Oklahoma Sooners

Three keys for Oklahoma in tonight’s AT&T Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M:

1. Protect Landry Jones, and the ball: When the Sooners have kept Jones upright, he’s been lethal throwing the ball to a quartet of playmaking receivers. But the few times that opposing defenses have gotten pressure, Jones has been subject to major mistakes, notably in a loss to Kansas State earlier this season. This will be OU’s toughest protection test yet, as the Aggies feature one of the top sack artists in the country in Damontre Moore. But if OU can keep Moore and his cohorts out of Jones’ face, the Sooners should be able to move the ball through the air against what’s been an inconsistent Texas A&M secondary.

2. Contain Johnny Football: OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said this week that you can’t stop Johnny Manziel. But you can contain him. That’s obviously easier said than done. Just ask Alabama. But if the Sooners can keep Manziel in the pocket and prevent him from reeling off big plays on the move, they should be in good shape.

3. Win the special teams battle: The Sooners have their best special teams units in years, especially in the return game. Jalen Saunders’ punt return touchdown against Oklahoma State helped sparked the Sooners in a come-from-behind Bedlam win. Brennan Clay and Roy Finch have also been very good returning kicks, and punter Tress Way can swing field position with his leg. One way to counter Manziel is to make plays when he’s not on the field. The Sooners could use some big plays on special teams.

No. 9 Texas A&M (10-2, 6-2 SEC) vs. No. 11 Oklahoma (10-2, 8-1 Big 12)

Who to watch: Who else? Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel will attempt to put the finishing touches on his freshman season. "Johnny Football” broke Cam Newton’s SEC record for offensive yardage and accounted for 43 touchdowns while becoming the first freshman to capture the Heisman Trophy. Manziel, however, will be facing one of the better defensive backfields he’s seen all season, led by free safety Tony Jefferson and cornerback Aaron Colvin -- both All-Big 12 performers. Manziel will also have to overcome the distractions of a whirlwind month in which he not only won the Heisman but hung out with actress Megan Fox and played golf with the Jonas Brothers.

What to watch: The Aggies boast Manziel, but the Sooners counter with one of the top wide receiving corps in the country. Kenny Stills, Justin Brown, Jalen Saunders and Sterling Shepard all have more than 500 yards receiving this season. Texas A&M is stout up front, but the Aggies have been vulnerable at times defending the pass, ranking 82nd nationally in pass defense despite competing in the run-oriented SEC. If OU quarterback Landry Jones gets rolling with his talented pass-catchers, this game could tumble into a shootout.

Why to watch: Outside the BCS National Championship, this is as good a matchup as any out there. This Cotton Bowl also features two of the top quarterbacks in the country, with the hotshot freshman in Manziel facing off against the elder statesman in Jones, who will be making his 50th career start on the same field in which his career began four years ago. There should be plenty of energy inside Cowboys Stadium, too, as the Cotton Bowl is expecting a record crowd of 90,000. This will be a BCS-caliber bowl in every way except in name.

Prediction: Texas A&M 34, Oklahoma 31. Coach Bob Stoops has a dominating 11-2 record against Texas A&M, including an average victory margin of three touchdowns. These, however, are not the same Aggies the Sooners faced in the Big 12. Manziel and coach Kevin Sumlin have brought a new attitude to Texas A&M, and the Aggies will be motivated to prove this on the field against their former conference foe.

The Cotton Bowl kicks off at 8 ET on Friday night as the No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies face the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners. These former Big 12 rivals are meeting for the 17th straight season. Oklahoma has owned the series of late, winning 11 of the last 13 matchups since 1999.

Here are nine more stats you need to know to get ready for this game:

Going Streaking
The Sooners are looking for their first four-game bowl win streak since 1978-81, which would tie the school record for consecutive bowl wins. The Aggies are looking to win consecutive bowl games for the first time since a three-game streak spanning 1978-85.

Been Here, Done That
Texas A&M is no stranger to the Cotton Bowl. The Aggies are making their 13th appearance in this bowl, posting a 4-8 record in the previous 12. A&M has lost its last six trips to the Cotton Bowl. Its last win came in the 1987 season over Notre Dame.

What Heisman Curse?
Johnny Manziel plays his first game since winning the Heisman Trophy. The last three Heisman winners to play in a bowl game each won the game (Mark Ingram in 2009, Cam Newton in 2010 and Robert Griffin III in 2011).

Scrambling Man
Manziel has gained 784 of his 1,181 rush yards on scrambles. That's 18 more yards scrambling than Braxton Miller, Marcus Mariota and Collin Klein have combined this season.

Big-Play Johnny Football
Manziel has 70 plays that gained at least 20 yards this season, 10 more than any other FBS player. He was tied for the eighth-most passes (52) and the third-most rushes (18) of 20-plus yards.

Manziel Record Watch
Manziel is one rushing touchdown away from becoming only the fourth player with 20 passing and 20 rushing touchdowns in a season in FBS history. Tim Tebow, Cam Newton, and Colin Kaepernick are the others.

Jones Record Watch
Landry Jones can become the second player in college football history to start and win four bowl games as a quarterback. He would join West Virginia’s Pat White, who accomplished the feat from 2005-08.

Jones Cool Under Pressure
Jones has excelled when facing the blitz this season, throwing eight touchdowns and only one interception when facing five or more pass rushers. Jones has been at his best in the last three games, completing 77.1 percent against the blitz with four touchdowns and no picks.

Sooner History
Oklahoma has 27 major bowl wins, tied with Georgia and Texas for the third-most all-time behind USC (31) and Alabama (33). However, just one of those wins has come in the Cotton Bowl – a 10-3 victory over Arkansas in the 2001 season.

Texas A&M Aggies (10-2) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (10-2)

Jan. 4, 8 p.m. ET, Arlington, Texas (Fox)

Texas A&M take by GigEmNation's Sam Khan Jr.: The Aggies are one of the surprise stories nationally in college football this season, exceeding preseason expectations by going 10-2 in their first Southeastern Conference campaign.

New coach Kevin Sumlin has injected energy into the program and helped reverse the narrative of 2011, when the preseason-top-10 Aggies couldn't hold on to a second-half lead. Now, Texas A&M closes games out as good as any team.

A lot of that credit can go to its Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel. Nicknamed "Johnny Football," Manziel took the college football world by storm with his playmaking ability, producing an eye-popping statistical season by breaking Cam Newton's single-season SEC total yardage record. Manziel compiled 4,600 offensive yards this season, throwing for 3,419 and rushing for 1,181. He was responsible for 43 touchdowns.

But the Aggies have been far from a one-man show.

Questions about the defense -- and the defensive line in particular -- were answered emphatically. Junior Damontre Moore spent most of the season at or near the top spot in the country in tackles for loss (20) and sacks (12.5), where he's tied for fifth and third, respectively.

Perhaps the team's best unit has been its offensive line, which has two future NFL draft picks at the tackle spots (juniors Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews), and a senior center (Patrick Lewis) who has been a catalyst to the team's success.

The Aggies have displayed a high-powered, quick-strike offense under Sumlin and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, and an aggressive defense under coordinator Mark Snyder.

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Oklahoma take from SoonerNation's Jake Trotter: From Lee Roy Selmon to Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma has a long, strong defensive tradition. But like almost everyone else in the Big 12, these Sooners win with their high-flying pass offense. Senior quarterback Landry Jones finished off the regular season on fire, throwing for more than 500 yards twice in November while leading the Sooners to a pair of come-from-behind, fourth-quarter wins. Jones, who has a chance to go 4-0 as a bowl-game starter, benefits from one of the most explosive wide receiving corps in the country.

Four different receivers boast more than 500 yards receiving, including Kenny Stills, who leads the Sooners with 75 receptions and 11 touchdowns. All three of OU’s running backs are dangerous in the passing game, too, especially fullback Trey Millard, who had a 73-yard reception against Texas earlier this season.

Opposing offenses have gashed Bob Stoops’ defense on the ground, but the Sooners are not easy to thrown on. Free safety Tony Jefferson is a ferocious tackler, and cornerback Aaron Colvin is a ball hawk.

As co-Big 12 champs, the Sooners had a season worthy of a BCS bowl. But Northern Illinois' sudden ascendance knocked them out of the BCS and the Sugar Bowl. The Sooners did not have a win over a team currently ranked in the AP Top 25. But their two losses came at the hands of top-ranked Notre Dame and Kansas State, which was No. 1 before the Irish. OU was in both games until falling apart in the fourth quarter. The Sooners, however, have owned the fourth quarter down the stretch, coming back in the final seconds to knock off West Virginia and Oklahoma State, then holding off TCU in the last minute.

Last month, the Big 12 Conference and SEC announced plans for a bowl game between the champions of each conference.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops likes the idea.

“I think it’s awesome, it’s great,” Stoops said. “Anytime you pit great teams against each other everyone wants to watch it.”

Beginning in 2014, the conference champions will only play each other if they aren’t among the top four teams in the nation, who are expected to participate in a college football playoff. If either conference champion is among the top four, the next best team will take their place.

The Big 12 and SEC have each had a team among the top four teams for the 11 of the past 14 seasons since the BCS was created in 1998.

The name and site of the Big 12-SEC bowl game have not been announced.

SoonerNation's Jake Trotter joined Sean Adams The Adams Theory radio show on Friday to talk about the Big 12 and SEC's new bowl partnership pitting the conference's champions against each other in a New Year's Day bowl game for five years beginning in 2014

Listen to the full interview here .

Catch The Adams Theory every weekday from 1-4 p.m. CT on 104.9 ESPN Austin.

ESPNU's national signing day coverage kicks off at 9 a.m. ET. Here's the list of the announcements and time for some of the top prospects.

NOTE: Bold names are announcements, all others are interviews.

Michele Steele and ESPN Regional Coordinators Jaime Newberg, Dave Hooker, Damon Sayles, Jared Shanker and Mitch Sherman take you through the latest news on the college football recruiting scene.

Delray Beach (Fla.) American Heritage defeated Madison (Fla.) Madison County 30-3 on Saturday afternoon in the FHSAA Class 3A state championship game in Orlando, Fla.

Junior running back Greg Bryant rushed for 243 yards and three touchdowns on the afternoon. American Heritage head coach Doug Socha summed up running back Greg Bryant’s performance.

“He’s awesome, it starts up front with our offensive line," Socha said, "but Greg is very special, obviously.”

Exhausted from his 39-carry performance, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound bruising running back talked about the win after the game.

“It feels real good, I’m about to go celebrate with my team,” Bryant said. "Once I get in a rhythm I just keep going. All that hard work paid off in the end.”

With early scholarship offers from LSU, Florida State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Alabama and Florida, Bryant is expected to be one of the top running backs not only in the state but the country next season.

Bryant, who said distance will not be a factor in his recruitment, talked about Oklahoma, the most recent school to offer him.

“I like Oklahoma, they run the ball a lot,” he said. “They do a lot with the running backs and they have a good running back history. I like them a lot. I’d like to get out to Oklahoma and visit there soon.”

Florida was the first team to offer Bryant and he said he likes the pro-style system that Florida has implemented since Will Muschamp took over.

“Florida is starting to run the ball a little bit more,” Bryant said. "Coach Aubrey [Hill] said they will be in the pro-style, so I like that, too.”

With Charlie Weis having left Florida to take the head coaching job at Kansas, Bryant said the departure won’t change how he feels about the Gators.

“It won’t affect me,” Bryant said. “It’s just the way they run their program -- I like their program. One person can’t change it.”

Bryant said he talks to Oklahoma and LSU the most and is intrigued by the thought of playing for the Tigers.

“LSU, I mean they are in the national championship game, so I like that,” Bryant said. “They throw the ball, they have a good defense. I just like the program.”

Bryant, who said he won’t decide what school he will attend until sometime next year, said his decision will come down to where he feels the most comfortable.

“Be comfortable where I’m at, somewhere where I can play as soon as I get there," he said. "I want to have a good relationship with the coaches. I just want it to feel like family.”

Bryant, along with Adam Lane (5-7/206, Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven), Kelvin Taylor (5-11/205, Belle Glade, Fla./Glades Day), Ryan Green (5-11/190, St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Pete Catholic) and Georgia commit Derrick Henry (6-3/231, Yulee, Fla./Yulee), is among the top running backs in the state for 2013.

We've looked back at the Big 12 this week with an overview of the conference and each team.

What can we expect moving forward?

Bold prediction: The Big 12 championship game returns. Well, not exactly. But pretty much. It might as well be back. On Dec. 3 in Stillwater, Okla., Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, the nation's No. 2 and No. 3 teams (behind No. 1 Alabama) right now, play for a gigantic barrel of marbles.

They will also play for a Big 12 title and a spot in the national championship game. The Big 12 championship might not explicitly exist, and it might not be played in Cowboys Stadium, but this will be just as good. Two of the league's best offenses going head to head in a renewal of one of the best games of the 2010 season, when the Big 12 South was on the line. This will be a classic, and one of the best games in Big 12 history.

Who wins? (Who always wins?)

What I'm looking forward to: The Big 12 sorting itself out. I mean this both on and off the field. There's an inherent excitement in bringing new members into the league, and TCU is already on the list. Could BYU, Louisville, West Virginia or others be next? And what about Missouri? You'd have to think by season's end we'll know who's in and who's out with the Big 12. I'll be happy when it's over.

With that, I also want to know more about these teams. Just how good is Kansas State? How far can it carry this run without a loss? Will Texas Tech bully its way into the Big 12 title race with some late-season wins? Is Missouri actually underrated, or is this a 6- to 8-win down season in Columbia? How far back from 5-7 is Texas? Can Texas A&M get some help from above the standings and re-enter the Big 12 title picture? And what about Baylor? Can the Bears grab more than a bowl bid this season? We'll know before too long.

Top Impactful Games: Here are the dates you should look forward to most.

1. Oklahoma at Oklahoma State, Dec. 3: To borrow a phrase, this looks like the Granddaddy of Them All. This could be one of the most epic games in Big 12 history, and if the ball bounces the right way, it might even be a matchup of No. 1 versus No. 2 on the final weekend of the season. Unbelievable. And between two of the most fun teams to watch in the country. This will be must-see TV.

2. Texas A&M at Oklahoma, Nov. 5: This is the best opportunity for someone to muck up that dream game and change the face of the Big 12 title race. If Texas A&M wins this and doesn't lose beforehand, it likely vaults the Aggies back into the top 10, and might make season-ending Bedlam a different exercise than last year. Texas A&M had almost no chance to slip in the Big 12 title game despite sharing a division title, but if the Aggies win this one, an Oklahoma win in Bedlam might give A&M its first Big 12 title since 1998 in its last year inside the league.

3. Texas at Texas A&M, Nov. 24: The bad blood will be flowing in this one. The hatred in this rivalry helped fuel Texas A&M's decision to leave for the SEC, and it could be the last time we see this rivalry for a long while. Texas will likely be the underdog, but we all remember what happened the last time Texas came into a hugely meaningful game off the field as big underdogs ...