By MICK HOLIEN
The Starkel family of Ronan had more than a passing interest to wait through a horde of college football games Saturday awaiting the key Los Angeles matchup between UCLA and Texas A & M.
You see the young starting quarterback for the Aggies also bears the Starkel moniker, Nick is the son of Maury, a Starkel who isn’t a potato farmer.
And as the “instant classic” game wound down with Starkel sidelined with a third quarter foot injury all one could think is what might have been or will be for that matter.
The six foot 3 inch 19-year-old went down after being pursued out of the pocket with ten minutes to play in the third quarter and the Aggies walking away 38-10.
After beating out highly heralded freshman Kellen Mond and senior Jake Hubenak for the starting job Starkel completed his first three passes and engineered Coach Kevin Sumlin’s rushing attack behind Trayveon Williams as Texas a&M dominated the first half.
But after Starkel was injured the College Station outfit leading 44-10 fell victim to a Bruin team that completed the second largest comeback in FBS history to claim a 45-44 verdict.
Even leading by six points with about a minute to play the Aggies went three and out and with quarterback Josh Rosen, who scored on five straight possessions, faking a spike and throwing a fade in the left corner of the end zone to Jordan Lasley completed the miracle.
As for Starkel, he was in a boot Monday to be further evaluated.
He originally committed to Oklahoma State after a stellar prep career in the Dallas-Fort Worth area but after A&M lost a couple of signal calling possibilities and came calling he opted to journey to the Lone Star state.
In a single final season at Liberty Christian in Argyle, Tex, and the remainder of his prep career at Southlake, Starkel, 1 three-star recruit, threw for 7,836 yards and 77 touchdowns.
But the true freshman Mond, a four-star recruit from the IMG Academy battled through the spring and fall and Sumlin never did officially name a starter although the word slipped out last week.
Starkel’s status ..you know how that goes. Day to day..just sayin’
