COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Four days into training camp, Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin planted a vocal seed regarding the possibilities for junior defensive end Daeshon Hall.

“If things go right for him, he could have a big year,” Sumlin said on Aug. 13. “We need him to.”

That same day, defensive coordinator John Chavis declared that he felt the Aggies had “two of the best defensive ends in college football,” in reference to Myles Garrett and Hall. At the time, few would argue with Chavis about Garrett who, after a record-breaking freshman year, was already on his way to college football’s elite.

But Hall had a mere 4.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss in 26 career games entering the 2015 season. To the casual football fan who resides outside Texas, the junior’s name was largely unknown, for valid reason.

If his season debut on Saturday is any indication, that’ll change soon. The 6-foot-6, 260-pound Hall racked up a team-high four sacks -- the second-highest single-game total in school history -- and forced two fumbles in the Aggies’ 38-17 season-opening win over Arizona State.

Daeshon Hall had four of Texas A&M's nine sacks on Saturday, a performance worthy of an Aggieland salute. Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports

Garrett got his fair share, too, picking up two sacks in the game. The Aggies finished with nine total.

“Not that I've got all the answers -- I don't -- but I've said all along that we feel we like we have the best two ends, as a pair, in college football,” Chavis reiterated Tuesday. “I think they backed that up Saturday.”

“Now we've got to go do it every week.”

Hall, who was named SEC defensive lineman of the week, has had an uphill battle physically since arriving on campus in 2013. A long defensive end with a basketball player’s body -- he played both sports at Lancaster (Texas) High School 00 he hovered around 210 pounds when he took his official visit to Aggieland and was thrown into the fire as a true freshman despite the lack of bulk on his frame.

“We put him on the field because we didn't have anybody,” Sumlin said. “He should've redshirted.”

He had surgery on two torn labrums after his freshman season, which prevented him from having a full offseason in the weight room. It wasn’t until after the 2014 season that Hall was healthy enough to spend the entirety of the seven-month offseason lifting. Now his weight fluctuates between 255-260 pounds.

“I put the hard work in during the offseason, trying to get my body right, try to get my shoulders and everything right,” Hall said. “I've just been working hard and working on my technique and it paid off.”

Hall, who noted that the labrum injuries pre-dated his arrival at Texas A&M, said even though he wasn’t physically as strong as he hoped, he benefited from practicing against offensive tackles Jake Matthews and Cedric Ogbuehi, who both later became NFL first-round draft picks.

“It helped me out in the long run and I went against Jake and Ced and they pushed me around my freshman year and sophomore year a little bit,” Hall said. “I got a little bit better but my junior year, I had a good offseason with [strength and conditioning] Coach [Larry] Jackson and the staff and he pushed me hard and got me right.”

The result of a fully healthy and physically developed Hall is what Arizona State witnessed on Saturday. Garrett was difficult enough for the Sun Devils to handle, considering how quickly he was jumping the snap count coupled with his combination of speed and strength. He warranted extra attention, and Hall benefited.

“Anybody who's watched the TV copy or the game copy, there's sometimes three guys blocking Myles Garrett, a tight end, a tackle, a running back goes over there and hits him in the stomach,” Sumlin said. “Somebody else better be able to do something on the other side.”

Hall is that somebody. One week does not a season make, but if he can consistently produce opposite Garrett, it might just make Chavis’ preseason proclamation true come season’s end.

“They work that way, they prepare that way and when they prepare that way, you expect them to play that way,” Chavis said. “We're really excited about what they bring in terms of their physical play, their speed, a lot of range there. We just have to keep recruiting those [types of] guys. They make coaching pretty easy.”