Texas A&M Aggies

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Oklahoma's defense had heard the legends about Johnny Football. They'd seen the highlight reels and trophy acceptance speeches.

Until Friday, though, they had never stepped on the same field with the first freshman to win a Heisman Trophy. After Texas A&M's 20-year-old superstar rolled over the Sooners for 516 total yards (229 rushing, 287 throwing) and four touchdowns in a 41-13 Cotton Bowl victory, Oklahoma couldn't help but be glad his college years will be spent on fields across the SEC and not the Big 12 -- where the Aggies would have been if not for some conference upheaval over the past two years.

"Johnny Manziel is everything he was billed to be," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "He makes everybody miss him. He was what you've seen on tape the whole year."

Sooners defensive coordinator Mike Stoops called Manziel the best player he'd ever played, which carries a special significance considering Stoops' defense gave up 344 rushing yards and 572 all-purpose yards to a shifty, speedy receiver named Tavon Austin from West Virginia barely six weeks ago, the second-most all-purpose yards in a game in FBS history.

"He's not a Heisman winner for no reason," said Oklahoma safety Javon Harris, who scooped up an interception off Manziel when receiver Malcome Kennedy bobbled what likely should have been Manziel's fifth touchdown of the night. "You saw what he did to the SEC all year. We knew exactly what we were going to get into."

Stoops' defense refused to blitz Manziel for most of the night, but the Aggies' strong offensive line -- led by bookends and future NFL first-round picks Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews -- hardly allowed Oklahoma's defensive linemen to make Manziel notice they were even trying to chase him down. For much of the game, Oklahoma's secondary would cover the Aggies' receivers, but Manziel would find a crease and turn a broken play into a big gain.

"It's hard if you've got an angle on him," Bob Stoops said. "He stops, goes the other way. If you don't he outruns you."

Despite spending the past month making a post-Heisman nationwide media circuit and losing his offensive coordinator, Kliff Kingsbury, Manziel strung together one of the best highlight reels in bowl history, which was set to a soundtrack of "Johnny B. Goode" from Chuck Berry on the big screen at Cowboys Stadium as the final minutes of the game ticked away and Texas A&M fans serenaded the exiting Oklahomans with an "S-E-C" chant.

More like Johnny B. Great.

"There wasn't anything holding us back. No rust. There was no nothing," Manziel said.

He energized the crowd as few have ever had the ability to do, the volume level in Cowboys Stadium rising quickly any time he fled the pocket. Oklahoma's defense could do little to stop him or to quiet the Aggies-friendly crowd of 87,025, the biggest Cotton Bowl crowd ever at the venue.

A media flock hounding him while he did required postgame TV and radio interviews couldn't catch him either after he sprinted from midfield to the corner of the stadium to finish the last few bars of the "Aggie War Hymn" with his teammates in front of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band.

"This is kind of a game that turned the page again," Manziel said. "People asked me earlier in the year about what game made it all click. There was the Arkansas game, and this game tonight made me flash back to that."

That's a scary thought for the rest of the SEC, which could spend the next three years chasing a quarterback nobody can seem to catch, inside or outside the pocket. He helped Texas A&M become the first offense in SEC history to amass 7,000 total yards, and there's no reason he won't do it again. With Manziel taking snaps and breaking tackles, there will be plenty of national title talk in Aggieland over the next few months, with a blowout victory over the Sooners serving as springboard. Texas A&M proved it was better than national title game favorite Alabama on a November afternoon in Tuscaloosa. Can it be better than everyone in the nation for three months next fall?

"For everybody next year, this is the first game of the new year," A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "It sets the bar."

Manziel will be around to help us all find out if the Aggies will clear it.

Some fast facts as Texas A&M rolled to a 41-13 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night at Cowboys Stadium.

Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel set a Cotton Bowl record with 516 total yards from scrimmage, breaking the old record of 407 with 3:55 remaining in the THIRD quarter. He finished with 287 passing yards (2 TDs) and 229 rushing yards (2 TDs).

Manziel's 229 rushing yards set an all-time FBS bowl record for QBs. It also was the fourth-best rushing performance in Cotton Bowl history, regardless of position. Fifth on the list -- former Texas running back Ricky Williams (202).

More Johnny Football: According to ESPN Stats & Information, Manziel became just the second player with 200-plus rushing yards and 200-plus passing yards in a bowl game. The other: Texas QB Vince Young in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

Manziel became just the fourth player in FBS history to rush for 20+ touchdowns and pass for 20+ touchdowns, joining Tim Tebow (Florida), Cam Newton (Auburn) and Colin Kaepernick (Nevada).

A&M became the first SEC school to surpass 7,000 yards of offense in a season, gaining 400+ yards in their final 12 games. The 599 yards against the Sooners set a Cotton Bowl record, breaking an 18-year-old mark set by Southern Cal (578) against Texas Tech in 1995.

The Aggies captured back-to-back bowl wins for the first time since the 1940 Sugar Bowl (14-13 over Tulane) and the 1941 Cotton Bowl (13-12 over Fordham).

Kevin Sumlin becomes the first A&M coach to win 11 games in his first season. D.X. Bible (1917) and R.C. Slocum (1989) won eight games.

The Aggies record 11 wins for the first time since 1998, when A&M finished 11-3 under Slocum.

With the Aggies' win, the SEC improves 28-18 in 46 all-time bowl matchups against Big 12 teams.

A&M improves to 5-8 in Cotton Bowl appearances dating to 1941, and 15-19 overall in bowl games. Only Texas (22 games) has appeared in more Cotton Bowls.

Teams from the state of Texas improved to 12-1 in bowl games over the past two seasons, with the only loss coming by TCU in this season's Holiday Bowl.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Bob Stoops earned the name in his first few years as the head Sooner, when it seemed like Oklahoma kept racking up wins when they truly mattered.

In recent years, that name has taken a hit, but tonight, we might see another chapter written. Oklahoma is certainly good enough to win this game, but Stoops' biggest complaint over the years is that when he wins "big" games, they're suddenly not so big in retrospect.

He's got a point, but that won't be a problem tonight. He's got a huge stage and a packed house and two teams in the top 11. He's facing one of the nation's hottest teams with the uncontested hottest player in the country. With a win, he would earn a whole lot of respect from his Big 12 brethren for knocking Big 12 expat Texas A&M off its perch after a strong first season in the SEC.

Stoops is 11-2 against the Aggies, and defensive coordinator Mike Stoops has had a month (and a lot of great athletes) to prepare to try and stop Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.

There's no debating this one: Tonight is a big game. Texas and Oklahoma State are rivalry games, but they combined for just 15 regular-season wins. Oklahoma's other truly big games this year came at home, and the Sooners lost them both.

If Stoops' Sooners can break that trend tonight, you can expect a very different attitude surrounding the program heading into 2013.

Stay tuned. I'll be tweeting along in-game commentary once kickoff nears alongside SoonerNation's Jake Trotter and ESPN Dallas' Richard Durrett, so follow along. Enjoy the game, and we'll have plenty of coverage on the blog and on Twitter throughout the night.

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.

With the AT&T Cotton Bowl fast approaching, SoonerNation's Jake Trotter takes a look at the relationship between the team's head coaches, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin.

Sumlin, who is in his first year at Texas A&M, worked for Stoops as an offensive assistant from 2003-2007 before leaving to take his first head coaching job at Houston. Stoops dished an assist to Sumlin with a phone call, giving him a ringing endorsement to then-Houston athletic director Dave Maggard. Later, Maggard hired Sumlin and the rest is history, as he led the Cougars to great success and is doing the same so far at Texas A&M.

Read the full story.

SoonerNation's Jake Trotter and GigEmNation's Sam Khan Jr. give their thoughts on the AT&T Cotton Bowl matchup between Oklahoma (10-2) and Texas A&M (10-2).

1. What's your initial reaction to the matchup?
OU-Florida in the Sugar would have been one of the best matchups of any bowl outside the title game. But this one is about as good. The Sooners get a chance to face off against the Heisman favorite in Johnny "Football" Manziel, which probably means OU will have seen the top three Heisman contenders (Manziel, Notre Dame LB Manti Te'o and Kansas State QB Collin Klein). The Sooners will have to play well, because A&M is one of the hottest teams in college football, coming off that win at Alabama.

2. Which team in the Big 12 does Texas A&M most resemble?
Can I say A&M? I mean, they were in the Big 12 just last year. If I had to compare them to someone currently in the Big 12, I'd probably say Oklahoma State. A&M's offensive line is tremendous, and Manziel has several playmakers to work with. Manziel is obviously more mobile than anyone OSU has, but the Cowboys present the dual-threat attack with Clint Chelf and J.W. Walsh. That's where the comparisons end. Because the Aggies are much more formidable defensively than the Pokes with Damontre Moore, who is tied for third nationally with 12 1/2 sacks.

3. What's the most intriguing individual matchup?
Mike Stoops vs. Manziel. Stoops has struggled game-planning against prolific, mobile quarterbacks this season, and Manziel figures to be his biggest challenge yet. Will Stoops go back to the dime package, or will he use linebackers Frank Shannon and Corey Nelson to spy Manziel? Either way, Manziel poses plenty of problems for a defense that's been gashed late in the season.

4. Who's the most important player no one's talking about?
How about Landry Jones? All the focus will be on Manziel, and for good reason. But I'm not so sure there's an advantage at QB. Jones has been on fire the last month of the season, throwing for 500 yards twice. Jones is susceptible to interceptions. But lately, he hasn't allowed those plays to phase him. Jones is capable of putting the Aggies defense on its heel, too.

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