Winner starts, loser transfers. That’s often how it goes regarding quarterback competitions, right?

Not necessarily.

Texas A&M sophomore Kyle Allen started nine games and closed out the regular season as the Aggies’ starter but bid adieu to College Station on Thursday night, announcing that he is transferring out of the program immediately. It’s the second consecutive year that the Aggies’ opening-day starter left the program at season’s end (Kenny Hill did the same last season, though under significantly different circumstances).

The natural reaction around Aggieland and nationally centers on the quarterback position itself -- what happened to a team that once seemingly had an embarrassment of riches at the game’s most important position?

The truth is the Aggies don’t have a quarterback problem. They have an offense problem.

To think that would ever become an issue on a Kevin Sumlin-coached team is baffling. Offense is what his teams hang their hat on.

Since 2012 -- Sumlin’s and the Aggies’ debut season in the SEC -- offensive production has declined. So has the signature tempo at which the offense once operated. The quality of the offensive line play has also deteriorated, and that was considered the strength of the program when it joined the SEC.

All those things have added up to an offense once considered high-powered that is now painfully mediocre, particularly against SEC competition.

In 2012, the Aggies averaged 42.1 offensive points per game (fifth nationally). In 2013 that dipped slightly to 41.3 (still fifth). Last season it dropped to 34.6 (18th) and this season bottomed out at 26 (tied for 74th). Similar declines have been seen in average drive distance (43.1 yards to 41.9 to 35.2 to 32.3) and the advanced metric offensive expected points added per drive (1.66 to 1.5 to 0.8 to minus-.01 this season). Texas A&M's yards per play rose from 2012 to 2013 (7.07 to 7.34) but has dipped since (6.33 to 5.64).

Similarly, the statistics tied to offensive tempo have declined. The Aggies went from averaging 78.8 snaps per game in 2012 to 71.1 in 2014 (though that number did jump to 75 this season). In 2012 and 2013, the Aggies had 15 touchdown drives each season that lasted a minute or less and that number fell to 12 in 2014 and seven this season. Touchdown drives of two minutes or less went from 33 in 2012 to 39 in 2013 to 31 in 2014 all the way to a meager 14 this season.

Why the decline? There are numerous factors at play.

In 2012, the Aggies had a marriage of the nation’s best quarterback (Johnny Manziel) with one of the game’s best playcallers (Kliff Kingsbury). They had an offensive line that had four future NFL draft picks, including three first-rounders. And the offensive pace was difficult for opponents to deal with. Just ask Nick Saban.

After the season, Kingsbury left to become head coach at his alma mater, Texas Tech. Running backs coach Clarence McKinney stepped in the following season and maintained an offense that overall compared favorably to the 2012 offense statistically. The luxury of having Manziel certainly helped in that regard. Still, after the season, Sumlin decided to move McKinney back to running backs coach and promote Jake Spavital, who filled the quarterback coach vacancy Kingsbury left, to offensive coordinator.

As offensive line talent moved on, that area became a challenge for the Aggies, which became obvious during SEC play. In an effort to fix that and improve an inefficient running game, Sumlin hired former Utah and Missouri offensive coordinator and one-time Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen prior to 2015. The idea was to make schematic changes to the offensive line and help the offense become more physical, more able to run between the tackles. After consecutive losses to Alabama and Ole Miss -- which led to a quarterback change -- the Aggies had to make scheme changes up front to account for the offensive line's deficiencies.

This season was also the first in Sumlin's career that he played yo-yo with starting quarterbacks. How that situation was handled is questionable, from flip-flopping Allen and Kyler Murray to the fact that the coaching staff never publicly admitted Allen was battling an AC sprain in his throwing shoulder that seemed to contribute to his midseason struggles and his eventual benching.

The root of the issue, however, is the offense. What was a cohesive, fast-paced, score-at-will offense three years ago has seemingly become a conglomeration of schemes, with more personnel packages and plays mixed in that have bogged down the unit and made high tempo and high production a thing of the past, even as the offense has stockpiled talent at quarterback and receiver. The offensive simplicity is gone and it lacks a true identity.

Regardless of whether it’s Allen or Murray or someone else playing quarterback, that is what needs to be fixed first. Whether the changes involve the offensive coordinator (Spavital) or require a wholesale change to a new identity (or back to the old one) is for Sumlin to decide, and he is paid handsomely to figure it out.

If the Aggies don't get the offense fixed, it won't matter how many blue-chip quarterback recruits walk through the door.