A week after being unrecognizable at Ole Miss, Kevin Sumlin's Texas A&M offense looked much more like itself against South Carolina -- and not surprisingly, the switch to five-star freshman quarterback Kyler Murray had a lot to do with it.
In his first career start, Murray threw for 223 yards, rushed for 156 more and accounted for two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing) as the Aggies held off South Carolina 35-28. Even more importantly, Murray finished the first extended action of his career without a turnover after 28 passing attempts and 20 carries on the ground.
The No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2015, Murray's elusiveness (and Texas roots) have made observers draw comparisons to Johnny Manziel; at times Saturday, it wasn't hard to see why:
QB Kyler Murray has helped Texas A&M run for 230 yds. Aggies had 90 rush yds in past 2 games combined. #SCvsTAMU https://t.co/zr41EsWobL
— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) October 31, 2015
For all of Murray's success though, after giving up 248 yards rushing to the Gamecocks, the Aggies needed a second-half pick-six for the game's final margin. Suffice to say that when you've beaten a team with as many flaws as South Carolina by only seven points at home, you have plenty of flaws yourself -- quarterback issues or no quarterback issues.
But for now, Murray has successfully put what appeared to be an extremely tricky quarterback situation behind the Aggies. That's enough for this week.
