Mixed signals: Aggies on 7th starter at QB since ’14

FAYETTEVILLE -- Finding a long-term replacement for Johnny Manziel has been tough for Texas A&M.

Since Manziel left after the 2013 season and took his Heisman Trophy with him for a brief stay in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, the Aggies have started seven different quarterbacks.

True freshman Kellen Mond will be the fifth Texas A&M starting quarterback in five years the Arkansas Razorbacks (1-1) have seen against the Aggies (2-1) when the teams play Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Mond, 6-3 and 225 pounds, follows Kenny Hill, Kyle Allen, Kyler Murray, Jake Hubenak, Trevor Knight and Nick Starkel as Texas A&M starters since Manziel.

The Allen brothers, Brandon and Austin, have been the Razorbacks' only starting quarterbacks over that same span.

In Mond's third game -- and second start in place of the injured Starkel -- he completed 21 of 34 passes for 301 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception in the Aggies' 45-21 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette last week. Mond also had a 5-yard rushing touchdown against the Ragin' Cajuns to help the Aggies rally from a 21-14 halftime deficit.

"His confidence has noticeably grown from the very first snaps to three football games," Razorbacks defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said. "In the third game he made all the throws. The easy throws, the wide-open throws and catches, and then against press coverage big throws down the field.

"He does a nice job of executing their run game, which includes the quarterback. Now you have a full complement of pass and run."

Hill opened the 2014 season as Texas A&M's starting quarterback and had a school-record 511 passing yards in his debut at South Carolina, but he was replaced after eight games -- and a three-game losing streak -- by Allen.

After Hill transferred to TCU -- where he has started twice against the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville -- Allen began the 2015 season as the Aggies' starter, but he eventually was replaced by Murray.

Before the end of the 2015 season, both Allen and Murray announced they were transferring, and Hubenak started in the Music City Bowl, where Louisville beat Texas A&M 27-21.

Allen went to Houston and Murray headed to Oklahoma.

After Knight lost his job as Oklahoma's starting quarterback to Baker Mayfield in 2015, he landed at Texas A&M as a graduate transfer and became the starter last season.

Starkel, a redshirt freshman, opened this season at quarterback for the Aggies, but he suffered a broken left ankle against UCLA. He underwent surgery and might miss the rest of the season.

Hubenak is still around as a senior, but Aggies Coach Kevin Sumlin has opted to go with Mond as the starter.

UCLA rallied to beat Texas A&M 45-44 when the Aggies couldn't hold a 44-10 lead in the third quarter with Mond struggling to make plays in the passing game.

Mond completed 3 of 17 passes for 27 yards and was sacked 4 times for 33 yards in losses by the Bruins. Excluding the sacks, he had 11 rushing attempts for 87 yards.

Hubenak replaced Mond in the third quarter against Nicholls State when the Aggies rallied to win 24-14 after the game was tied 14-14. Mond started 12-of-14 passing for 105 yards, but his final seven attempts were incomplete and he was sacked once.

"He was actually pretty good two weeks ago to start the game," Sumlin said. "Consistency with a young quarterback is always something that you're fighting."

Hubenak completed 12 of 15 passes for 93 yards against Nicholls State after not playing against UCLA, but he was held out last week because of a shoulder injury. He's expected to be ready to play against Arkansas if needed.

Mond's touchdown run against Louisiana-Lafayette tied the game 21-21, and his 12-yard touchdown pass to Camron Buckley put the Aggies ahead for good 28-21.

Mond has completed 36 of 72 passes for 433 yards and 4 touchdowns with 1 interception.

"He's gotten better," Sumlin said. "I think he's more comfortable. He's more assertive."

Aggies senior wide receiver Damion Ratley said Mond did a good job going through his progressions and reads against Louisiana-Lafayette and passed with more confidence.

"Being able to step up in the pocket and make plays instead of always looking to run," Ratley said. "He's improving on a lot of his game. He's young and just improving every week."

Sumlin said the coaching staff and Mond are discovering his strengths and weaknesses.

"I think the first thing a young guy does is try to impress you with all of everything," Sumlin said. "Our conversation with him has been about, 'Hey listen, what on this call sheet do you not feel comfortable with? Let's eliminate those things. Let's not find out on Saturday what you don't like, after it's a catastrophe of a play.'

"So young guys have a hard time with that because they want to impress coaches and they want to show people they know what's going on. Part of the maturity is being able to say, 'Hey, I'm not comfortable with that.'

"We've got time to work on it. I think we're getting a feel for what he likes. He's getting more open with us about what he likes."

Sumlin called Louisiana-Lafayette a solid game for Mond in managing the offense, limiting mistakes and being stronger in the pocket.

"He stood in there and threw some really, really good balls and took some hits last week," Sumlin said. "Some things we hadn't seen from him before."

Sports on 09/20/2017