the locker room at halftime as the clear-cut No. 1 so that he can build some much-needed confidence in the second half.

I touched on Texas A&M's real problem earlier this week when it became clear that the quarterback job was open. The recent struggles weren't just a quarterback problem; they were problems stemming from bizarre play-calling that made it appear like the staff was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

The play-calling needs to change this weekend and become more conservative for either whoever locks down the spot in order to keep the defense fresh and take the pressure off the new—or perhaps old—quarterback.

There's no time to mess around, because looming around the corner is a road test vs. No. 3 Auburn in two weeks on The Plains.

Player	Comp./Att.	Yds	TDs	INTs
Kenny Hill	214-of-321	2,649	23	8
Kyle Allen	23-of-38	264	3	2

Is Auburn's defense suspect? At times, yes. Particularly through the air.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

We learned last week vs. South Carolina, though, that the Tigers offense went back to the basics, has become more run-focused than it was earlier in the season and will force opposing offenses to keep up.

That's the last thing A&M needs. It is a possibility, though, which means that the new quarterback absolutely has to gain confidence in the offense—whether there are changes or not—this week vs. ULM.

Sumlin went back to the drawing board during the bye week, opening up not just the quarterback spot but virtually every spot for all comers, according to quotes emailed by Texas A&M:

"

I think our guys understand that they have had the opportunity to prove to us…and let me say this. We just don’t change for change sake. We give guys the opportunity in practice to demonstrate to coaches and to the other players that they understand what we’re trying to do, what we’re doing, and (whether they) are proficient at what we’re doing. By the same token, you have the same opportunity to demonstrate you can’t do that.All is not lost for the 5-3 Aggies.

"

In order to live by his word and not "change for change sake," he has to settle on one quarterback now and let that guy be "the man" against the Warhawks. If that's Allen, let him get comfortable. If Hill comes in and recaptures the magic, let him run with the job.

The Aggies can still play spoiler against the No. 3 Tigers next week. More importantly, though, they need to establish some offensive momentum heading into bowl practices and the 2015 season.

Eight of the 10 wide receivers on Texas A&M's most recent depth chart in its game notes are underclassmen, and seven of its top nine pass-catchers this season are underclassmen.

Player	Pos.	Class	Rec.	Yds.	TDs
Josh Reynolds	WR	Soph.	32	518	8
Edward Pope	WR	Soph.	25	421	4
Speedy Noil	WR	Fresh.	31	392	3
Malcome Kennedy	WR	Senior	37	382	2
Ricky Seals-Jones	WR	Fresh.	37	377	3
Boone Niederhofer	WR	Soph.	26	232	1
Sabian Holmes	WR	Junior	11	189	2
Jeremy Tabuyo	WR	Soph.	5	101	2
LaQuvionte Gonzalez	WR	Soph.	5	77	1
Trey Williams	RB	Junior	9	60	0

Those guys need work with their quarterback of the future, and that work needs to begin right now.

What looked like a pushover against a weaker opponent on Saturday has turned into much more for the Aggies program. It's a landmark day. It's the start of next season. It's a chance to hit the reset button and set the tone for bigger games down the stretch, including Auburn, Missouri, LSU and a bowl opponent.

The last thing this program needs is more uncertainty at the quarterback position, and one of the two contenders needs to get right this weekend.

Otherwise, it's going to be a long November in College Station.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.