Heisman 10th Anniversary Honoree

I wish my whole team could be up here with me.

JOHHNY MANZIEL

ACCEPTING THE HEISMAN JOHNNY MANZIEL 2012

HEISMAN 10TH ANNIVERSARY HONOREE

When camp opened for the 2012 Texas A&M football team under first-year head coach Kevin Sumlin, the program had just one double-digit win season since 1994 and none since 1998. It was about to embark in its first season in the Southeastern Conference and, after two weeks of hot August ball, the Aggies still didn’t know who their starting QB would be. That changed on August 15 when Sumlin announced that redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel, on the heels of a strong scrimmage performance, would be the Aggies’ season-opening starter, beating out a pair of sophomore teammates. Just under four months later, Manziel would make history, becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, capping a stunning season in which he took the college football world along for a wild ride that ended with an 11-2 record, a win over No. 1 Alabama, countless ESPN SportsCenter Top 10-worthy plays and a huge Cotton Bowl victory. That Manziel won the job in the first place wasn’t a surprise. He was a highly sought after recruit who initially committed to Oregon (along with future Heisman winner Marcus Mariota) before signing with Texas A&M. A star at Kerrville (Texas) Tivy High, he was selected as a 2011 Parade AllAmerican and the National High School Coach Association Football Player of the Year, following a senior season that saw him complete 228 of 347 passes for 3,609 yards and 45 TDs against just five interceptions. He also added 1,674 yards rushing and another eye-popping 30 touchdowns on the ground. He even caught one TD pass and returned a kickoff for a score. When Manziel got to College Station in 2011, the quarterback job was locked up by senior and future NFL player Ryan Tannehill. Manziel redshirted while Tannehill turned in a fine 3700-yard, 29 TD senior season and then was drafted in the spring of 2012. The Aggie QB1 spot was open. Enter Manziel, stage right. He was supposed to ease into his college career with an August 30 date against Louisiana Tech, but Hurricane Issac postponed the game to October. Manziel instead made his college debut against No. 24 Florida, the first Aggie freshman to start an opener since 1944. Though Manziel performed solidly—passing for 173 yards and running for another 60, including an 11-yard TD scamper—the Aggies fell 20-17. A week later, Manziel provided the first glimpse of the magic that would mark his 2012 season. He led the Aggies to a 48-3 win against SMU, passing for 294 yards and four scores while rushing for 124 yards and two more TDs—one for 48 yards. His passing and total yards (418) broke Aggie freshman records, standards he would repeatedly re-set that fall. Said Sumlin after his and Manziel’s first win: “It’s Game 2. A quarterback gets way too much credit when we win and all the blame when we lose. I think he’s handling it very well.” Manziel and Texas A&M next overwhelmed South Carolina State in the freshman’s first home win, 70-14. Manziel completing 15 of 20 passes for 174 yards and three scores while rushing for 89 on just eight carries, scoring on second-quarter runs of 20 and 39 yards. A week later, the Aggies demolished Arkansas, 58-10, the freshman Manziel helping deliver to his senior teammates their first win over the Razorbacks, grabbing the national spotlight in the process. Manziel threw for a school-record 453 yards and three touchdowns on 29 of 38 passing while rushing

for 104 yards and another score, his 557 of total yards setting Texas A&M and SEC records. It was the most points the Aggies had scored against Arkansas in the 69-game series history. On the road in Oxford on October 6, Manziel looked mortal, for a time. He had thrown the first two interceptions of his career and lost a fumble among six Texas A&M turnovers, as the Aggies trailed Ole Miss, 27-17, midway through the fourth quarter. But then the Rebels got a close-up look at the future Heisman winner’s penchant for huge plays. Manziel first engineered a 99-yard scoring drive punctuated by his 29-yard scoring jaunt and followed it with a 20-yard TD pass with 1:46 left for a 30-27 win, the team’s first-ever SEC road victory. Manziel finished with 191 yards passing and a career-best 129 yards rushing. The Aggies next traveled to Shreveport for the make-up game with Louisiana Tech, who entered the game 5-0 and ranked No. 23. Manziel orchestrated a 59-57 win, leading the Aggies to just enough scoring to withstand a late Bulldog rally that fell a late two-point-conversion attempt short. He threw for 395 yards and three scores, rushed for 181 yards (the second most in school-history by a QB) and three more TDs, his 576 total yards erasing his weeks-old SEC record. His career-best 72-yard TD run with two minutes left provided the Aggies’ final score of the game. Texas A&M returned home to host No. 6 LSU and the Tigers bottled up Manziel for essentially the only time during his Heisman-winning season, limiting the freshman to 29-of-56 passing for 276 yards and three interceptions and to only 27 yards rushing on 17 carries, sacking him three times. The No. 22 Aggies rebounded with a 63-21 road win over struggling Auburn, totaling the most points they ever scored against the Tigers. In barely over a half of action, Manziel completed 16 of 23 passes for 230 yards and two scores, rushing for another 90 yards and three more touchdowns. In guiding the Aggies to a 6-2 start, Manziel surpassed 2,000 yards passing and the 3,000mark in total yards. Staying on the road, Manziel—at this point, the SEC’s leading rusher—orchestrated a convincing 38-13 win at No. 17 Mississippi State. He passed for 311 yards and ran for 129 more with two scores, for the Aggies’ fifth road win of the season. Road win No. 6 came a week later and would make Manziel the Heisman favorite. Facing top-ranked and defending national champion Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Manziel threw for 253 yards and two TDs against the top-ranked defense in the country and rushed for 92 more yards, as Texas A&M upset the Crimson Tide, 29-24. Manziel led the Aggies to a blistering 20-0 first-quarter start—including a third-down TD pass in which he briefly lost the ball in midair while scrambling, only to snatch it safely before finding receiver Ryan Swope in the end zone.

After Alabama closed to within 20-17, Manziel guided A&M to two fourth-quarter scoring drives. The first was a field goal, the second a two-play TD drive on back-to-back passes of 42 and 24 yards. Texas A&M’s defense then made a late stand to secure the program’s second-ever victory against a No. 1 team. Johnny Football was becoming Johnny Heisman. Years later, he would say “That was the high point of my career. Just to be able to go in there and do that, it will stick with me forever.” Manziel and the Aggies—now ranked No. 9— returned home for their final two games of the season. First they defeated Sam Houston State, 47-28, with Manziel throwing for 267 and three TDs and rushing for 100 yards and two more scores in just over a half’s work. Next, in the regular-season finale, Manziel led Texas A&M to a 59-29 trouncing of Missouri to reach 10 wins for the first time in 14 years. He completed 32 passes for 372 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 67 and two more scores, finalizing his Heisman resume by reaching 4,600 yards of total offense (3,419 through the air, 1,181 on the ground) and a combined 43 touchdowns (24 passing, 19 rushing). Manziel’s total offense mark broke 2010 Heisman winner Cam Newton’s SEC total offense season record of 4,327 yards, done in two less games. He was also the first SEC player ever to pass for over 3,000 yards and run for over 1,000. His spectacular season was enough to win the 2012 Heisman with 2029 points in a relatively close vote with Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, second with 1706 total points. In addition to becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman, Manziel was just the second Aggie to hoist the trophy, joining Texas A&M halfback John David Crow, who won it in 1957. Upon winning the award, the calm 20-year-old Manziel took to the stage and told the watching audience, “I wish my whole team could be up here with me.” Manziel, also named the SEC Freshman of the Year and the Davey O’Brien winner, completed his amazing season by leading Texas A&M to a 41-13 Cotton Bowl win over No. 12 Oklahoma. He set a Cotton Bowl-record with 516 total yards, posting an FBS bowl record with his 229 yards rushing on 17 carries and two scores, while passing for 287 yards and two more TDs. Manziel returned to school as a 2013 sophomore and threw for a remarkable 4,114 yards and 37 touchdowns while rushing for 759 yards and nine scores. He again led the SEC in total offense with a record 5,116 yards (including a bowl game) and finished fifth in the Heisman voting. Following his sophomore season, he made himself eligible for the NFL draft and was selected 22nd overall by the Cleveland Browns. He played two seasons for the Browns, throwing for 1,500 yards and seven TDs in 2015, and played one season in the CFL. Manziel’s 2012 season was one of the most electric performances in college football history, and one that no one saw coming. A freshman winning the Heisman? Never happen. And then Johnny Manziel made it happen.