Despite tough year, Starkel thriving in opportunity at QB
COLLEGE STATION — Freshman quarterback Nick Starkel, sidelined by a broken ankle in the season opener, helped make his case for earning back Texas A&M’s starting job even when he wasn’t taking game snaps as a backup.
In doing so, he provided young athletes a prime example of how to take care of your business even when business isn’t good.
“You watched him when he was injured, he was always involved as soon as we let him back on the sideline,” A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. “He was always with Kellen Mond, always talking with our offense.”
False start to his season
Starkel had earned the starting job in August camp, but he broke his ankle early in the third quarter of what became one of college football’s all-time comebacks — and a massive collapse by the Aggies. UCLA overcame a 34-point deficit to prevail 4544, and Mond moved forward as A&M’s new starting quarterback.
While both are freshmen, Starkel redshirted last season and has a year’s more experience in Sumlin’s program. The Aggies (6-4, 3-3), who play at Mississippi (5-5, 2-4) on Saturday night, were last in the SEC in pass efficiency prior to Starkel earning back the starting job before A&M played host to New Mexico last weekend.
Starkel lit up the Lobos with 416 yards of passing and four touchdowns in the first half alone as A&M raced to a 48-7 lead. He’s only the fifth Aggies quarterback to throw for at least 400 yards in a game, and his 416 rank No. 9 for a single game in school history — all in two quarters of action.
“I’m not surprised by that at all,” said A&M senior safety Armani Watts, who’s defended against Starkel for the past two years in drills. “He slings the ball, and he does it all during practice.”
With SEC West play resuming in earnest Saturday and the following Saturday at LSU, A&M’s offensive coaches mulled whether Starkel should play after halftime against New Mexico to continue getting game snaps.
“We had that discussion, but you have to balance that, and the question is what if gets hurt and you’re up 40-something points,”
Sumlin said Tuesday. “How do you answer that question, not just to (reporters), but to his family?”
In addition, Starkel is still working his way back into game shape after not starting for eight contests (he came in as a backup in home losses to Mississippi State and Auburn) for the inconsistent Aggies.
“Some people get confused by being cleared and being ready to play,” Sumlin said. “In playing that position, you can watch all of the tape that you want, but when you get on the field and things happen in real time … you’ve got to balance that.”
Sumlin does not allow firstyear players to talk to the media, so Starkel has been off-limits to the press this season. Some fans have wondered whether Starkel perhaps earning back his starting job sooner would have made a difference in the losses to Mississippi State and Auburn, but Sumlin said it doesn’t work that way with an underclassman.
“It’s different with a young guy than a veteran guy,” Sumlin said. “If you’ve got a guy like Trevor Knight (last season), his recovery time is going to be different as a player, because of his (previous) experience.”
End of line for Sumlin?
Sumlin, who’s 50-25 over six seasons at A&M, likely is down to his last two games with the Aggies after they’ve failed to win an SEC West title during his tenure.
Multiple insiders continue to point toward Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher as the Aggies’ top target to replace Sumlin, as the Chronicle first reported, and Fisher is said to have mutual interest.
Sumlin likely will be a candidate at Arizona State, should the Sun Devils, as expected, dismiss Todd Graham following the end of the regular season. Sumlin, then at the University of Houston, turned down ASU in 2011 to take the A&M job.
The regular seasons for both A&M and ASU end on Nov. 25. The Seminoles play at Florida on Nov. 25 and wrap up their regular season with a home game against Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 2, in a contest rescheduled from September because of Hurricane Irma.