During Texas A&M's spring football practices, coach Kevin Sumlin told everyone he wasn't going to name a starting quarterback anytime soon.

On Monday's SEC teleconference, Sumlin once again said the three-way battle between senior Jake Hubenak, redshirt freshman Nick Starkel and true freshman Kellen Mond wouldn't be decided until a few weeks before A&M's season-opening game at UCLA on Sept. 3.

Sumlin offered a bit of what he called "good news" to those nervous about A&M's quarterback conundrum this fall: A&M has its top running backs and three starting offensive linemen returning.

"That takes some pressure off our quarterback situation," Sumlin said.

From now until the first kickoff of the season, don't be shocked if that narrative remains one of Sumlin's main talking points.

Last season, Trayveon Williams became the first true freshman in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards. His counterpart, Oklahoma transfer Keith Ford, was second on the team with 669 rushing yards during his junior season and first as an Aggie.

Both running backs ran behind an offensive line returning three of its five members. Those three -- junior Connor Lanfear, sophomore Erik McCoy and sophomore Colton Prater -- were primarily interior linemen last year.

Sumlin echoed his excitement about the experienced running backs and offensive line during a radio interview last week.

"We're not going to neglect those guys (Williams and Ford), particularly with an inexperienced quarterback, but we have the tools to really help whoever's behind center," Sumlin said, adding that the Aggies will be looking for a reliable third running back to step-up this offseason.

But for A&M's rushing attack to be a factor, it has to perform like it did early in 2016.

In A&M's final four conference games, the Aggies only averaged four yards per carry, well off their season average of 5.69 yards per carry that ranked third in the SEC. Williams, who was an SEC All-Freshman Team selection, gained 66.6 percent of his rushing yards during the first six games of the season.

Sumlin is hoping that experience will help A&M overcome the late-season swoons that have plagued the Aggies in 2016.

"We're pretty good at the beginning, but we need to finish," Sumlin said Monday.

Twitter: @Ben_Baby

Sumlin in favor of early signing day, but has concerns

In his first news conference since A&M ended spring practice, Sumlin said he was in favor of a December signing period that was recently approved.

But the coach said that the 72-hour period that begins on Dec. 20 could be problematic for more than just state high school football coaches.

"If the calendar changes and we keep pushing things up," Sumlin said, "it's going to be rough."