Through the first five weeks of the season, Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill looked like the next in line of star quarterbacks to play at Texas A&M. Hill razzled and dazzled his way to five straight wins and was nicknamed Kenny “Trill.” Over that five game span, Hill threw 17 touchdowns to just two interceptions and looked magnificent. This time, however, the thrill was short-lived as the sophomore quarterback has struggled in recent weeks, leading to the team’s three game losing skid after starting out the season 5-0. During the streak, Hill has thrown for six touchdowns and six interceptions, including an abysmal performance during the team’s 59-0 blowout loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Since then, offensive coordinator Jake Spavital has announced that the quarterback position is now open for competition which means Hill is no longer the starter. The potential candidate for his replacement is Kyle Allen, a freshman five-star recruit.
“We opened it back up,” Spavital said, per ESPN.com. “It’s still wide open. We’re going to split the [first-team] reps [Tuesday] and possibly on Wednesday and by Thursday we’ll probably have a declared starter and they’ll take all the reps for that Thursday practice.”
Allen was the top rated pro-style quarterback coming out of high school and has made the most of his limited game action, completing 24-of-36 passes for 264 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. It’s too tough to tell if the plethora of talent Allen possesses is enough to surmount Hill as the starter, but the decision is expected to be made by Thursday. Hill has loads of talent as well, but with the Aggies out of SEC West contention, coach Spavital may turn to the true freshman as the quarterback of the future. Still, many feel Hill remains the favorite to retain the starting quarterback position and should be able to finish out his sophomore season.
*Section Photo credit to Scott Halleran, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Jeff Blake, USA Today Sports.
