Spencer Nealy did the team honors after coach Kevin Sumlin called a timeout late in Friday’s 41-13 thrashing of Oklahoma. The senior defensive tackle lifted quarterback Johnny Manziel over his head so that the pro Texas A&M crowd could fete the record-breaking freshman.
It was obvious that Manziel suffered no rust from his whirling dervish of a nationwide Heisman tour. In the dismantling of former Big 12 rival, Manziel picked up another accolade to add to an already fantastic freshman resume — most valuable player of the Cotton Bowl.
And has been his reputation all season, Manziel broke an individual record in victory, totaling 516 yards running and passing.
“He’s an amazing player,” said A&M All-American offensive tackle Jake Matthews. “And a great leader.”
With Manziel as their leader, the Aggies were able to celebrate their 11th win of the year. It’s the most for an Aggie team since the 1998 squad, which won a Big 12 championship and notched an 11-3 record. Only three other A&M teams have even reached 11 victories.
And the win also gave A&M its second straight bowl championship, the first time A&M has accomplished the double since 1940-41. But the Cotton victory certainly was a jump in prestige and excitement over last year’s win over Northwestern in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
There were lots of firsts Friday night, but it all evolved around Manziel, the redshirt freshman quarterback who won the Heisman, Dec. 8.
“It’s more than just one player,” Sumlin said. “It takes great effort by everyone all year. I couldn’t be prouder of this coaching staff and this football team.”
He and the offense blew open what had been a tense 14-13 game at intermission, with a 27-point second-half. The Aggie defense also was able to successfully rattle Sooner quarterback Landry Jones.
Manziel ran for 229 yards and two touchdowns, scoring on a 23-yard scramble to open the A&M scoring and then added a five-yarder late in the first half.
“What he does with his feet is incredibly difficult to handle,” said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, whose Sooners fell to 10-3.
Manziel’s arm did the most damage to the Sooners in the second half. Manziel connected with two seniors for touchdowns — a 33-yarder to Ryan Swope and a 34-yarder to Uzoma Nwachukwu to cap the Cotton scoring. Overall, he completed 22 of his 34 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns.
Sumlin credited the seniors in the post-game party on the field.
“They fought hard all year,” Sumlin said. “And they believed in what we told them.”
Jones, a fifth-year senior, ended his career at Oklahoma on a negative. He is the winningest quarterback in OU history, yet never was able to lead his team to a top five national finish.
He completed 35 of 48 passes for 278 and one touchdown and one interception. Jones had 23 of those completions in the first half, the most for any quarterback in the Cotton Bowl.
But in the end, Manziel’s records were the most outstanding.
He rushed for more yards than any other quarterback in NCAA bowl history. And he became only the fourth quarterback in the Football Bowl Subdivision to run and throw for 20 touchdowns.
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