Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M crushed outsider expectations in its inaugural SEC season, finishing tied for second in the SEC West with a win over eventual BCS champion Alabama and an 11-2 record.

While the Aggies had tremendous first-year success and are bringing back many key players -- namely Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel -- they aren't necessarily the "team to beat," according to Mark Schlabach. There will still be a rugged battle for the top spot in college football's toughest division.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M football has undergone a substantial amount of change in the last year.

Whether it's the national perception of the program, expectations, or any number of other things, this does not appear to be the same program college football fans knew a year ago.

The day before the start of his second spring practice, Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin fielded a question on whether he has taken time to reflect on how different things are now than they were at this time last year.

He paused for five seconds.

"How about that? That was five seconds," Sumlin said as a few reporters chuckled and he began to laugh himself. "We don't have time for that."

Sumlin's point was that no, he hasn't thought about how different it is. He's too concerned trying to make sure the Aggies keep up in the ultra-competitive SEC.

Whether Sumlin and the Aggies like it or not, things are different and people are expecting more from Texas A&M than they did a year ago. At this time last year, some thought the Aggies would be lucky to go 7-5 in their inaugural season as SEC members and a few even figured the Aggies would be .500 or worse, or as Sumlin said "get their brains kicked in."

An 11-2 campaign and a Heisman Trophy-winner later, expectations have taken a complete 180. Now observers around the country are pegging the Aggies as a preseason top-five team for 2013 [they were fourth in ESPN's recent Way Too Early Top 25] and contenders for the SEC West, SEC and perhaps even BCS titles.

The Aggies' second-year head coach is not talking that way publicly, but instead is trying to make sure the Aggies keep pace with their conference foes.

"We're nowhere near that stage," Sumlin said. "I've said that from every standpoint, from every aspect of this program, we're still playing catch-up to everybody in the SEC. From a recruiting standpoint, we're top-10 in the country [but] we're fourth in our own division; fifth, by one standard. So we're still moving there. You look at our depth, we wouldn't be moving a wide receiver to linebacker if we had enough guys."

Still, how will Sumlin and his coaching staff deal with the heightened expectations when it comes to his players? This will be one of the most anticipated seasons in A&M football history.

"This is my second season. I couldn't tell you how hyped any season has been here before," Sumlin said. "It certainly doesn't affect me and it doesn't affect these [players] because they haven't been here as long as [some people]."

So far, the increased expectations and attention haven't appeared to have an adverse effect on the Aggies' biggest star, quarterback Johnny Manziel. Sumlin said all the offseason attention and scrutiny has "nothing to do with his performance level." His teammates say the Heisman Trophy winner hasn't changed.

"[He's] still the same guy," running back Ben Malena said. "Still works hard, still the leader of our offense, still the quarterback of our offense. The off-campus situation, we really can't speak to that because we're not Johnny Manziel. But as a player and as a leader, he's still the same guy that won a Heisman last year."

But Sumlin said he'd rather have it high expectations than no expectations.

"That's part of it," he said. "I would rather it be that way than nobody talk about us at all. It helps recruiting, it helps everything. So that's OK."

Malena said that last year's success has led to an increased work ethic as the team looks to build on its 2012 campaign.

"When Coach Sumlin first got here last year, he told us that we had enough talent to beat anybody," Malena said. "Now that we know for a fact that we have enough talent and a new group of guys coming in, we know that this year we have a target on our back. The work ethic of the team collectively has stepped up even more. We know last year's success was last year's success but this year's success will be even harder because now you have a target on your back."

With Texas A&M experiencing huge on-field success in its first season in the Southeastern Conference, the recruiting war the Aggies have with Texas is as hot as it has ever been. HornsNation's Carter Strickland looks at how the Aggies have become a real threat to the Longhorns. Here's an excerpt from Strickland's story:

The first -- and most important -- step, as it always is when preparing for battle, was to meet and understand the opponent.

Led by new coach Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M finished the regular season 10-2 including a win over No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

And the one Texas A&M faced welcomed the Aggies with unsuspected grace rippled with dismissive undertones. They were the Texas Longhorns, after all -- long set apart as the standard bearer for all the opulence that can be heaved upon college football programs. To show their wares to the Aggies merited no worry, for a pauper can rarely fathom how to gain what an aristocrat has behind the gates.

But the gates were held wide that day in 2002 as then-Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum, former Shell Oil CEO and major Aggies donor Jack Little, athletic director Wally Groff as well as three others were met at the Texas football facilities. A tour from the weight room to the office of coach Mack Brown ensued.

"[Brown's] office looked out over the field there, and he had a nice office area and then had a real nice living area where he could kind of entertain parents and recruits," Slocum said.

Slocum's office, he said, was in a parking garage, a desk with two stiff-backed chairs facing it. If a mother and father wanted to join their son to hear what Slocum had to offer, a folding chair would have to be wedged in.

"It was eye-opening to see what they had and we didn't," Little said.

Texas did have it all; oil drums full of money, national wins, a boardroom-to-barn-door coach, five-star recruits, everything but the sense to know it had just allowed a Trojan horse mission that would change the path of a program and a rivalry 10 years later.

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Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin and redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel earned top honors in their respective categories for the Associated Press' Southeastern Conference postseason awards.

Sumlin was named the SEC Coach of the Year for guiding the Aggies to a 10-2 season and a tie for second place in the SEC West. It is Sumlin's first year at Texas A&M after spending four years at Houston, where he was 35-17. Manziel, a Heisman Trophy candidate, earned SEC Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors after compiling an SEC single-season record 4,600 total yards and being responsible for 43 touchdowns.

Manziel was one of four Aggies to earn first-team All-SEC honors. Offensive tackles Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews and defensive end Damontre Moore also joined Manziel on the first team. Joeckel and Matthews started all 12 games and helped pave the way for the Aggies' high-powered offense, which ranked third in the country in total offense (552.3 yards per game) and third in scoring (44.7 points per game). Moore led the Aggies with 89 tackles, tied for third nationally in sacks (12.5) and tied for fifth in tackles for loss (20) while also starting all 12 games.

GigEmNation writer Sam Khan Jr. chatted with readers on Friday about Texas A&M football and recruiting. Here's the full transcript of the chat. The Aggies are off this week and are awaiting their bowl game destination, which appears to be the Capital One Bowl, according to ESPN's Brett McMurphy. Here's an excerpt from Friday's chat which included talk about potential bowl games, Heisman Trophy candidate Johnny Manziel and how the Aggies will close out the 2013 recruiting class:

Mike (San Diego): In the history of the Heisman only 3 defensive players have won and a freshman has never won. Do you think with those facts the Heisman is a given with Manziel's numbers, the conference he plays in, and the fact that he beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa?
Sam Khan Jr.: Mike, I don't know that I'd go so far to say "it's a given," but I think Johnny Manziel is the frontrunner at the moment and I don't know if anybody can knock him from that perch between now and when the ballots are due. Based on the buzz you hear from across the country, it seems like he has won over a lot of folks, despite his freshman classification. And I think it's because of the last couple things you mentioned: the conference he plays in (the SEC) and the "Heisman moment" he had against Alabama.

Mack Brown (Austin): Sam, if A&M returns Joeckel, Moore and Matthews next season, are they a top 5 team?
Sam Khan Jr.: Mack, if they return all three of those guys, they might be a preseason top-3 team. Seriously. That would be huge for Texas A&M if all three of those guys came back. You would be discussing the real possibility of a BCS championship game run. They were five points away from being in that conversation this year.

Patrick (Houston): What are our chances with RSJ and Isaac Savaiinaea? Should we be worried about UCLA?
Sam Khan Jr.: Patrick, I think RSJ is the Aggies' to lose. LSU is still recruiting him hard but I think Texas A&M has the edge. Savaiinaea I think is a true coin-flip. He could go either-or. He loved the atmosphere in College Station but it's a long way (nine-hour flight) from home. He also said UCLA, climate-wise, kind of reminded him of home. No matter who he picks, I won't be surprised. He's been pretty upfront and really likes both places.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M senior linebacker Sean Porter remembers what the perception of the Aggies seemed to be in July in Birmingham, Ala.

It was the Aggies' formal introduction into the Southeastern Conference, and everyone wondered what to make of Texas A&M, one of the two new programs. Many dismissed the Aggies' chances of being a serious factor in the conference. At least, that's what Porter inferred from the tone of some of the questions he was asked.

"I remember going to SEC media day," Porter said. "All those guys in there were looking at us like we were going to be some kind of doormat."

A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said plainly on Saturday, "We didn't care what everyone else's expectations were."

With that disregard and an optimism ushered in by new everything -- coaching staff, league, schemes, some players and even the uniforms -- the Aggies set out to rewrite the narrative some had already written. With their latest win, a 59-29 crushing of Missouri on Saturday at Kyle Field that put a bow on their regular season, they have done just that.

The win locked the No. 9 Aggies into a tie for second place in the SEC West with LSU. Texas A&M (10-2, 6-2 SEC) will finish the regular season in the top 10 and has won 10 games for the first time since 1998. The Aggies did it in part because of the confidence they carried, instilled by Sumlin and the coaching staff from the start.

"We thought we were going to win all of our games," Porter said. "We truthfully thought that."

A big part also was played by their wunderkind quarterback, redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel. The Kerrville (Texas) Tivy product exceeded just about everyone's expectations, compiling an SEC single-season-record 4,600 total yards in 12 games, eclipsing the mark set by Auburn's Cam Newton in 14 games in 2010. He was his usual dazzling self Saturday, throwing for 372 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for two more, eating up 439 total yards.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M put the finishing touches on a double-digit win season and Johnny Manziel made his final case for the Heisman Trophy as the Aggies coasted by Missouri 59-29 Saturday at Kyle Field.

The win makes Texas A&M 10-2 on the season (6-2 SEC), marking the first time since 1998 that the Aggies have finished a season with at least 10 wins. Let's take a look at the notable happenings from the night:

It was over when: The clock hit triple zeroes at halftime. The Aggies started fast and didn't look back, jumping out to a 42-0 lead at the 3:33 mark in the second quarter. Missouri scored once before the half and added 22 points in the second half, but it was all for naught as A&M's lead was already insurmountable.

Game ball goes to: Manziel. He was his usual productive self on Saturday, completing 32-of-44 passes for 372 yards and three touchdowns with one interception while running 12 times for 67 yards and two touchdowns. He became the SEC's single-season total yardage record-holder, eclipsing Cam Newton's mark of 4,327 (Manziel finished with 4,600 for the season, breaking Newton's mark in two fewer games).

Key stat: 12-of-16. The Aggies' third-down conversion rate. All season, Texas A&M has called third down the "money down", and the Aggies have earned their money in that area on both sides of the ball. They converted their first 12 attempts on offense Saturday, which was a big reason why they took their commanding lead. They converted 75 percent of their third downs and were pretty good defending them on defense too (5-of-14, 35.7 percent).

Unsung hero of the game: Spencer Nealy. All season long, the senior defensive tackle has done dirty work for the Aggies, taking on double teams after switching positions from defensive end prior to the season. He shined in that role, and Saturday was the best example of that, when he was disruptive to Missouri quarterback Corbin Berkstresser and the Tigers' offensive backfield. Nealy finished with seven tackles, two tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup.

Best call: A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin applied a nice touch late in the game, allowing Manziel to come in for a play so that he could leave the field and get an ovation from the 87,222 in attendance. Manziel gave the "Gig 'em" thumbs up to the crowd as he exited. It was a nice moment and a fitting end to what has been a memorable season for the redshirt freshman quarterback and the Aggies.

What it means: The Aggies' first SEC regular season is in the books and it's safe to say that they've arrived. With 10 wins, they exceeded expectations and they have a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate (front runner even?) in Manziel. Texas A&M will go to a quality bowl game, likely either the Capital One Bowl, Cotton Bowl or possibly a BCS bowl, depending on how things shake out in the season's final weekend.

For Missouri, it means the Tigers will not go bowling, as they finish 5-7 (2-6 in the SEC). There were high expectations coming into the season and it's a disappointing end for the Tigers, who were without starting quarterback James Franklin on Saturday because of a concussion suffered last week.

Texas A&M 48, Missouri 20

How Missouri performs likely will hinge on the health of quarterback James Franklin, who is a game-time decision, according to coach Gary Pinkel. Franklin suffered a concussion in the Tigers' 31-27 loss to Syracuse, but even if he's healthy enough to play, look for the Aggies to come away with this one. They're playing at a high level, they're at home and they have redemption on their minds after being defeated by Missouri at Kyle Field each of the last two seasons.

The Tigers have a talented, explosive collection of receiving talents and will test the Aggies' secondary, but they'll also have to find an answer for redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel, who wasn't around for those last two defeats and will have a chance to put the final touches on his resume for Heisman Trophy voters.

If Franklin doesn't start for Missouri, it will be redshirt freshman Corbin Berkstresser getting his fourth start of the year.

Player to watch

Damontre Moore, Texas A&M
Regardless of which quarterback plays for the Tigers, the key to keeping the talented Missouri receiving group from having a big day will be quarterback pressure from the Aggies' defensive front. Few have played at the level Moore has all season long. The junior is tied for the nation's lead in sacks (12.5) and tackles for loss (20). He'll be looking to add to those numbers on Saturday and close out what has been a terrific regular season.