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Kyler Murray’s absence from the field Saturday may have been about more than just a bad week of practice, according to this report.
Texas A&M’s freshman quarterback did not play in Saturday’s 23-3 loss to Ole Miss, despite the struggles of fellow quarterback Kyle Allen. Allen completed only 12 of 34 passes for 88 yards, and threw 13 straight incompletions at one point. The Aggies could have brought in Murray, but chose not to. Eventually, when Allen was taken out, third string quarterback Jake Hubenak took over.
After the game, Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said he didn’t play Murray because Hubenak had been playing better in practice.
Kevin Sumlin on why he turned to Jake Hubenak instead of Kyler Murray: That was based on practice — how practice had been going.
— Brent Zwerneman (@BrentZwerneman) October 25, 2015
But John Lopez from Houston’s CBS affiliate reported that Murray was benched following a tirade towards offensive coordinator Jake Spavital after he was taken out of last week’s game against Alabama. According to Lopez,”when Murray was yanked in the Alabama game after throwing an interception, he went full F-bomb on Spavital and his fate for the Ole Miss game was sealed.”
Lopez went on to say that Murray apparently did not take any snaps with the first-team offense during practice last week, and had been told he would not play Saturday.
The CBS reporter also claimed that players have begun taking sides over how much Allen and Murray should be playing.
No one from the Texas A&M football program has commented on Lopez’s story.
Murray was a five-star recruit who signed with the Aggies in February despite the presence of Allen, a sophomore who started as a freshman last year. He has played sporadically in five games for Texas A&M, completing 17 of 31 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown and carrying the ball 18 times for 92 yards.
Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2 in the SEC) hosts South Carolina (3-4, 1-4) next Saturday at noon Eastern. The game will be shown on the SEC Network.
