Texas A&M Head Coach Kevin Sumlin Benches QB Allen for Kyler Murray

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

After two consecutive bad games against Alabama and Ole Miss, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin has decided to bench sophomore starting quarterback Kyle Allen in favor of true freshman Kyler Murray for Saturday’s showdown against South Carolina.

Allen guided the Aggies to a 5-0 record before the team hit a two-game slide. Sumlin started the season splitting snaps between Allen and Murray but Allen won out slowly seeing his workload increase in Week 3 against Nevada. Allen had a season-high 358 passing yards in a 28-21 overtime win against Arkansas in Week 4 and followed that performance up with a 322 yard game against Mississippi State winning 30-17.

The wheels started to come off the bus when Alabama came to College Station on Oct. 17. Allen completed 20 of 40 passes for 263 yards with a touchdown but also threw three pick-sixes in a 42-23 loss. The following week, the Aggies had their first true road game of the season heading to Oxford. The A&M offense could not move the ball in the passing or running game seeing Allen complete just 12 of 34 passes for 88 yards with one interception.

On Tuesday, Sumlin opened the quarterback battle back up including junior college transfer Jake Hubenak in the mix. After a good week of practice, and for the second year in a row, midway through the season Sumlin ditched his season starter in favor of the potential of the team’s backup. Murray has played in five games this year completing 17 of 31 passes for 167 yards with one touchdown tossed against two picks. Murray did not take the field against Ole Miss in Week 8.

Murray reached legendary status in the Texas high school football circuit putting up video game numbers for Allen High School. Murray helped the team win three consecutive state championships posting a 43-0 record as a starter. He ended his senior year passing for 4.715 yards with 54 touchdowns against seven picks and ran for 1,498 yards with another 24 scores.

Texas A&M kicks off against South Carolina on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET with coverage provided by the SEC Network.

Photo credit: fansided.com; No. 1 Kyler Murray rolls out for Texas A&M.