Kenny Hill and the Aggies are 4-0 for the first time since 2006. (USATSI)
Kenny Hill and the Aggies are 4-0 for the first time since 2006. (USATSI)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- In a new hallway, outside a spacious interview room adjacent to spectacularly renovated Kyle Field, Kenny Hill recalled a good, old-fashioned cry.

“I’ve never been more mad,” Hill said. “That was probably one of the worst games I’ve ever had.”

Hill has to be talking about a previous life, because there have been no “worst games” in Hill’s four contests since replacing Johnny Manziel. In the 2012 season opener playing for Southlake (Texas) Carroll High, Hill’s defending state champion Dragons lost to Allen, 24-0.

“This is how competitive he is,” Carroll coach Hal Wasson said. “I knew he was extremely discouraged. He had tears in his eyes saying, ‘Coach that will never happen again.'"

And it didn’t until the state quarterfinals. Until those playoffs, Carroll’s closest margin of victory was 34.

It all sounds familiar this week. The Aggies have scored at least 38 in opening the season 4-0. The closest margin of victory has been 24 points -- in Hill’s spectacular debut against South Carolina.

Wasson tells a lot of stories about Hill’s competitiveness. Carroll has produced seven Division I-A (FBS) quarterbacks since 2002. Eight state championships.

“Ours is the SEC of districts,” Wasson said of the Texas high school equivalent of conference play.

It all meshes perfectly in this week of weeks in the SEC West. There are 21 undefeated teams left among Power 5 schools. Almost a quarter of them -- five -- reside in the West. All five are ranked. Three or those are ranked in the top six, four in the top 11.

According to the SEC office, there have never been five teams from the same division undefeated and ranked this late in the season.

That’s not counting Arkansas (3-1), which will bring a top-10 rushing attack to Jerry World  Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET on CBS) to meet the Aggies.

“Can the pressure be any greater at Texas A&M than Southlake Carroll?” offensive coordinator Jake Spavital asked. “It’s probably the same to honest with you.”

Thousands of eyes at AT&T Stadium will be fixed on a fresh-faced teenager who has already proved himself to some degree.  A further maturity occurs after that first loss. This isn’t high school. Hill can’t guarantee it will never happen again.

“A lot of people argue that being a quarterback at Southlake is as much pressure as there is,” Kevin Sumlin said, “because of the expectation to not only be successful, but to win.”

But if Manziel played with his hair on fire, Hill plays with a glass of milk on the bed stand.

“Johnny’s more out there than I am,” Hill said.

Translation: It’s OK to sit in the pocket and pick defenses apart.

“He’s never worried,” receiver Malcolme Kennedy said. “He has this calm, sleepy-like demeanor to him. I don’t know if it’s baby fat or what it is. His cheeks are puffy, small eyes. To this point I haven’t seen him panic.”

That’s part of the reason a loaded West Division is (once again) at the center of the national discussion.

“It reminds me of a playoff situation,” Aggies defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said. “Every week is something real.”

Sixth-ranked A&M is in the middle of this historic convergence as anyone. The Aggies’ accomplishments so far have delivered on the dizzying promise of renovating Kyle into the largest stadium in Texas. In the process, Manziel has won a Heisman and Sumlin has more than successfully transitioned his program into the SEC.

Yes, yes, everything but a conference title. But four games into their third SEC season of the Aggies are 24-6. At the same point in their SEC lives, South Carolina was 12-14. Arkansas was 9-15-2.

The Aggies are 4-0 for the first time since 2006. If they beat Arkansas the Aggies will be 5-0 for the first time since 2001.

Where has all the time gone?

Lately, invested into a teenager playing his fifth career game. Hill broke Manziel’s school passing record in the South Carolina opener. The Aggies then coasted through Lamar, Rice and SMU. In the middle of that rout of the Mustangs, Hill once again flashed that competitiveness.

He had been leading the nation in touchdowns without an interception until Ricky Seals-Jones ran the wrong route. The first pick of Hill’s career did not go down well -- with Hill or Seals-Jones.

“It was a miscommunication,” Spavital said. “He signaled a comeback to Ricky. Part of being an up-tempo offense, there is going to be confusion at times.

“They were just jabbing at each other. You could see the frustration. They were both yelling at each other. After a minute I said, ‘You guys done?’ They said, 'Yeah, we’re done.'"

On to the next conquest. Hill is the latest addition to the quarterback legacy at Southlake in suburban Dallas. Wasson recalled a recent Saturday when four starting quarterbacks from the high school were playing on the same day -- Greg McElroy (Alabama), Kyle Padron (SMU), Dave Piland (Houston) and Riley Dodge (North Texas).

Hill has come a long way since ducking out of drills as a high school freshman because the other guys “need[ed] the reps more than I do,” according to Wasson.

“I’d never heard that before,” the coach said. “I’ve been doing this 28 years. Carroll is a very competitive place. The stakes are really high. That came out of him as a silly freshman and I’ll never forget it.”

Hill explained. “As a freshman I didn’t think I had a chance of playing on the varsity.”

But as a sophomore, Hill was plucked off the JV to play varsity. As a junior, he was the unabashed leader on an undefeated Class 5A Division I state champion. The next season’s opening loss to Allen “expedited his maturity level,” Wasson said.

“You know how you look at people’s eyes?” he asked. “That sparked him. He realized, ‘This stuff ain’t easy.'"

Kenny Hill is in the top 10 in passing yards, touchdown passes and pass efficiency. (USATSI)
Kenny Hill is in the top 10 in passing yards, touchdown passes and pass efficiency. (USATSI)

Success is relative in Texas schoolboy football. Hill was 28-2 in his two seasons as a full-time starter.

Sumlin has a bit of a quarterback legacy himself, from Drew Brees to Sam Bradford to Case Keenum to Manziel. Wasson claims that Hill was Sumlin’s first recruit upon getting the job in December 2011.

“He wasn’t on the job 24 hours and his first stop was to see Kenny Hill,” Wasson said. “There was never a doubt, in my humble opinion, Kevin Sumlin knows what he wants.

“I told Kenny, it would be hard not to play for that guy.”

Through four games Hill is in the top 10 in passing yards, touchdown passes and pass efficiency. The Aggies are tied for seventh among Power 5 schools in sacks allowed.

The kid who cried over a loss, certainly knows how to work the room. Hill has made it a habit since high school to dress with his offensive line.

“They’re the ones taking care of me,” he said. “If I’m cool with them, they’re cool with me. I feel like they’ll work harder for someone that they like.”

A wise conclusion heading into a season about to become a weekly playoff.