Day two of spring football practice is in the books, and the talk of practice was sophomore starting quarterback Kyle Allen.
Allen won the starting job in the Louisiana-Monroe game last season and ended his year as the MVP of the Liberty Bowl win over West Virginia. He finished the season with 12 touchdowns in his last four games.
“I think [the Liberty Bowl] helped with confidence and guys learning to follow me.” Allen said after practice Tuesday. “They believe in me a lot more. I showed them what I can do and they see me as a leader now.”
As he leads the team through spring practice, he said his comfort level is improved and he is ready for the challenge.
“You know, coming in last year obviously I learned the system quick, but as you can see in the first scrimmage it’s a totally different atmosphere coming into that — but I can see the guys are rallying around me a lot,” Allen said. “We got a lot of chemistry with the O-line and receivers and stuff and it’s going well.”
His confidence and improvement has not gone unnoticed, said teammate and fellow quarterback Connor McQueen.
“The two biggest improvements to me are his confidence and his leadership,” McQueen said. “After the season ended, he really took this team over as his own and stepped into the leadership role. Even though he is only 18, he has really stepped up and become one of the leaders on this team.”
Allen High School quarterback and A&M signee Kyler Murray has drawn buzz from Aggie fans even without yet setting foot on campus as a student.
“He deserves it, the kid’s never lost a game in his life,” Allen said. “He’s a Texas legend. I know everyone here is from Texas and I’m from Arizona, so I don’t get that love yet, but I mean he’s a legend around here. So he’s going to step in, he’s going to put the work in just like I did, but it’s going to be a fun competition.”
That increased leadership role is especially important given the lack of quarterbacks on the roster, said offensive coordinator Jake Spavital.
“That is a good sign, especially when you don’t have much behind him right now and waiting for Kyler to come in the fall,” Spavital said. “But right now he is taking it by the horns and running with it.”
There are plenty of injuries on the team, including receiver Josh Reynolds, but Allen takes that in stride. He uses this time to develop better chemistry with his receivers.
“Yeah no doubt, I think that’s big, I think me and Spav talked about that coming into spring, I mean not to knock it, but him being hurt it frees up other time for other guys,” Allen said. “So when Josh is tired and we need other guys to step up it will be better, because we have that chemistry now.”
Texas A&M will host its pro day Wednesday.