HOOVER, Ala. — No SEC quarterback who dreams of winning a national championship for his team enjoys being told by his head coach and offensive coordinator that, after a competition, the program will enter the season with a different player as the starter.

But, by all accounts, that conversation temporarily wrecked Kyle Allen. The quarterback since has admitted that for a fleeting moment he thought about whether he wanted to remain in College Station.

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Coach Kevin Sumlin characterized Allen’s reaction thusly: “He basically went around the corner and cried.”

By now you know the rest of the story — or at least that chapter. Kenny Hill won the job, performed so well early in the season that he earned Heisman Trophy buzz as well as a nickname (“Kenny Trill”) while the Aggies ascended to No. 6 in the country.

Then Hill earned a two-game suspension after the team took a sudden plunge, including a 59-0 loss at Alabama. Rumors of alcohol-related issues swirled. Insert Allen, who committed two turnovers and threw for just 106 yards in his first start against Louisiana-Monroe, barely escaping a terrible loss.

If you hibernated for the last four games of last season, you may suspect five-star signee Kyler Murray may have a chance to send Allen to tears again in the lead-up to Texas A&M’s season opener against Arizona State. The Texas high school legend turned down an opportunity to get drafted in the early rounds as an MLB shortstop to come to College Station as a football player.

At SEC Media Days last week, Sumlin didn’t dispel the notion of Murray finding his way onto the field as a true freshman in 2015. Asked about the idea of playing two quarterbacks this fall, Sumlin passed on the chance to dismiss that idea:

“I really haven’t done it before. We’ll see. We’ve never started out that way. That doesn’t mean that we won’t. We’ll see where we are in fall. Kyle is confident right now and should be. … Kyler is a guy who all he’s done is won. It’s like anything else. It’s not like Kyler didn’t know Kyle Allen was the MVP of the bowl game. That didn’t stop him. He’s coming to compete, and that’s what makes both of those guys who they are. Kyle is the same way. He committed before Johnny’s [Manziel] junior year. He didn’t know what was going to happen. Those guys aren’t going to back down from each other.”

Sumlin won’t say it, but we will. By the time Texas A&M takes the field Sept. 5 against Arizona State, Allen will have won the “competition.”

There will be no controversy. No two-quarterback rotation. No Allen in tears.

Murray may be A&M’s future at the position, but he just finished high school. Seven months ago, Allen dissected West Virginia’s defense as the MVP of the Liberty Bowl in a 45-37 win, throwing for four touchdowns.

After the game, Allen clutched that MVP trophy as if it was the Stanley Cup. He prepared to carry it onto the bus and into his hotel room before Sumlin finally told him to hand it to an equipment manager, promising the team would give it back to him after traveling home to College Station.

It’s an image that stands out to Sumlin in sharp contrast to the player he installed as a backup before the ’14 season opener.

“That kid’s been through a lot,” Sumlin said. “Winning on the road at Auburn and being the MVP, he’s got a lot of confidence right now. I think what’s more important is the players have confidence in him, too.”

By the time Murray takes the field for his first practice in little more than two weeks, Allen will have spent seven full months relishing that bowl win. For that time, in his mind, he’s been the team’s unquestioned starter. According to Sumlin, he’s acted accordingly, his confidence tough to miss as he’s worked with the receivers this summer.

Sumlin owes it to a talent like Murray to at least give him a fair evaluation this fall and compare it to Allen.

It’s true the latter’s numbers aren’t so outstanding by themselves: Allen is 3-2 as a starter with narrow victories against Louisiana-Monroe and Auburn. He threw an interception in all five starts and never accumulated more than 300 passing yards in a game.

But by the end of last season, Allen had a command of the offense. His performance in the bowl game left no doubt that he’d benefitted from the extra practice time after the season. It can’t be downplayed how difficult it is for a true freshman who isn’t getting starter’s repetitions in practice each week to be thrust onto the field at quarterback during the middle of an SEC season.

There are some major changes along the offensive line, in personnel and position pairings as well as position coach Dave Christensen. The team’s most talented receivers — Speedy Noil and Christian Kirk — are young and learning themselves. The defense should improve, but it may not be ready to be the tip of the spear in John Chavis’ first season as coordinator.

Retaining some continuity at quarterback this year with Allen will be ideal.

In an SEC devoid of a clear star quarterback outside Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott and maybe Auburn’s Jeremy Johnson, Allen is good enough — especially within Texas A&M’s productive offensive system — to be one of the best in the conference this year.

Perhaps at the end of this season Sumlin’s problem could go from needing Allen to be more confident to making sure he doesn’t become overconfident.