Does Texas A&M Have a Starting Quarterback After Ole Miss Fiasco?

It’s late October, which means there's a lot of screaming from college football fans, and none of it has anything do with Halloween.

Saturday there were screams of horror from Florida State fans after the Seminoles lost to Georgia Tech on a blocked field goal, and there were exasperated screams from Tennessee fans yet again after their ninth straight loss in the “Third Saturday in October” rivalry with Alabama.

But screams of pure frustration may be the worst. Just ask a Texas A&M fan.

The Aggies’ passing game wasn’t just bad during their 23-3 loss to No. 24 Ole Miss on Saturday night, it was beyond putrid. Granted, a lot of that had to do with the Rebels’ swarming defense, which was playing with a renewed swagger even without Robert Nkemdiche (concussion), but sophomore quarterback Kyle Allen’s season completely came apart.

Allen got off to an average start, completing 10 of his first 12 passes for 91 yards, and he would have gladly taken those numbers the rest of the game. But after that, he completed just two of his next 22 attempts, and both were for negative yards. 

While fans were begging for freshman quarterback Kyler Murray to be inserted, the Aggies went 0-for-13 passing in the third quarter and tallied just 27 total yards. They finished with just 66 total yards in the second half.

It was a miracle that the Aggies were only down by 20 points, but they could have been down by two and it probably wouldn’t have made any difference.

When head coach Kevin Sumlin finally did make a change with roughly 11 minutes to go, he opted for sophomore Jake Hubenak, who had attempted just one pass this season coming in.

At Blinn Junior College last year, he completed 216-of-333 passes (64.9 percent) for 4,052 yards and 47 touchdowns with nine interceptions in eight games. He’s definitely more of a pocket passer than Murray, and perhaps Sumlin thought that might be the better option at that point in the game.

But waiting so long was inexcusable, and the way the Aggies have handled their quarterbacks can only leave us with two conclusions:

1. Murray, who looked as confused as anyone about not being used, isn’t ready to handle anything beyond spot situations.
2. The extensive quarterback competition that dragged on for a long time appears to have come back to bite the Aggies.

Now, with seven games down, does Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2 SEC) really have a starting quarterback?

It’s a worthwhile question. After all, the passing game is their offense’s identity.

Just to back up a little, when the Aggies came into training camp, the quarterback battle was played up as a three-way competition, though most assumed it was primarily between the youngest guns.

Allen, who led A&M to a 41-38 victory at then-No. 3 Auburn last season, started the last five games of 2014 and was named the Liberty Bowl MVP.

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

So the job was his, right?

Wrong. The Aggies were trying to keep Murray happy as well. The son of Aggies legend Kevin Murray, who led the Aggies to consecutive Southwest Conference titles in 1985 and 1986, is considered small for a college quarterback, but he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year.

It’s now obvious that decision came at the expense of Allen’s development.

Saturday night, with both teams’ seasons on the line, Ole Miss played with a lot of emotion, while Texas A&M looked like it was still trying to recover from last week’s 41-23 loss to Alabama, in which the Crimson Tide returned three of their four interceptions for touchdowns.

Allen completed 20 of his 40 attempts for 263 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in that game, while Murray in relief went 2-of-4 for 21 yards and one pick.

What Alabama and Ole Miss both figured out was that Texas A&M still doesn’t have a running game and still can’t run between the tackles. Without that balance, both defenses went after the quarterbacks, and the outcome made their defensive backs look good. 

Consequently, we’re left with Allen’s final line of 12-for-34, 88 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, which adds up to a passer efficiency rating of 51.2.

At least the Aggies can take their time figuring out their next step, because the loss essentially eliminated them from SEC contention and killed their playoff hopes for another year. 

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.