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What three things mattered in the Texas A&M spring football game and what to take away from the scrimmage.

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It was a season of turmoil followed up by an even more bizarre early part of the offseason. So what does Texas A&M have to work with? What was it able to show in the spring game to prove that the program is back on the right track?

Trevor Knight, your table is ready

On this one day, the comparison and storylines intersected. Kyler Murray could’ve and should’ve been the Texas A&M starting quarterback this season, and Trevor Knight was supposed to be Oklahoma’s key backup and potential savior if something happened to Baker Mayfield. Instead, Murray looked like the best player on the field at times in what was called a spring game at Oklahoma – it was truly just a glorified practice – while Knight ripped it up as the Aggies’ likely new starter.

Joe Hubenak is fine, and he could turn into an okay backup, but he’s not the main man for the Texas A&M offense no matter what the depth chart might say. Knight is the veteran who beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and has seen his share of high-profile battles. He’s been through enough wars to be ready to handle life in the SEC, and against good-looking Aggie defensive front, he completed 25-of-36 passes for 246 yards, two scores, and ran for another.

Knight has looked the part before in practices, doing enough to earn the OU starting gig a few years back in a surprise move, but he really has been great this offseason. The quarterback battle is still on, though. Now Kevin Sumlin and the coaching staff know they have two interesting options to choose from.

The receiving corps is still Speedy

For those die-hard Speedy Noil fans, this was the last you’ll get to see of the solid wide receiver. He’ll be suspended for the opener against UCLA after his recent off-the-field troubles added on to the penalty that kept him out of the bowl game – he was arrested for driving without a license just a few weeks ago. That didn’t keep the coaching staff from using him in the spring game. He caught three passes for 60 yards with a big bomb coming on a trick play pass from fellow receiver Christian Kirk.

The Aggies spread around the wealth with Ricky Seals-Jones and Damion Ratley each catching four passes, and Boone Niederhofer scoring twice. Even without Noil, the A&M receivers will be fine. With him, and if he starts to live up to his five-star potential, the corps will be deadly.

The running game should have options

If everything works right, the Aggie ground game will get plenty of production from Trevor Knight – assuming he’s the starting quarterback – but the backs need to show up a bit more and be a bit steadier with Tra Carson. Along with Knight, Keith Ford used to be a part of Oklahoma and should be a major part of the rotation, but he didn’t get any work in the spring game just to keep him from getting hurt.

Kwami Etwi ended up running 11 times for a game-high 72 yards, but James White is the likely No. 2 option along with Ford. He tore off a big run finishing with 68 yards on the day, while Kendall Bussey had a nice day, too. It’ll be a rotation to try generating more pop from the backfield, and as long as the fumbling stops – there are a few in the spring game – the Aggies look solid at running back.

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