Opening Night Demolition Shows Kevin Sumlin More Valuable Than Johnny Manziel

Rainier Ehrhardt/Associated Press Texas A&M QB Kenny Hill

Johnny who?

Remember when Texas A&M was a flash in the pan and wouldn't have staying power in the SEC West after quarterback Johnny Manziel moved on early to the NFL?

Yeah, about that.

Manziel's replacement, sophomore Kenny Hill, was phenomenal in his debut as the Aggies' starting quarterback, completing 44 of 60 passes for 511 yards and three touchdowns in a 52-28 rout over No. 9 South Carolina on the road in a hostile environment in Columbia, South Carolina. The 511 yards and 60 passing attempts were both school records.

The performance vaulted Hill, who was a virtual unknown prior to Thursday night, right into the early-season conversation for the Heisman Trophy, according to Todd Fuhrman of Fox Sports 1.

It was a statement performance not just by Hill, but by head coach Kevin Sumlinwho proved that, even without the most dynamic college football player in recent history, his system works at an elite level.

Over the last six years, covering stints as the head coach of Texas A&M and Houston, Sumlin's offenses have finished no worse than 11th in the country in total offense. The only reason Sumlin's Houston offense finished in "lowly" 11th in 2010 was because quarterback Case Keenum was lost for the season after three games and David Piland had to step in on the fly.

Sumlin came out to prove a point, and he did it.

Sumlin doesn't fit quarterbacks to his system, he fits his system to quarterbacks. When he was at Houston, Keenum lit up opposing defenses in an offense that resembled the Air Raid. With Manziel at Texas A&M, it was a nice blend of Air Raid, zone read and Manziel's improvisational skills. Speaking of, a certain someone took notice of Hill's performance tonight as well.

Original post:
Opening Night Demolition Shows Kevin Sumlin More Valuable Than Johnny Manziel