It didn't take long for
Kyle Allen to make a big impact on college football.
Kyle Allen, Desert Mountain/Texas A&M
File photo by Mark Jones
The true freshman from
Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.) threw four first-half touchdowns, leading to a big lead that Texas A&M hung on to in a wild 41-38 win at third-ranked Auburn Saturday night.
Allen, making just his second start, finished 19 of 29 for 277 yards and those four touchdowns as the Aggies (7-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) likely spoiled Auburn's hope of playing for a national championship. Auburn is 7-2 and 4-2.
Allen connected on touchdown passes of 60 yards to Malcome Kennedy and 36 yards to Josh Reynolds in the first quarter to give A&M a 14-0 lead.
After Auburn tied it at 14, Allen fired a 23-yard scoring pass to Ricky Seals-Jones and a 7-yarder to Reynolds to put his team up two touchdowns again, 28-14, a lead it would never relinquish.
Allen didn't play nearly as poised in his debut last week, a 21-16 win over Louisiana-Monroe.
Texas A&M offensive lineman Mike Matthews told reporters after Saturday's game: "He definitely had a little swagger to him. He came in this game and he didn't seem like a freshman at all. He seemed like he has started four years at this university."
He started for three seasons at Desert Mountain and piled up 8,201 career passing yards and 86 touchdowns. He completed 542 of 814 passes for a remarkable career percentage of .666.
His senior year he threw for 2,535 yards and 29 touchdowns. Desert Mountain had just moderate success while he was its quarterback, going 18-15, including 5-6 his senior year.
He's 2-0 as a starter so far at Texas A&M.
Kyle Allen as a senior at Desert Mountain, where he threw for 8,201 yards and 86 touchdowns in his career.
File photo by Steve Paynter
