I was quoted on Friday in the Eagle newspaper in Bryan/College Station as saying, “You can’t stop this offense and you can’t stop the guy who is running it. This is the best A&M’s ever had. There’s no question. He’s just a combination of so many that makes him so unique, you can’t put a finger on who he’s like. He’s creating his own persona of what a space-age, new millennium quarterback can look like.” “He’s just fabulous in every phase of the game. I don’t think we could have a better guy leading our program. And Johnny’s going to take us to brand new heights. My gosh, for three more years, if he stays healthy, and everything stays together, he’s going to be one amazing kid who walks away with every record there is known to man.” “There’s no doubt. If I had a vote, he’d win the Heisman, hands down. I’m kicking myself in the butt for not going to Vegas earlier this year. He’s had the Heisman moments and he’s had them against the very best.” Texas A&M’s Trademark and Branding Hawk-eye, Jason Cook, was quoted in an earlier article from New York as saying, “What we must remember is that the Texas A&M brand is bigger than Johnny Manziel.” Well, shoot, if he wants to play one-upsmanship with our own quarterback, it’s his prerogative. We’re just going to enjoy the show. What’s great is how the entire SEC has rallied behind this newcomer in the conference. The support really speaks volumes, not only of the school, but for Johnny in particular. He calls opposing players by their names when they tackle him. “Nice hit, Sam,” he’ll say as they get up. You don’t find this in many players, those who’ll take the time and effort to know their opponents so very well. Along with his valiant play, his attitude toward his competitors has gained him even greater respect among his peers. He’s won the Davey O’Brien Award as the best Quarterback in the country and was also named the first-team All-American quarterback on the Sporting News All-American Team. The only awards left are the Heisman Award and the long-awaited inaugural “I’ll Tell You When You’re Good” Award. I hand this one out personally with a standing offer to purchase a copy of my book and several cool Aggie t-shirts from NoBrag.com. (We can’t give this stuff away, you know. NCAA.) I can already tell you that my vote is in. Congratulations, Johnny Football. You’re Good! Now, let’s get to the Alabama game, the one that shot the odds for Johnny’s Heisman bid from 20 to 1 to 8 to 1 — not that we’re keeping track. By the way, have I mentioned how much I love the uniforms we wore against Alabama and Missouri? Yeah, they made me a little nostalgic. Thanks, Coach Sumlin; great calls! Post-Game Read for Alabama DOWN GOES ‘BAMA! DOWN GOES ‘BAMA! WHOOP! Johnny Manziel and Baylor quarterback Nick Florence continue to battle it out for the national Total Offense crown with Johnny, despite playing the Number 1 defense in the country, closing the gap between the two to 15 yards per game. While the new storyline is “Johnny Football Manziel for Heisman,” there is another current situation that many of us only dared dream would become reality; “Alabama remains in position to win the SEC West by beating rival Auburn on Nov. 24, or by seeing the Aggies lose to Missouri on Nov. 23.” That’s right; we’re the only two in the hunt. We played Saturday like the West Division depended on it, and it did. Johnny led the offense to 4 of 5 Red Zone scores against Alabama, the team that had led the country in Red Zone defense for most of the year and was ranked third going into the A&M matchup. The first three penetrations into the Crimson Tide’s Red Zone produced touchdowns. The crowd seemed completely unnerved by the quick-strike, Stun Gun attack. “We weren’t stunned at all,” Tide linebacker C.J. Mosley said, with a straight face. “As a defense, we knew they were going to make plays, that’s what their offense depends on. They got a great quarterback; they got a great running back. We just have to settle down and play Alabama football.” First there’s business to be taken care of here in 12th Man Stadium, and that is Sam Houston State and Missouri. I’ve yet to see us come out of the tunnel not ready to play, so there is no reason to start fretting now. As I said after our SMU game about Johnny Manziel, stop critiquing and begin appreciating him. He will be gone in a flash, much too soon. It’s all in front of him, us and our football team. Winning a three-game road swing for the first time since ’75 would normally be a strong enough statement, but to top it off by whipping the defending champions on their own home turf, well, that’s just darn near a Mission Impossible that we just accomplished. Inside four magical downs of defense, after surrendering the bomb a play earlier that would surely seal our collective fates, all eras would instantaneously become irrelevant to the NOW that is occurring. Like Coach says, “No moment is too big.” I can’t tell you how important it is to hear and feel this on a football team. The classiest and the smartest thing this head coach and his offensive coordinator have done is simply allow Johnny Manziel to lead. There are a lot of coaches whose egos don’t allow this. We’re very fortunate. Our goal now is to finish at least in the Top 5, a feat not accomplished at Texas A&M since 1956 with Bear Bryant’s near perfect 9-0-1 squad. Adding only seven Top 10 finishes since then has left the school hungry for more success –and thankful and extremely excited for this opportunity. “Whoop!” Pardon the Swagger; we’re coming through. Post-Game Read for Sam Houston “Alabama’s just mad, and they’re going to take it out on Johnny Football and Texas A&M!” was Joey Harrington’s assessment on FOX Sports prior to kickoff. Much like this 2012 version we’re now celebrating, by the end of the year media types were saying, “Of all the teams out there, A&M is the team no one wants to play.” Hail to these Ags — at least in the minds of many. We realize somewhat begrudgingly that only the polls prevent us from being that team not only in the minds of many, but also on paper. Rest assured the case has been made even as we wade through a muddled mess of scenarios. Well done Aggies, but you can’t beat City Hall. What a tremendous comeback season, particularly with so many road games, a new staff, new offenses and defenses and only one spring training under your belts, and it was one which did not even include Johnny Manziel as starting quarterback. But what if it had? If the spring isn’t good for getting your ducks in a row then teams wouldn’t have one, right? Regardless, against all odds this team refused to be negatively affected after narrow losses to two great, powerful football teams, and as a result they accomplished the near-impossible — impressively. Johnny Manziel is a marvel to watch and can entertain you even on the lamest of plays. We’re not ALL spit and polish out on that field, you know. It all looks pretty, choreographed and synchronized, but trust me, there’s a lot of grunt work going on protecting both this young man and our end zone. ‘Third and shorts’ do happen, and then we go to our jumbo set … sometimes. And somehow sparks fly from this young guy regardless of the situation, the play call or the competition. For instance, on his first rushing touchdown we were running the lead option to the right. The defensive end, Johnny’s pitch key, shot up-field and took away Johnny’s pitch back. Then a linebacker slipped through the line preparing to tackle Johnny for a loss when he cut up-field. Dead to rights, right? I’m telling you right now, Johnny has to have eyes in his earholes because he did not give himself up and just cut up into the carnage. He didn’t surrender and just take the hit. No, he reversed back to the left down the line and out-quicked everyone to that end zone untouched. He scored an easy touchdown on a perfectly defended play by the Bearkats. Boy, that’s got to be frustrating! The poor linebacker who was about to tackle ‘Johnny the Great’ just stood there and watched, shaking his head as he went back to the defensive huddle. Sure, it was only a four-yard touchdown run, but it would have gone 80 if that’s what was needed. His second score came by ‘zone blocking’ to the right side by the O-Line, a fake to Ben Malena up the gut over right guard, and then a quick scoot around left end behind a great sealing block by junior Nehemiah Hicks. It looked like the old “loaded” option we once ran, except Johnny doesn’t need anyone out there with him to pitch to. This one went one yard and could have gone 99; it’s the same difference. A minute and 26 seconds into the second half, Johnny played himself out of the ball game by completing a beautifully thrown 89-yard touchdown pass on first down to Uzoma Nwachukwu. His extra-point kick somehow sailed wide right and did not land in downtown Hearne, as was earlier reported. This attempted extra point will probably go down as the most inconsequential kick to never be forgotten in the annals of college football. “Hey, you remember that day Johnny kicked that extra point?” “Legend” will one day tell a different story. This is how “Legend” works, especially in Texas. “Damn right, I do. It went right through the uprights and some guy caught it at the Hearne Post office. What is that, about 30 miles? Amazing stuff! That Johnny Football was a PLAYUH!” As little as Johnny Manziel played and as well as Baylor played, I assumed Johnny had lost ground on Baylor’s Florence in the Total Offense race nationally. Not so. Johnny closed the gap to five yards from 15 as they still rank Nos. 1 and 2. This is excellent news, from a quarterbacking standpoint. Besides the polls, players look at stats, and you can bet that everyone involved with these two offenses knows the score here. The “Battle of the Brazos” is only on paper this season but braggin’ rights are always of significant importance. I’ve stated in earlier articles that had Johnny stayed in games an equal amount of time as Florence has, the numbers would be adjusted in Johnny’s favor. For instance, Johnny was on a pace to hit 699 total yards against Sam Houston as opposed to the 367 yards with which he was actually credited. Now for the Heisman. I’ve never seen anyone having so much fun playing QB as Johnny Manziel. Can you imagine sticking this guy behind the wheel of a Wishbone? No, me neither. I’ve known Johnny’s high school coach, Mark Smith, for 30 years. Mark has nothing but the highest of praise for Johnny’s character, ability and leadership qualities. I give immense credit to Mark and his staff for allowing Johnny to develop into this ungodly scoring machine without enforcing common systematic hindrances which most high school coaches apply to their players and teams. Sure, you’ve got to rein them in and sometimes break them from behaviors detrimental to your team’s success on occasion, but the stallions, hey, you’ve got to let them run. And this Stallion can go! Yet, even after the sloppy and unpolished play of the latest Heisman front-runner, Collin Klein, the second from the Big 12 to fall from grace (West Virginia QB Geno Smith was the other), we still find ourselves watching in horror as the talking heads try to gather up steam for anyone not named Johnny Manziel. I have to ask, “Why do voters feel they’re doing some kind of disservice to the game if they vote the Heisman to a freshman?” The game’s ego will survive and after all, Johnny turns 20 next month. Isn’t 20 old enough? It could be that Texas A&M and Johnny Manziel and Kevin Sumlin have come too far too fast for anyone to grasp. Sometimes it’s the obvious pill that is toughest to swallow. Beat the Hell Outta Missouri. And don’t change a thing. Post Game Read for Missouri I’ll tell you right now how tenuous a career and starting position can be. I was in the stadium Saturday night when Johnny got twisted up awkwardly during a tackle and stayed down. I was in the third deck and could have heard Reveille moaning quietly in horror on the far sidelines. It was so very silent. I mean, I watched a referee succumb to a fatal heart attack at a high school all-star game and didn’t see this kind of reaction. The collective sigh of relief when Johnny stood up and walked to the sidelines was also noticeable — and then the cheers. Johnny cannot go down, y’all. This is part of what makes this award so different and yet, so important. We have for the first time a redshirt freshman leading the charge for the Heisman. He first showed up in the betting circles the week of the LSU game after throwing 59 points up against La. Tech. Even then he was an after-thought, but still a possibility. He was on the board. In case you’re not aware, the wise guys normally recognize talent when they see it. Then the LSU game knocked him down from 12/1 to 20/1 and everyone figured he was finished. There were still 5 or 6 guys rated better than Johnny and this is when I decided not to take a trip out to the desert and take advantage of those odds. Oh me of little faith. Well, lo and behold, after traveling to Auburn and Mississippi State and blowing those guys away, he and the Aggies made their third trip in a row, this time to none other than Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a date with Godzilla himself. The Alabama quarterback was now a front-runner in the Heisman race after his great drive a week earlier that had beaten the LSU Tigers. The odds were not in Johnny’s favor but he suddenly had the Aggies ahead 20-0 before the first quarter had ended, and with a “goal line stand for the Ages” (Brent, don’t you just love that statement?) against the unflappable A.J. McCarron, they came away with possibly the most unlikely victory on the road against a No. 1 team in modern college football history. Heisman possibilities were suddenly back in gear out on the track. Still, although he is No. 2 in the USA in total offense and his football team has only been beaten by what are now the No. 4 and No. 7 teams around, Johnny was stuck behind a great kid at Kansas State who’s also a quarterback and was leading the new No. 1 team. All this QB had to do to win the trophy, being a senior and all, was win out. Then Baylor shocked K-St. and made this quarterback look rather pedestrian in the process, and BOOM; Up Flies Manziel! Up Flies Manziel! All season long it was like being on the cover of Sports Illustrated for these Heisman hopefuls, from Geno Smith to A.J. McCarron to Collin Klein, and now on to Johnny Manziel. None of them could hang. Johnny never flinched. Johnny flourished, as he has in every game since LSU, including that stretch of 5 of 6 straight games as visitors. The guy went 6-0 on the road…as a freshman! Then back inside 12th Man Stadium against Missouri, Johnny had his hands on the ball for 10 different drives and came away with 8 touchdowns and a field goal. They were long 70 and 80 yard drives, too — the kind we like here! It’s why we fair-catch punts back inside our 10 yard line! We love our length-of-the-field touchdown drives at A&M! Johnny analyzing the Missouri defense. Oh, and for the meticulous ones among us, I’m not counting the one-play kneel-down just before the half as a possession, but there are probably Heisman voters out there who are. Let’s talk a little perspective now. Johnny is 19 and turns 20 in December, just as I did when I was a JUNIOR. If someone had told me I was too YOUNG to win the Heisman as a Junior, well, I’d have asked them to show me their eligibility requirements. When I was growing up nobody could play as freshmen, but no one had a problem voting a Sophomore the Heisman Trophy. If you played, guess what; you were eligible. Johnny will be participating in his third spring training in April. He has already had two college football seasons under his belt, although like the freshmen who played when I was growing up, he sat out all the Varsity games his first year. He practiced and went to class and watched Tannehill play the games. I’m not sure when the first coach came up with the idea of redshirting freshmen but it’s a great idea if your team can afford it. In my situation at A&M I became the starter as a freshman when I proved on the field I was the best at A&M and the best freshman football player in the conference. Johnny has proven in his redshirt freshman year that he’s the best and most exciting player in the country. You can forget the statistics; just watch him play. There’s not a running back or receiver who comes close, much less a quarterback. As Charlie Daniels tweeted recently, there’s no reason a freshman shouldn’t be allowed to win it. ‘Cuz he’s the best there’s ever been…well, Charlie didn’t say that, but he’s easily the best A&M has ever seen. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y2jtwS3SsI&w=420&h=315] There’s one more thing about this quarterback you might want to know. He has played almost 600 official minutes this season, which is the equivalent of 10 games. Time-wise, he sat out two full games (120 minutes). Most teams have a game or two where they get to sit their starters but Johnny sat out eight full quarters. If Johnny’s 4600 yards are an all-time SEC total offense record, how do 5,530 yards sound for a regular season, before he’s even played a conference championship game or a bowl game? This would be Johnny’s numbers had he played 60 minutes in all 12 games; 5,530 total yards. These are phenomenal numbers, but the real ones are quite impressive, as well…especially for a second-year Rookie. Look out America! It’s looking like the 12th Shall Be First!!
0 Comments
Second Quarter Action of 2012 We found out on Monday night from former Heisman Trophy winner and native Texan Ty Detmer that Johnny’s going up against two seniors as a “freshman” with three seasons of eligibility remaining. No other underclassmen are even close in the voting, or they’d have been invited. Barring something unforeseen happening, Johnny is ‘college football’ for the next three seasons. Then again, he was ‘college football’ this season. Pop a top on this one. If he comes up short, imagine the fire we’ll see in his eyes; well, maybe not, but it’ll darn sure be there underneath the surface. At some point in every player’s career, he or she realizes their true value. Johnny knows his. Whatever the outcome, Johnny Football will be smiling. The “Instant Replay” continues as I follow game-by-game the exploits of Johnny Football as seen through the eyes of the youngest quarterback to step on a college field (at our own one yard-line inside Kyle, by the way.) This was truly an inspirational year for Aggies and football fans everywhere. You’ve read about the pre-season and the first two games, and in our second edition we delve a little further into the excellent leadership and quarterbacking skills this young man exhibits, still so early in his career. I closed the last article by commenting after the SMU game that Johnny Manziel was the phenom the Aggies had long been waiting for. Just as Johnny’s season remains a standard for the ages in the SEC and college football, the words here remain constant and unchanged from the original. Here’s more of the story. Post-Game Read for South Carolina State The Aggies are currently ranked 11th nationally in scoring, 12th in points allowed and 13th in yards allowed per game. Even with all the fireworks the Ags have been displaying of late, they only rank 37th nationally in total offense. Perhaps the other 36 teams have played even daintier light-weights than the Aggies have, or perhaps haven’t pulled their starters as quickly. Or haven’t played Florida. Regardless, most stats this early in the season are for old men sitting around drinking coffee in the early morning, somewhat similar to national polls. Everything else statistically should go into the ‘on hold’ file waiting for further evidence, with one primary exception: Johnny Manziel is a slick, trigger-happy madman who has yet to see his first interception or lost fumble. This is truly a rare accomplishment considering the number of opportunities he gets handling the football while orchestrating the jet stream offense of the Southeastern Conference. His vision alone would probably set records in contests involving the Magic Eye 3D images of the 90’s. He sees things others can’t in a fraction of the time. His running and passing thus far have provided the Aggies with 7.3 yards per play. In the other 100 plays void of his direct involvement, they have averaged 4.85. Hey, all good for sure, but I think you know where I’m coming from. This guy can do it all. I predict there will soon be an enormous trend among the young kids in Texas to ask their coaches for the No. 2 jersey for years to come. The Aggies have a real shot at being 5-1 overall and 2-1 in conference when LSU hits town Oct. 20. Should LSU continue to find its patented escape routes as the season progresses, that day could be a momentous one for the SEC and both institutions. This Saturday’s game marks the spot. Post-Game Read for Arkansas The young man leading the charge is here among us. He’s the one you weren’t sure about when you first saw him play. You remember, right? After the first few series of action netted 17 points for the home team, he seemed too good to fail, yet that day he did. Regardless, he seemed to have a “dazzleability” separating him from anyone who had ever been under center on Kyle Field. “Ever” is a lot of history to backtrack on. It’s not that these individuals were necessarily slower, or didn’t have the pinpoint accuracy, or strength of arm, or a hundred other intangibles necessary to man the position. No, this guy was just different, period, and it’s kind of hard to nail it down. He’s like the silver ball in the old-time pinball machines. He didn’t look all that big physically, but he seemed extraordinarily gutsy for such a rookie, faking pitches to imaginary running backs as he sprinted down field full-steam ahead. Somehow he had boldness and daring that were never betrayed, and an unbridled recklessness that bore not a single fault. “His style of play will be his downfall,” you said. “Too much run and not enough gun.” You’d have to take in another performance of his, or two, or maybe even three, just to be sure this young man deserved the moniker of “special.” Your eyes have yet to betray you, friend. Just as sure as the sun will rise in the morning, the football gods have judged that now is your time and he is your Gladiator. Sure, this young man seemingly came out of nowhere, somehow unheralded because of the star that played in front of him for a season, the one whose single-game passing record he already owns. During this “down” time he was busy taking it all in, studying how to attack defenses and getting his feet on the ground, biding his time and eying the competition. The coaching decision to sit him out his first year was undeniably the correct one. There would be no pressure to win and carry a team on his shoulders quite yet, and as a rule, third-teamers are normally not called upon for active duty. Even after spring training, he hadn’t risen above the shoreline, but once the money was placed, his name was called with total conviction. That name was Johnny Manziel. Johnny is going places and taking us with him for the ride. The swiftness of his arrival matches only the coolness coming from underneath the No. 2 jersey we’ve watched zinging and flinging recently. The music he shares has the artistry and brilliance of a Bach, Beethoven or a Beatle, and the calmness of a smooth mountain lake just before sundown. For the first time in years, decades, perhaps ever, we have standing before us the epitome of spontaneity, splendidly functioning within an offensive system inspired by the ideals of absolute freedom. It is the creation of a discipline as intricate in design as any that will ever be devised, with its outer limits approached only in proper doses. Where Johnny goes comfortably, this system will follow. This is as it should be. This is how you don’t screw him up. Soul cleansing was what this particular rain was all about. Wash away your troubles; wash away your shame. By the time the rain had finished its work, the Aggies had slaughtered the dumbfounded Hogs in a manner only Alabama would understand. When it began pouring down the hardest in the third quarter, the coaches responded by emptying the backfield of running backs and going five-wide. Next, they had Johnny start throwing completion after completion in fast-motion with that slippery wet football all the way down the field. Now that is cocky. The weather doesn’t dictate to us. We dictate, no matter what. Do we call this the Honey Badger Offense? Hey, if you don’t love cocky, you just might be in the wrong building. Did you hear the announcers saying the Aggies should let up some near the end? Are you kidding us? Embrace it. The 58 points scored by the Aggies are the most ever scored in the series covering 69 games. One can only imagine what the score could have been had the Aggies not failed to convert on 8 of their 12 third-downs. Regardless, all told the Aggies amassed 32 first downs and 717 yards, the third-highest yards total in school history. Manziel passed for a school record 453 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score while adding 104 yards on 14 carries. He has now thrown for 10 touchdowns without an interception and has another six scores on the ground. Johnny averaged 10.7 yards per play when running or passing against Arkansas. This is an astounding number when considering the number of plays he was involved in. He is now up to 8.3 yards per play for the season. Bo Wallace of Mississippi in comparison averages 6.13. Now to the individual hardware: Johnny’s 557 total yards broke the SEC record of 540 previously held by Archie Manning of Mississippi vs. Alabama in 1969 and Rohan Davey of LSU vs. Alabama in 2001. As a result, Manziel was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week and offensive tackle Jake Matthews was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week, for good measure. Manziel’s NCAA Quarterback Rating (170.9) is now ranked 10th in the country and third in the SEC, behind Aaron Murray of Georgia (3rd) and Alabama’s A. J. McCarron (7th), both Heisman Trophy candidates. A&M ranks 12th in total offense per game in the NCAA and second in the SEC behind Georgia (11th). My recommendation to the current Ole Miss staff would be to pull out some old film from the Manning era and see how the other SEC teams tried to stop him. Manziel is every bit the double threat that Manning was and also does some of his finest work while scrambling to the corners. Each threw equally well going to his left, or to his right, and both were tough to bring down. The great thing now is, we’re not in that Aggie Wishbone! Go, Johnny, Go!! [Heisman Trophy voter Mike Huguenin explains why Johnny Manziel should take home the Trophy as a redshirt freshman] Post-Game Read for Mississippi Former SEC Offensive Player of the Week, Johnny “No Fail” Manziel, hadn’t shown the Midas touch for the first three-plus quarters. Sure, he’d broken a few nice runs and hit a few throws, but Ole Miss was proving too quick and forceful up front for the “Who Dat’ Kid” to rise above this particular fray. He hadn’t been around long enough in this league to know it isn’t far from the penthouse to the outhouse. Heck, this “Johnny Come Lately” hadn’t even played outside of the state of Texas in his entire life — No worries here. Running back Ben Malena then slipped through the line for a run of 36 yards to the Ole Miss 29. From there, Manziel found another opening, and on a run that resembled a playground “two below” game, he ran somewhat untouched the necessary 29 yards for a touchdown. This culminated an official 88-yard drive that was actually one of 99.7 yards, technically speaking. Somehow the whale had spewed Johnny out of its mouth, for no particular reason; perhaps just to tease the visitors and their supporters. What fun this would be! The extra-point kick was missed, of course, and Aggies everywhere began reminding themselves once again of who they were, and once again sunk deeper into depths of despair. “Well, we are the Aggies, now aren’t we?” One minute and 16 seconds later, Ryan Swope was waving the football in the air in the end zone after he and Manziel had caught the Ole Miss secondary playing man coverage and lining up having already been beaten. Swope’s perfect corner route was complimented by the perfect throw as A&M kept its two wide receivers decoying short inside routes while sending Swope deep behind them. It was great execution at a pivotal point in the drive – and in the game. Five minutes earlier the Rebels and their fans had been reveling in their presumed victory but it was far from over. Coach Sumlin’s stun gun offense had them moaning and writhing in pain when least expected. By remaining poised, alert and confident, Manziel now trails only Alabama’s AJ McCarron in the NCAA Quarterback Rating among SEC quarterbacks and is ranked No. 12 nationally. Meanwhile, the Aggies are celebrating their first top 25 ranking as a member of the SEC, coming in at No. 23 in the A.P. and 21st in the USA Today. Seven teams from the conference are now represented in the polls. Interestingly, A&M and its next opponent, the LA Tech Bulldogs, rank 22nd and 23rd in the ESPN Power Rankings, respectively. Unfortunately, this will be the final game of the season where victory is expected right in step with offensive stats that will continue to be padded. The levels of competition, philosophies and game faces will change dramatically after the Tech game, when wins and losses become the only gauge of success and stats become secondary. The term “field position” will come back into play in huge quantities. I look forward to the tests these outstanding opportunities will present for our strategies and personnel. We’re looking forward to a hard-fought, thrilling football game this weekend. The experts predict an Aggie victory by the score of 40-32, which certainly sounds reasonable. All kinds of Texas A&M records could fall. Let’s just hope they’re all on the offensive side of the ball — stun-gun style. Next Up – Louisiana Tech First Quarter Action I believe bias is bias, whether it’s regarding age, classification, race, university or conference affiliation, or anything else that enters into it. Any individual who publicly or secretly reveals such bias should be stripped of his or her authority immediately as a voter for the Heisman trophy. To even promote the notion of such should be considered heresy and an actual threat to the integrity of the game. Every player has just completed playing the 2012 regular season, and is, therefore, eligible to win the Heisman as a by-product of his participation. Rightly so, and the 2012 season is the onlyseason to be assessed. There is no future and there is no past in these matters. Individuals are voters only because they have earned the right to represent all of America’s football fans with their choices, with ALL past precedents and current biases pushed aside for the good of the game. Soon A&M will own not only the youngest quarterback to ever play college football in myself, but also the only “freshman” quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy in Johnny Manziel. I put quotation marks around the word “freshman” because technically Johnny is not a “freshman,” but a sophomore who will be allowed an additional senior season to play. Having personally redshirted in college, I simply felt when I was playing my final season not with with my class, but that underneath mine, I’d been extended an extra senior season. This is the difference and the separation of the two schools of thought. Johnny is a sophomore academically and will soon become a junior. In an interview with David Harris of the Bryan/College Station Eagle prior to the season, I gave this advice to the first-year starter, based on my experience as a 17-year old starting quarterback as a true freshman: “Be on top of your game,” I said. “Do not be intimidated by anything. Know you’re the best quarterback at this university and that everybody has confidence in you. Be quick and be smart. You’ll have some bad plays but remember to keep your head up.” It’s what I’ve told all my quarterbacks as a high school football coach — and I know this university. George Bush chose this university to house his library because of its integrity. So let’s talk about how all these Xs and Os come together so easily for this A&M team offensively. The West Coast offense was built on timing routes in which the quarterback took a five-step drop and released the football. Boom, it had to be gone right now! Plant and throw! I always felt the quarterback on a five-step drop was too close to the onrushing linemen to successfully make the necessary underneath throws in this ‘nickel and dime’ offense. Throwing lanes are difficult to find with such close proximity. The shotgun formation automatically negates this problem completely, which is why I went to it in 1989 with the Memorial High School football team I was coaching in Houston. While “hot routes” are best thrown on a three-step drop from under center, because they’re quicker-breaking routes, the shotgun resolves the problem of having smaller quarterbacks operating the quick passing game without the effort involved in physically making the sprint seven yards deep and cutting it loose. On most five-step drops your receivers are on nine-step routes, at least in college and high school, and a five-step drop into the pocket will get the quarterback approximately seven yards deep. This was the drop-back passing game we had in my days at A&M, but my high school coach had me going nine steps back in our high school offense. That is 12 to 13 yards deep. Yes! I once questioned the five-step drop that the Houston Texans were using in their early years of operation and had myself quoted in the Houston Chronicle. That night the Texans lost miserably in a preseason game, and the five-step drop did them in with several interceptions thrown under pressure. The radio talk shows were ablaze with why the Texans were using this system that obviously was allowing too much pressure on their quarterback, David Carr. Several weeks later the team’soffensive coordinator was let go, partly because of the public outrage and the obvious problems the five-step drop caused this particular quarterback. I was accustomed to watching that nine-step drop of Namath’s and it seemed to work extremely well. You may remember the Cowboys and Roger Staubach in the ’70’s using the shotgun formation extensively because it freed up the quarterback in so many ways. I’m sure many thought a little less of Dallas coach Tom Landry for going with this “gimmicky” offense, even as he was taking his teams to Super Bowls. But, so what if “real man” football now looks more like a two-below game going on ‘helter-skelter’ in the back yard? ‘Look what they’ve done to my game, Ma,’ cries Alabama’s Nick Sabin. This system is smarter and much more efficient and demands top-flight conditioning from the big boys up front. It’s fast and has no regard for the noise level of a hostile crowd. It’s streamlined to the point of not even needing an official playbook, just as Bear Bryant streamlined the Wishbone by deleting the triple option and thus never using a playbook either. And now we’ve been introduced to the true master of the ‘Sumlin Stun Gun’ offense run from the shotgun formation now being implemented so successfully by the Aggies. Johnny Football doesn’t mess with the Zone Read play, which had always been the core of any spread offense. He does what he does in other ways, some predetermined, and many others — not so much. But there is something else this young man is doing. He is redefining the qualities and abilities coaches will be looking for in a quarterback from here on. Some quarterbacks stereotype themselves into being in the same mold as the professional guys; those kinds of guys who don’t run much, stand in the pocket and throw a football. Ho hum. The days of ‘quarterback sneaks’ leading the way with the likes of Bart Starr and Johnny Unitus are long gone. You’d better become an ATHLETE if you wanna play. Don’t be lazy and don’t be a dummy, young guy. Now-a-days, these aspiring quarterbacks had better be thinking about speed and quickness and becoming a cottontail rabbit out on that football field. Speed, quickness and endurance need to be part of your repertoire. If you assume your arm alone is going to get you a job, there may be a little Johnny Football who shows up who gums up the works for you. Personally, as I described in my book, I worked extremely hard in high school increasing my speed and quickness. It was imperative I become an all-around threat, which obviously was the key in taking over a Wishbone triple option offense in college at 17 years of age and becoming A&M’s first Freshman of the Year. Now, let’s replay this season game-by-game as Johnny became Johnny Football and then finally became, we hope and expect, Johnny Heisman. These are verbatim observations of the young outstanding quarterback as seen through the eyes of the youngest quarterback to ever play, and I’m proud to say the Maroon and White lineage we share is both exciting and rewarding. I hope you’ll enjoy. Gig’ Em! Pre-Game Read for the Florida Gators Our starting quarterback now is a young man from Kerrville, Texas who the Aggie Press Machine is raging about as the first “freshman” to start a season opener for A&M since 1944. But here’s a couple of things they don’t tell you. Johnny Manziel spent all of last year going to classes, practices, team meetings, doing film study, going through spring drills, playing understudy to the No. 8-overall NFL draft pick and has been through two sets of two-a-days. Freshman? Hardly. He’s a guy who gets to play two senior seasons, the way I look at it. I know because I also red-shirted; only it was my third year — and I got to play two senior seasons as well. That’s how it works. What I’m saying is, you can throw out the redshirt tag. Johnny is a second-year player with a wealth of knowledge that is readily accessible and stored up ready-to-go on the college game. He is equipped with a whole lot of valuable mental experience and great talent. If he turns this game into a “practice” mentally and gets into the zone that he needs to be in, he has the tools to be a real class act. So let’s just call him a sophomore with no actual playing experience, sort of like what we called all players between the years of 1946 to 1972, the time period that freshmen were not allowed to play varsity football after World War II. I know– how old-school! Remember when girls could only play half-court in basketball? Very similar thinking. But just for grins, let’s allow the Ags’ publicists to call it the way they spin it. After all, it’s their program they have to sell even though this game doesn’t need selling. Just don’t be expecting a timid kid with no background or clue showing up all wide-eyed and scared at the prospects of leading his team in front of a sold-out crowd and national TV audience. Bradshaw, Bert Jones, Joe Ferguson, Joe Namath, Spurrier, Stabler; they were all quite good after not “playing” in their first year of college. Post Game Read for the Florida Gators As I stated last week when I reintroduced myself to the Gator Nation via Florida Gators Gamedayr, I now am the only A&M quarterback who has ever beaten the University of Florida. Of course, with A&M’s 1-2 overall record against UF, this isn’t saying a whole lot but I stand by it, as far as bragging rights are concerned. The most recent A&M QB to have this opportunity, Johnny Manziel, looked to me like the fastest quarterback this school has seen since the Texas high school high-hurdle champion who succeeded me in the late ’70s, Mike Mosley. Unfortunately, none of us average-Joe onlookers will get the opportunity to know Johnny Manziel until next spring because Coach Sumlin has standing orders that freshmen are off-limits to the media. I guess this also includes ‘Redshirt’ freshmen, since this is what Manziel actually is – a sophomore academically but a “rookie” to be seen but not heard, otherwise. The obvious question is how does this band of coaches go from having the highest scoring team in the land one year to not being able to pick up a handful of first downs the next? Not a single second half play was run in Florida territory. Very disturbing stuff, one might say. Unless the QB was making a ton of misreads which I personally didn’t see, then finding the proper play calls to win a three-point game escaped the offensive staff, pure and simple. This past Saturday night’s realization was a rather somber enlightenment with which to open a brand new season, especially for this newly-inspired and highly boisterous crowd that rolled in, a crowd faced with many dissenters around the state and even within its new conference, wishing it nothing but failure. Step one, accomplished with amazing predictability. Post Game Read for Southern Methodist Fortunately what we also saw here, unlike during the second half of the opener against the Florida Gators, was a team that was making some necessary offensive adjustments while the defense was impressively holding the Mustangs in check. This “warm-up” period allowed the offense, with redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel settling in firmly at the controls, to begin ripping apart these eight-game winners from 2011 with a wonderful combination of quick jabs, left hooks and fancy footwork that took SMU totally out of the game on both sides of the ball from the second quarter on. SMU’s defense had a nice game going by keeping Manziel and the A&M offense somewhat off balance for almost a quarter and a half before becoming a little too predictable. The five-man front had kept sufficient pressure on both A&M passing and running games and allowed only the occasional completion to redshirt freshman wide receiver Mike Evans, normally aligned opposite the three-receiver side of the A&M shotgun spread formation. Because of the rush, quarterback Manziel was forced to scramble on several occasions and the normal running game was providing little support. With less than nine minutes to go in the second quarter, Manziel looked up to find veteran slot receiver Ryan Swope “uncovered” to his right side by anyone underneath. For most offenses, this is a pre-snap “hot read” which turned into exactly that on this play. On this second-and-eight situation, the SMU defense brought both linebackers, its left defensive end, nose tackle and a defensive five-technique (tackle) from the right side. A&M was set up in a balanced one-back formation with two receivers split to each side, catching the defense in a cover 2, a popular coverage with two deep safeties and each cornerback aligned tightly on his respective wide receivers. The backside defensive end dropped into coverage while the play-side defensive tackle, with his side’s defensive end blitzing, rose out of his four–point stance to try to retreat back into coverage, hopefully into the passing lane between Manziel and the slot receiver, Swope. This “coverage swap” approach employed by the SMU staff, commonly referred to as a zone blitz, had worked earlier for the Mustangs resulting in some behind-the-line tackles and confusion in the Aggies’ blocking assignments. This time, however, the defensive tackle saw only the football zipping by his head as Swope ran a quick post pattern and caught the perfect throw, then targeted a spot that would split both safeties as he went into the end zone standing up. Junior offensive tackle Jake Matthews did an outstanding job of recognizing the swap and swiftly picked up the defensive end before being outflanked instead of the tackle he’d originally been assigned. Offenses, such as A&M’s, love gifts and when they are offered on silver platters via pre-snap misalignments such as this one, they gobble them up without even a “thank you.” The lesson to be learned here is that Ryan Swope cannot be covered by defensive tackles or headed off at the pass by unassuming defensive safeties who get caught flat-footed. Any defensive player must be cognizant of one indisputable fact: if a player lines up on a D-1 football field, he can beat you. Leading 7-0 after an SMU three-and-out on first down from the SMU 48, Johnny Manziel tucked the ball away in his left arm (as he always does) on a scramble through the left side, scooting past a defensive lineman who’d been hurled to the ground by offensive tackle Luke Joeckel. Manziel then sped by pursuing linebackers, juked another defender and went untouched into the end zone. When I played at A&M and was running the Wishbone, you never saw me carrying the ball in my right arm either. Regardless of what the coaches said about having it in the arm away from the defender, I believed it much more important to always have the ball in my strongest arm. Perhaps Johnny has this same belief, although he throws the football right-handed. Whatever the case, he was only getting warmed up. Next, he completed a 78-yard drive after an A&M interception by hitting Uzoma Nwachukwu with a 36-yarder after rolling out of the pocket to his right and throwing down the middle of the field to his veteran receiver. This was a perfectly executed “scramble drill” which requires a great amount of practice time. The appearance of improvisation doesn’t make it a reality. The Aggies had just scored two touchdowns within two and a half minutes and suddenly held a 20-0 lead at the half. Strike up the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band! Johnny Manziel reminds me of another college quarterback who was a little smaller of stature and wore two number 2’s on his jersey, a guy named Doug Flutie. Manziel only got better in the third quarter, acrobatically whirling around and pin-pointing a touchdown pass that no one else on the planet would have even attempted, primarily because they’d probably have taken the sack or said, “The hell with it,” and thrown it away. Johnny delivered. He set a Texas A&M single-game freshman record by passing for 294 yards (breaking Kevin Murray’s 29 year-old record of 280 set against Rice) and accounted for six touchdowns — four through the air and two on the ground. That’s right, and he also ran for 124 yards. Just like in the song, the boy said, “My name’s Johnny and it might be a sin, but I’ll take your bet, you’re gonna regret, cuz I’m the best there’s ever been.” Could be. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y2jtwS3SsI&w=420&h=315] Only time will tell, and there will be a lot of armchair quarterbacking going on trying to get into his head. I say, “Let him be and don’t screw him up.” Ol’ Johnny might be the phenom A&M has been waiting for, and all the wondrous things that phenoms bring with them could soon be within the Aggies’ grasp. Next up for the Aggies isn’t South Carolina, but South Carolina State, a team that lost to Arizona last week, 56-0. Arizona had 43 first downs while South Carolina State had 8. Arizona had 689 yards of offense, while South Carolina State had 154. Arizona punted only once. And as they say, the rest was history. Rarely will you find defensive players who can possibly fill the bill for winning a Heisman Trophy. This has been proven annually throughout the history of college football. Today I’ve brought along a few All-Americans from Aggieland who were with me in the Seventies. Why the Seventies? It’s when the game changed forever. Right after the Jets won Super Bowl III in 1969, the lights also came on with the college football scene. Each of these guys I’ll introduce had wonderfully exciting credentials that, if we’d had any real street cred in those days, could have had cases made for them for winning a Heisman. Let’s start with middle linebacker Robert Jackson, who was a consensus All-American as a senior in 1976 and a finalist for the Lombardi Award. Robert led the team in tackles with 143 while sitting out the season finale against Texas. He also led the Aggies to two bowl games and the first consecutive 10-win seasons in A&M history. He was the Front Seven catalyst for the “Mad Dog” Defense that led the nation in both total defense and rushing defense in 1975, while the team ranked No. 4 nationally in total defense in 1976. We played only D-1 schools, by the way. Robert was a first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 1977. I don’t want to mention any names here, but there’s a linebacker wearing Blue and Gold (and sometimes Green) who is up for the Heisman this year. In 12 games he has 103 tackles. Sure, he has another game to play, but we’re still looking for a track record even close to what our very own Robert Jackson had. How about the tremendous defensive back, Lester Hayes? Lester the Molester earned All-American laurels as a senior in 1976 after intercepting eight passes and breaking up six others while leading A&M to a No. 7 A.P. national ranking. He picked off three in his final game against Texas. Lester’s 14 career interceptions were an all-time school record and currently rank him second in A&M history. A&M led the Southwest Conference in total defense throughout his career and ranked in the top four nationally from 1974-76. Lester also played in a couple of Super Bowls and was known as Mr. Stickem while with the Oakland Raiders. Linebacker Ed Simonini was a consensus All-American choice as a senior in 1975 after being selected the Southwest Conference’s defensive player of the year. A three-time All-SWC pick, Simonini led the team in tackles for three straight years while compiling 425 career stops. His 98 tackles recorded in 1972 is still a freshman record at A&M. The Aggies led the nation in total defense in 1975 and finished the year with a 10-2 record. Defensive back Pat Thomas was named All-American as a junior in 1974 and a consensus All-American as a senior in 1975. Pat intercepted three passes as a senior after picking off six as a junior. His 13 career interceptions ranked him first at the time and he is still third in A&M history. Linebacker Garth Ten Napel was an All-American pick as a senior in 1975 after helping the Aggies lead the nation in total defense by allowing just 183.8 yards per game. These are just a few of the outstanding players who played for the all-time greatest defense in Aggieland’s history coached by Melvin “Mad Dog” Robertson. I’d have to wonder where any of them ranked in the Heisman Trophy balloting, owever. Please remember, freshmen were only allowed to begin playing at the “Varsity” level in the season of 1972 when I was a senior in high school. The Heisman Trophy had been awarded for years and always went to quarterbacks or running backs. Defensive players didn’t really figure in the equation and neither did freshmen, although their eligibility to participate was never questioned. I’m sure the “thinking” was it would be ‘sacrilegious’ to allow freshmen to play and then suddenly hand a Heisman Trophy over to one of them. What would that do to the integrity of the game? Hey, let’s look on the defensive side of the ball! No, this wouldn’t be good. Perhaps freshmen should just be glad to step on the field with the “big boys,” possibly even start, and rarely would you find one who was a first or second team All-Conference pick – or, perish the thought, All-Americans. Surely you jest. These were the days when African-American players were first beginning to join some major college football teams. This was when FOOTBALL went MODERN. Leather helmets were gone, mouthpieces were in, players were speed demons and games were filmed from the press boxes in color. TV games were in color. ESPN wasn’t around yet and neither was USA Today, and local print media was still the primary vehicle for getting your Heisman campaigns going. As a rule, A&M never pushed anyone for the Heisman and Notre Dame never played in bowl games — it’s just the way things were. Every now and then you could catch an O.J. Simpson or a Joe Theisman on a Saturday afternoon, but these sightings were rare. I hardly ever saw Archie Griffin of Ohio State play and he won two Heisman trophies. If a team was lucky and good, it might play a couple of regionally-telecast games a year and if it was REALLY good, it would get to play on national TV once or twice a year. We were good enough to get these calls and a couple of times even changed scheduled dates for season finales to be played after the traditional Thanksgiving Game with Texas. These were agreed to in order to set up what the TV execs thought would be winner-take-all scenarios. This was exactly what happened when we all watched Texas and Arkansas play in the 1969 Big Shootout and also when the country watched A&M take an Agg-Whippin’ over in Little Rock in ‘75. Earlier in my career I’d been voted by the coaches the first U.P.I. Southwest Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year for Texas A&M in 1973. I was 17 throughout the season and didn’t turn 18 until the Christmas Holidays. I figured my best days were ahead of me. It was the last media award I would win until my ‘redshirt’ senior season when I was given an SWC Offensive Player of the Week Award after a 37-21 comeback victory over SMU. I rushed for 182 yards which is still an all-time record for a quarterback at the school. You may recall that Johnny Manziel picked up 181 yards rushing against La. Tech this season, surpassing Mike Mosley by a yard but leaving me unscathed, but breathless. Whew! Of course, I was really proud of this Outstanding Player of the Week award I earned as a senior in my 31st start for the school, having played mostly in anonymity while running the triple option Wishbone attack that was in vogue back in the day. Having lost only one home game in my entire career as a starter (freshman season vs. Texas) , this was one of those “Heisman” moments for me…wait; it was THE Heisman moment for me. Now, let’s talk about this business with Johnny Football. I’ll tell you right now how tenuous a career and starting position can be. I was in the stadium Saturday night when Johnny got twisted up awkwardly during a tackle and stayed down. I was in the third deck and could have heard Reveille moaning quietly in horror on the far sidelines. It was so very silent. I mean, I watched a referee succumb to a fatal heart attack at a high school all-star game and didn’t see this kind of reaction. The collective sigh of relief when Johnny stood up and walked to the sidelines was also noticeable — and then the cheers. Johnny cannot go down, y’all. This is part of what makes this award so different and yet, so important. We have for the first time a redshirt freshman leading the charge for the Heisman. He first showed up in the betting circles the week of the LSU game after throwing 59 points up against La. Tech. Even then he was an after-thought, but still a possibility. He was on the board. In case you’re not aware, the wise guys normally recognize talent when they see it. Then the LSU game knocked him down from 12/1 to 20/1 and everyone figured he was finished. There were still 5 or 6 guys rated better than Johnny and this is when I decided not to take a trip out to the desert and take advantage of those odds. Oh me of little faith. Well, lo and behold, after traveling to Auburn and Mississippi State and blowing those guys away, he and the Aggies made their third trip in a row, this time to none other than Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a date with Godzilla himself. The Alabama quarterback was now a front-runner in the Heisman race after his great drive a week earlier that had beaten the LSU Tigers. The odds were not in Johnny’s favor but he suddenly had the Aggies ahead 20-0 before the first quarter had ended, and with a “goal line stand for the Ages” (Brent, don’t you just love that statement?) against the unflappable A.J. McCarron, they came away with possibly the most unlikely victory on the road against a No. 1 team in modern college football history. Heisman possibilities were suddenly back in gear out on the track. Still, although he is No. 2 in the USA in total offense and his football team has only been beaten by what are now the No. 4 and No. 7 teams around, Johnny was stuck behind a great kid at Kansas State who’s also a quarterback and was leading the new No. 1 team. All this QB had to do to win the trophy, being a senior and all, was win out. Then Baylor shocked K-St. and made this quarterback look rather pedestrian in the process, and BOOM; Up Flies Manziel! Up Flies Manziel! All season long it was like being on the cover of Sports Illustrated for these Heisman hopefuls, from Geno Smith to A.J. McCarron to Collin Klein, and now on to Johnny Manziel. None of them could hang. Johnny never flinched. Johnny flourished, as he has in every game since LSU, including that stretch of 5 of 6 straight games as visitors. The guy went 6-0 on the road…as a freshman! Then back inside 12th Man Stadium against Missouri, Johnny had his hands on the ball for 10 different drives and came away with 8 touchdowns and a field goal. They were long 70 and 80 yard drives, too — the kind we like here! It’s why we fair-catch punts back inside our 10 yard line! We love our length-of-the-field touchdown drives at A&M! Oh, and for the meticulous ones among us, I’m not counting the one-play kneel-down just before the half as a possession, but there are probably Heisman voters out there who are. Let’s talk a little perspective now. Johnny is 19 and turns 20 in December, just as I did when I was a JUNIOR. If someone had told me I was too YOUNG to win the Heisman as a Junior, well, I’d have asked them to show me their eligibility requirements. When I was growing up nobody could play as freshmen, but no one had a problem voting a Sophomore the Heisman Trophy. If you played, guess what; you were eligible. Johnny will be participating in his third spring training in April. He has already had two college football seasons under his belt, although like the freshmen who played when I was growing up, he sat out all the Varsity games his first year. He practiced and went to class and watched Tannehill play the games. I’m not sure when the first coach came up with the idea of redshirting freshmen but it’s a great idea if your team can afford it. In my situation at A&M I became the starter as a freshman when I proved on the field I was the best at A&M and the best freshman football player in the conference. Johnny has proven in his redshirt freshman year that he’s the best and most exciting player in the country. You can forget the statistics; just watch him play. There’s not a running back or receiver who comes close, much less a quarterback. As Charlie Daniels tweeted recently, there’s no reason a freshman shouldn’t be allowed to win it. ‘Cuz he’s the best there’s ever been…well, Charlie didn’t say that, but he’s easily the best A&M has ever seen. And we’re talking about a “linebacker” in this conversation? Really? With this linebacker’s stats, many would agree there have been hundreds ahead of him who have deserved to win the Heisman more than he does. Either way, on the night of December 8, 2012, history will be made. Five freshmen in the past have garnered enough votes to make the top 5, but there’s never been a winner. Johnny Manziel is no less than the first “redshirt” freshman to be voted into the top 5. You know, like all the SOPHOMORES who came before him. We’re just tickled to death that Johnny has an additional senior year of eligibility! There’s one more thing about this quarterback you might want to know. He has played almost 600 official minutes this season, which is the equivalent of 10 games. Time-wise, he sat out two full games (120 minutes). Most teams have a game or two where they get to sit their starters but Johnny sat out eight full quarters. If Johnny’s 4600 yards are an all-time SEC total offense record, how do 5,530 yards sound for a regular season, before he’s even played a conference championship game or a bowl game? This would be Johnny’s numbers had he played 60 minutes in all 12 games; 5,530 total yards. These are phenomenal numbers, but the real ones are quite impressive, as well…especially for a second-year Rookie. Look out America! It’s looking like the 12th Shall Be First! I’ve promised myself and the 17,000-plus readers of last week’s “Down Goes Bama!” article to be objective this season and tell it like I see it, without getting caught up in the “bitch-o-mania” that sometimes engulfs college athletics. Unfortunately, Texas A&M finds itself in the eye of the storm on a couple of fronts, each of which can be quickly addressed. As the first four-year starting quarterback for A&M, I played under the same voting procedures as we all have today, minus the BCS and automatic Championship Game setup. I vividly remember the excitement and anticipation we had each week to find out where we were in the A.P., U.P.I. (Coaches/USA Today) and Sporting News polls. Texas A&M was ranked in the top five at some point during four of the five seasons that I was a member of the Aggies football team. This is probably still an all-time record. There once was a time when bowl games didn’t matter and statistics didn’t count toward individuals’ or teams’ season and career totals. In fact, it was only after Alabama was named National Champions and then lost in its bowl game that the rule was finally changed — henceforth, the final polls were scheduled to be posted after the bowl games. Most bowls had conference champion affiliations back then, so it was only by pure luck that the two top-ranked teams would be matched up at the end of the season for a showdown. This sudden upheaval in practical thinking was all occurring around the same time most major universities, including A&M, first began “brazenly” recruiting African-American players to come play some football for them. The polls and their voters dominated the seasons and the final polls were, of course, the biggies. This is when teams were still allowed to “share” national championships. After every season we would humbly bow our heads and say, “Thank you, experts from afar who never saw us play!” Yeah, we haven’t necessarily come a long way, baby, but at least we have a National Championship game that is thrust upon us by the current set of “people and machines in the know.” The programmable computers give proper credence to the people who load them up. They’re only wrong this time of year two or three times each week, which is still a very high percentage, keeping them, ostensibly, in the business of brain-washing the American public and white-washing their losing selections. “Alabama’s just mad, and they’re going to take it out on Johnny Football and Texas A&M!” was Joey Harrington’s assessment on FOX Sports prior to kickoff. Of course, it’s A&M’s fault for starting all this pandemonium in the first place (Happy Face emoticon goes here.). Down Goes ‘Bama. Now, after Saturday night, the Tuscaloosans are all dancin’ in the streets and the Aggies are off the hook for knocking the SEC out of the championship game. Yes, it’s a wonderful feeling, going from goat to hero. I’m still not sure how any team out there can top the Aggies’ performance over the last month though, and there will always be the question of whether the Aggies would now be undefeated had they gotten that first game under their belts instead of having to sit out opening weekend. As it was, A&M fell tantalizingly short to two current top-seven BCS teams by eight points combined. Then A&M stunned the ‘unbeatable’ No. 1 team in the nation that had just beaten LSU in Death Valley in dramatic style, once again proving its invincibility to itself and the rest of the country. [Johnny Manziel pulls off the miracle] This victory over the Crimson Tide came in the Aggies’ third straight game on the road (all SEC schools, by the way). Apparently none of the nation’s esteemed sportswriters and TV broadcasters have recognized just what an unusual and outstanding feat this is. See if you can find any other team that has won three consecutive road games in any conference, topping them off by defeating an undefeated, top-ranked defending national champion. Go ahead; make your day. And for all their astounding accomplishments, the Aggies get dropped a spot in the BCS standings below Stanford, a team coming off a home win over Oregon State to beat a brand new No. 2 team on the road at Oregon. In the shakeup following the Aggies’ defeat of Alabama, Oregon wasn’t even worthy of being voted better than Kansas State. That Stanford win just isn’t quite as impressive now as A&M’s was, is it? My point is this; send any of the teams ranked ahead of A&M to Auburn, Mississippi State and then Alabama three weeks in succession after a heartbreaking defeat at home against LSU, our second conference loss, and let’s see how they roll. This season is so much like 2010, which was also identical to my 1976 season. In all three we lost our first two conference games before murdering the rest of the schedule. The exception in 2010 was that we didn’t seal the deal against LSU in the Cotton Bowl, while in ’76 we crushed Florida to finish third in the Sporting News and seventh in the other two polls at 10-2. Much like this 2012 version we’re now celebrating, by the end of the year media types were saying, “Of all the teams out there, A&M is the team no one wants to play.” Hail to these Ags — at least in the minds of many. We realize somewhat begrudgingly that only the polls prevent us from being that team not only in the minds of many, but also on paper. Rest assured the case has been made even as we wade through a muddled mess of scenarios. Well done, Aggies, but you can’t beat City Hall. What a tremendous comeback season, particularly with so many road games, a new staff, new offenses and defenses and only one spring training under your belts, and it was one which did not even include Johnny Manziel as starting quarterback. But what if it had? If the spring isn’t good for getting your ducks in a row then teams wouldn’t have one, right? Regardless, against all odds this team refused to be negatively affected after narrow losses to two great, powerful football teams, and as a result they accomplished the near-impossible — impressively. Provided we win out and regardless of our final “rankings” this outfit will go down as one of the highest achieving teams this school has ever produced. We can’t concern ourselves with the final polls should we finish lower than current expectations call for, nor can we fail to recognize the spirit, resilience and intelligence with which this great assimilation of players and their coaching and training staffs should be endorsed. “Down Goes Sam!” does not have the same ring as “Down Goes ‘Bama!” — but it’s still a win and counts toward the 11 victories and hopefully a top five finish for which this team is striving. I wrote in my last article what would need to happen in order for the Aggies to get to the Title game, and lo and behold, I went two-for-two with Baylor and Stanford each recording huge upset wins. I felt the Bears had a real shot at home against Kansas State because they were such Cardiac Kids last season with RG3, and their quarterback, Nick Florence, is lights out this season as well. Baylor’s defensive coordinator, coach Phil Bennett, a guy I played with for four years at A&M and who was also the D.C. under R.C. Slocum, kept the same 11 guys on the field for almost the whole game, never making a substitution. These kids played the game of their lives and K-State had no answer for Baylor’s offense. I hoped beyond hope in my earlier article that one of the two remaining Texas teams on Kansas State’s schedule would knock them off their No. 1 perch, thus giving the state two block-buster games and teams to look back on. I ask you, when in the history of football have two teams 90 miles apart beaten the top teams in America on successive weekends, or even in the same season? Baylor got it done before Texas got the chance. My hat is off to our former Highway 6 foes for a great game plan and an emotional season-salvaging win. Now getting to my favorite subject: Quarterbacking. We jumped on Sam Houston State, a team in the top-five in its NCAA classification and a National Finalist just last season, pretty hard in the second quarter at Kyle Field. (Pardon my word usage here, but occasionally I’m not sure whether we’re in Kyle Field, at Kyle Field or on Kyle Field.) Johnny Manziel is a marvel to watch and can entertain you even on the lamest of plays. We’re not ALL spit and polish out on that field, you know. It all looks pretty, choreographed and synchronized, but trust me, there’s a lot of grunt work going on protecting both this young man and our end zone. ‘Third and shorts’ do happen, and then we go to our jumbo set … sometimes. And somehow sparks fly from this young guy regardless of the situation, the play call or the competition. For instance, on his first rushing touchdown we were running the lead option to the right. The defensive end, Johnny’s pitch key, shot up-field and took away Johnny’s pitch back. Then a linebacker slipped through the line preparing to tackle Johnny for a loss when he cut up-field. Dead to rights, right? I’m telling you right now, Johnny has to have eyes in his earholes because he did not give himself up and just cut up into the carnage. He didn’t surrender and just take the hit. No, he reversed back to the left down the line and out-quicked everyone to that end zone untouched. He scored an easy touchdown on a perfectly defended play by the Bearkats. Boy, that’s got to be frustrating! The poor linebacker who was about to tackle ‘Johnny the Great’ just stood there and watched, shaking his head as he went back to the defensive huddle. Sure, it was only a four-yard touchdown run, but it would have gone 80 if that’s what was needed. His second score came by ‘zone blocking’ to the right side by the O-Line, a fake to Ben Malena up the gut over right guard, and then a quick scoot around left end behind a great sealing block by junior Nehemiah Hicks. It looked like the old “loaded” option we once ran, except Johnny doesn’t need anyone out there with him to pitch to. This one went one yard and could have gone 99; it’s the same difference. A minute and 26 seconds into the second half, Johnny played himself out of the ball game by completing a beautifully thrown 89-yard touchdown pass on first down to Uzoma Nwachukwu. His extra-point kick somehow sailed wide right and did not land in downtown Hearne, as was earlier reported. This attempted extra point will probably go down as the most inconsequential kick to never be forgotten in the annals of college football. “Hey, you remember that day Johnny kicked that extra point?” “Legend” will one day tell a different story. This is how “Legend” works, especially in Texas. [Check out why JohnnyFootball will be the Heisman winner in 2012] “Damn right, I do. It went right through the uprights and some guy caught it at the Hearne Post office. What is that, about 30 miles? Amazing stuff! That Johnny Football was a PLAYUH!” I had predicted on Facebook and Twitter that A&M would win by 21 points and have 700 yards of total offense. I also hoped we would shut Sam Houston down but they kept recovering onside kicks and keeping possession. When you’re down 47-0, well, this is what you do when you score. As good as they were at it, they must have practiced it about a hundred times during the week leading up to the game. As little as Johnny Manziel played and as well as Baylor played, I assumed Johnny had lost ground on Baylor’s Florence in the Total Offense race nationally. Not so. Johnny closed the gap to five yards from 15 as they still rank Nos. 1 and 2. This is excellent news, from a quarterbacking standpoint. Besides the polls, players look at stats, and you can bet that everyone involved with these two offenses knows the score here. The “Battle of the Brazos” is only on paper this season but braggin’ rights are always of significant importance. I’ve stated in earlier articles that had Johnny stayed in games an equal amount of time as Florence has, the numbers would be adjusted in Johnny’s favor. For instance, Johnny was on a pace to hit 699 total yards against Sam Houston as opposed to the 367 yards with which he was actually credited. Now for the Heisman. I’ve never seen anyone having so much fun playing QB as Johnny Manziel. Can you imagine sticking this guy behind the wheel of a Wishbone? No, me neither. I’ve known Johnny’s high school coach, Mark Smith, for 30 years. Mark has nothing but the highest of praise for Johnny’s character, ability and leadership qualities. I give immense credit to Mark and his staff for allowing Johnny to develop into this ungodly scoring machine without enforcing common systematic hindrances which most high school coaches apply to their players and teams. Sure, you’ve got to rein them in and sometimes break them from behaviors detrimental to your team’s success on occasion, but the stallions, hey, you’ve got to let them run. And this Stallion can go! Yet, even after the sloppy and unpolished play of the latest Heisman front-runner, Collin Klein, the second from the Big 12 to fall from grace (West Virginia QB Geno Smith was the other), we still find ourselves watching in horror as the talking heads try to gather up steam for anyone not named Johnny Manziel. I have to ask, “Why do voters feel they’re doing some kind of disservice to the game if they vote the Heisman to a freshman?” The game’s ego will survive and after all, Johnny turns 20 next month. Isn’t 20 old enough? It could be that Texas A&M and Johnny Manziel and Kevin Sumlin have come too far too fast for anyone to grasp. Sometimes it’s the obvious pill that is toughest to swallow. Beat the Hell Outta Missouri. And don’t change a thing. |
David Walker
College football's youngest starting QB and Aggie great, the first 4-year starting QB ever at Texas A&M. Archives
September 2013
Categories |