A spirited but friendly quarterback battle is being waged in College Station.
Starkel, Mond wage spirited, friendly duel for starting status
COLLEGE STATION — Kyle Field won’t host a game until Aug. 30, but a couple of successive roars emitting from Texas A&M’s home stadium Sunday let passers-by know plenty of A&M fans are more than ready for some football.
The back-to-back bellows, too, were reminders that as much as fans like to claim they love grind-it-out football in the Southeastern Conference, they dig the long ball. One roar came from a long completion by quarterback Nick Starkel to Klyde Chriss.
Moments later and at the other end of Kyle, Kellen Mond connected with Quartney Davis on a deep, perfect pass into the end zone. The consecutive plays occurred during the Aggies’ lone open practice of camp this month, in preparation for their opener against Northwestern (La.) State.
Touting different skills
This much was clear in that span concerning the Aggies’ August quarterback battle: Starkel’s passes are sharper and possess more pop, but Mond is more capable of tucking and running if need be.
“If need be” is shaping up as a primary option, based on the offensive line’s oft-porous offering during the practice. As new coach Jimbo Fisher at one point barked, “Can we block somebody?”
Mond and Starkel alternate practices running with the first team, and Sunday was Mond’s time with the starters. Earlier Sunday, Fisher held his first “media day” at A&M, and both sophomore quarterbacks chimed in on the biggest storyline of camp – outside of Fisher’s mere presence after bolting Florida State last December.
“We’re cool — there’s no anger or anything toward each other,” Starkel said of his on-field tussle with Mond for the starting gig. “We know it’s a competition and we know we’re just going to put our head down and work. We know collectively we have to lead this offense and this team.
“We can’t be butting heads going against each other 24/7. That just creates a divide among the team. We’re there for each other, and we’re there for the team.”
The race is too tight to call a little more than two weeks out from the opener — why A&M fans might see plenty of Mond and Starkel in the Aug. 30 opener against the Demons of the Southland Conference. The week after the opener will be more telling, when the Aggies host Clemson on Sept. 8.
“You can’t worry about what the other one is doing,” Mond said of the competition. “You just have to make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice, continue to learn and continue to make your teammates better. No matter who you’re running with – the ones or the twos.”
Starkel, who had a head start on Mond with a redshirt season in 2016, earned the starting job last August under-then coach Kevin Sumlin, but was hurt in the opener. Mond, a true freshman at the time, started the next eight games, and Starkel returned to start the final four for the 7-6 Aggies.
That spirited contest within the contests has carried well into 2018.
“Both are rising to each other’s game,” Fisher said. “The competition has forced them to be consistent. Both guys are pressing each other very well. I feel comfortable with both guys, I really do.”
Added offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey: “We’ll probably have competition throughout the season. Who’s going to take the first snap — coach Fisher will (determine) that. I don’t think we’re to that point yet. We’re out there installing and coaching, and they’re learning and seeing.”
Heavy rain fell early Sunday afternoon before the practice, likely keeping away much of an expected crowd for the open drills. About 500 fans witnessed only what they had heard or read about Fisher’s practice regimen to date: His up-close approach throughout the two hours leaves no player — especially on offense — unscathed.
Fisher’s familiar territory
“He played quarterback, so he knows what we’re going through,” Starkel said of Fisher, a Division III national player of the year at Samford in 1987. “He knows how to talk to us and get us motivated, and he knows we also need to do that (as quarterbacks) with our team.”
During Sunday’s drills Fisher’s voice could be heard above all others, and at one point he yelled: “Details! Details!”
Meantime the details must be worked out at quarterback, and by all mid-August appearances the job is anyone’s to win.
“He asked me what did I think it would take,” Mond said of Fisher inquiring of him about starting. “My answer to him was, go out there and act like I’m the starting quarterback.”