Kenny Football? Texas A&M fans have forgotten all about Johnny Manziel after the win against South Carolina on Thursday night. The Aggies kicked off a new era for the team after the former Heisman winner left for the NFL and it appears their offense did not miss a beat. Kenny Hill not only got the blowout win for Texas A&M, but he broke a few of Manziel's records in the process.
Hill won the quarterback competition in the offseason and proved why on Thursday in the first game of the college football season. The quarterback completed 44 of 60 passes for a single-game record of 511 yards. The bests what Manziel did for the Aggies during his two-year tenure. Hill kept his comments on the win short simply saying he was not a fan of press conferences, but he did note that the team was ready to prove people wrong after comments questioned whether or not Texas A&M could win without Manziel.
The former Aggies quarterback took to Twitter to praise his former teammate's performance. Manziel tweeted out, "KENNY FOOTBALL!!! #GigEm. Love my aggies man great road win!" The nickname may or may not stick. Hill heard people making comparisons between him and Manziel and Hill simply said, "I don't really like 'Kenny Football.'"
The Aggies also had no issues replacing former top wide receiver Mike Evans who also departed for the NFL. Malcome Kennedy put up 14 catches for 137 yards while running back Tra Carson ran for three touchdowns. Texas A&M went on to put up 680 yards of total offense, the most South Carolina has given up since 2007. Head coach Steve Spurrier did not have much to say on his team's performance.
"That team was so much better than us, it wasn't funny," said Spurrier, via ESPN.com. "They out-coached us, out-played us, they were better prepared and they knew what they were doing."
The Gamecocks kept it close at one point, putting up two long scoring drives as quarterback Dylan Thompson tossed touchdown passes for 69 and 46 yards. However, South Carolina's defense was clearly missing No. 1 overall draft pick, Jadeveon Clowney as they simply could not stop the run. Can Hill repeat his performance? The Aggies face Lamar in Week 2 which should not be an issue for the team.