UCLA Football vs. Texas A&M: 3 questions heading into the season opener

3. Christian Kirk is a great receiver for A&M but who will throw to him?

Last year with Trevor Knight at quarterback, Christian Kirk had 83 catches for 928 yards and 9 touchdowns. It was the second year in a row with 80 catches or more for Kirk and he looked to continue the trend this year. The problem this year is he still doesn’t know who will be throwing him the ball.

With Knight gone, the Aggies are deciding from three different QBs. One with 104 career pass attempts and the other two, a redshirt freshman and a true freshman, have yet to play a down at A&M. Kirk actually has more career pass attempts (2) than two of the three quarterbacks.

Senior Jake Hubenak has the only on-field experience and would be the smart, safe choice for Coach Kevin Sumlin. He is a pocket passer who showed promise last year throwing six touchdowns with just two interceptions while completing 58.7% of his passes.

Nick Starkel is a redshirt freshman reported to have a very strong arm and, besides Sumlin, impressed Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy during recruiting. In the A&M spring game, he went 10-27 for 174 yards and one touchdown.

Kellen Mond looks like he’s the most athletic of the bunch. He was the #3 dual-threat quarterback in the 2017 recruiting class. If he’s used, it might be in a run-pass option set or designed quarterback keepers.

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The bottom line is that if the Bruins’ secondary can stick with Kirk and force the ball into the hands of other Aggies receivers, it may limit the damage done by A&M’s passing game.