Plus on top of that, I imagine that Sumlin tries to coach the run out of him and turn him in to more of a pocket passer as he installs the full offense with Manziel. Sumlin is going to have to adjust the offense as defenses adapt to Manziel’s style.

If Sumlin can adapt Manziel fast, look for a Heisman follow up year like Tebows.

Thanks for the good sportsmanship. I’m a Bama fan, but for what it’s worth, I don’t believe Ohio State or any team should be slapped with bowl bans for infractions committed by players and coaches who are long gone from the program. I look forward to being able to compete against the Buckeyes when their sanctions are lifted.

Seriously? You’re picking on the handle “amosalanzostagg”? Do you spend much time on PFT (otherwise known as Censorship Central)? Half the guys over there have named themselves after their own bodily secretions or women’s body parts. It’s refreshing to see a guy who knows enough about football to have heard of Stagg. Who cares how long ago he coached? And some of the championships claimed by teams outside the SEC–like Notre Dame–are contested, too. That works both ways. His point was that all these petty posts about the one-dimensional SEC are nonsense … and you’re smart enough to know that.

First of all congratulations to Mr. Manziel, certainly a deserving winner, no question about it. As a ND alum I certainly had been hoping for the upset for Manti but he did pretty well in the award department (6 national awards). It will be tough to repeat but good luck to Johnny Football.

AAS, why are you comparing an entire conference, located in mostly warm weather states, with perhaps 100,000 or more undergraduates to a single school locked in the barren fields of northern Indiana with just 8,000 undergrads. (I once spent an entire week there where the temperature never got above 0 degrees and a month where it never got above freezing.)

I think that the list of ND’s NC’s is pretty impressive considering the handicaps ND faces in recruiting (location, weather, academics). But I’ll grant you that an entire conference will do better, especially when you have a school with Pat Summit coaching.

Oh, and before ND haters start complaining about their NBC TV deal published reports show that SEC schools averaged about $14 million from the SEC TV deal (and that is expected to nearly double in the next couple of years). So ND’s $15M a year is not much better and both pale in comparison to the Big 10′s nearly $23M a school.

To all the SEC fans, have a great holiday season, good luck to all your teams in the bowl season (except for ‘Bama, of course).

Go Irish!

All SEC Teams root for any SEC team when we are in a NC game or series in ANY SPORT or ACTIVITY! Even in a debating contest as these blogs appear to be. Even in a Heisman Award like this. Manti T’eo exemplifies all that is good about Scholar-Athletes. The same thing can be said about Johnny Manziel and Colin Klein. I might add Marcus Lattimore to that group as well and I’m sure you will add every athlete at ND. That fine and good. And like ND, every SEC team laughs ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK when one of our teams wins a NC. Since we are talking about a business, it has become ALL ABOUT THE MONEY! And the SEC wins in all aspects of that objective. So yes, if you want to call us “hangers on”, you’re entitled to your opinion. I prefer not to characterize that way though: I prefer to position it as members of the greatest collegiate conference in the United States.

SMU scramble

A&M center Pat Lewis used a word that became synonymous with Johnny Football following the Aggies’ 48-3 triumph first displaying Manziel was truly special: Wow. The biggest “wow” moment occurred early in the third quarter, when SMU linebacker Taylor Reed wrapped his arms around Manziel for an apparent sack. But Manziel spun out of Reed’s grasp, sprinted to his left, sprang in the air and fired a pinpoint 42-yard touchdown pass over leaping linebacker Ja’Gared Davis.

“That was frustrating,” Reed said.

Louisiana Tech tackles

A play that didn’t count is a favorite among many Manziel fans. Midway through the third quarter in Shreveport, A&M back Christine Michael tried stretching the ball across the goal line. But it squirted loose, and the Bulldogs’ Chip Hester came up with the ball and sprinted the other way.

Manziel, in hot pursuit of Hester, fought off a block by Bulldogs safety Quinn Giles, and then knocked the ball loose from behind near the 50-yard line. Louisiana Tech’s Mike Schrang came up with the rolling ball on the run, and Manziel wound up tackling him near the Aggies’ 30-yard line. Meanwhile, officials had ruled Michael down at the 1.

Offered Louisiana Tech defender Shakeil Lucas, “That guy is fast, man.”

Ole Miss desperation

Manziel has pointed to this as a season-changer for the 10-2 Aggies: On their first SEC road trip and midway through the fourth quarter, the Aggies trailed 27-17 and were down to their last gasp when Manziel was sacked within inches of A&M’s goal line. While the crowd roared for a safety, officials ruled the ball on the 1-foot line.

Two plays later from the end zone, Manziel launched a desperation pass fellow freshman Mike Evans hauled in for 32 yards along the right sideline. Running back Ben Malena followed with a 36-yard run, and on the next play Manziel sprinted in from 29 yards out.

Alabama bobble

In a play on every Manziel highlight reel this season, Manziel connected with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Swope early against Alabama. What’s so special about a 10-yard touchdown pass? Where to start …

Manziel spun out of the pocket and momentarily lost his grip on the ball. It popped in the air, he grabbed it and fired the ball on a roll to the left to a wide-open Swope.

“Their offense,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban following the Aggies’ 29-24 road win, “is a very difficult offense to stop.”

Missouri melodrama

By the regular-season finale, a capacity crowd on hand at Kyle Field knew full well the importance of Johnny Football to A&M. So the fans caught their collective breath when he exited late in the first quarter with a hurt left knee – to chants of “Johnny! Johnny!” – but returned four plays later with a knee brace.

“Johnny is the most exciting player in the world,” A&M senior defensive lineman Spencer Nealy said. “Heismanziel? That’s pretty catching.”

Game stats2012
Game Log Passing Rushing
DATE OPP RESULT CMP ATT YDS CMP% LNG TD INT RAT ATT YDS AVG LNG TD
8/30 @Louisiana Tech Postponed No statistics available.
9/8 Florida L 20-17 23 30 173 76.7 28 0 0 125.1 17 60 3.5 16 1
9/15 @Southern Methodist W 48-3 20 36 294 55.6 42 4 0 160.8 13 124 9.5 48 2
9/22 South Carolina State W 70-14 15 20 174 75.0 37 3 0 197.6 8 78 9.8 39 2
9/29 Arkansas W 58-10 29 38 453 76.3 80 3 0 202.5 14 104 7.4 52 1
10/6 @Ole Miss W 30-27 17 26 191 65.4 38 1 2 124.4 20 129 6.5 38 1
10/13 @Louisiana Tech W 59-57 24 40 395 60.0 75 3 1 162.7 19 181 9.5 72 3
10/20 LSU L 24-19 29 56 276 51.8 27 0 3 82.5 17 27 1.6 14 0
10/27 @Auburn W 63-21 16 23 260 69.6 50 2 0 193.2 9 90 10.0 36 3
11/3 @Mississippi State W 38-13 30 36 311 83.3 40 0 0 155.9 21 129 6.1 37 2
11/10 @Alabama W 29-24 24 31 253 77.4 42 2 0 167.3 18 92 5.1 32 0
11/17 Sam Houston State W 47-28 14 20 267 70.0 89 3 1 221.6 16 100 6.3 22 2
11/24 Missouri W 59-29 32 44 372 72.7 39 3 1 161.7 12 67 5.6 18 2

Next year there will be a list of players, Manziel will be on the top of the list, just like Barkley. One bad game or a series of sub-par will allow someone else to jump into the mix.

As for the heisman. I knew Manziel would win. As someone said Klein was just there for show but he’s a great guy. I thought Teo was there cuz of what had happened to him not taking anything away from him but i saw a LB named Ryan Shazier for ohio state take field about midseason and have better stats in almost every category than Teo. The sec is tough so can Manziel repeat? It’s possible. Remember there is Braxton Miller, DeAnthony Thomas who is phenemonal, and there are always guys who make a name like Manziel. Personally I want Ohio state to be the only one to claim the two time heisman winner but hey Manziel is good and goodluck to him.

(Sorry, I was just curious about all this living in the past nonsense the ND fans seem to enjoy and wanted to try it for myself!)

It’s not so much the fans, as it is the media shouting SEC SEC SEC. Hell, even this site wrote an article on how the SEC more than likely won’t have a team represented in the NC game after 6 straight appearances when Bama lost to A&M. Some fans of other SEC schools may cheer for another SEC team in the championship game other than “their” team. personally I, as a UGA fan, never “cheered” for UF or Tenn when they were playing in title games. That being said, if a SEC team does win it all, it looks good for the conference. It pays well for the conference too. That’s the big kicker. However, what we do put our hats on more than Championship games is the fact that not only due certain SEC teams have had 6 straight national titles, but the SEC champion hasn’t had a repeat winner since the late 90′s. Not only that, the SEC leads all other conferences in BCS bowl game wins. The title is one game, and any team can win on any given saturday. But SEC fans would rather see a SEC team win the championship rather than any other conference. Maybe we do cheer for our conference more than most other conferences. But, I would rather see Alabama beat ND, then the latter. I would rather see UF, Tenn, South Carolina win the NC over any other school not in the SEC, other than UGA. Will I cheer for those teams? No, but if those other teams win, it looks good for the conference as a whole. At least in my opinion.

E = Equals

C = Championships

Will he win it again, not likely? I assume the SEC will chew up the Aggies the next three years more than not and the team record won’t support it. Also, fame can be fleeting as soon as he has two loses by mid-season ESPN will jump on next year’s likely winner, Braxton Miller.

I don’t even know if he will be drafted in the NFL to play QB he’s just too small, he’s listed at 6’ 1” no way looking at that group shot of the other two finalists, maybe 5’11”, maybe.

But hey congrats for the year enjoy!!!

Doesn’t matter, beat Bama.

At the end of the day, Notre Dame will not be able to make that claim.

But Johnny Football sure as hell can.

Sour grapes suck, learn how to be a gracious second finish place finisher.

Another fellow put his shoe on top of the wallet. The first guy asked what that was all about, and the shoe-thrower said, “Well, if we’re playing for leather, I call.”

We get it, amosalanzostagg, though Amos AlOnzo Stagg hasn’t been a head coach since 1946, or even alive since 1965. Heck, John Heisman died in 1936, and his last football head coaching gig was at Rice in 1927 – not to mention the lasting success he provided Oberlin from his tenure there. And, you know as well as anyone else that a couple of those “SEC football national championships” are contested. Not that many, but some.

@amosalanzostagg:

That’s some sweet irony about the participation trophy & such. Congrats to Manziel but no one knows participation trophies like all the SEC hangers on like Kentucky, Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Georgia, Mizzou, South Carolina & Arkansas. Fans of those teams know their team will never compete for a NC, so they live vicariously through Bama, LSU & UF. Then to further prove their inferiority complex, they shout “SEC!” after Bama wins a NC. AD don’t give me that “you don’t understand” crap. Look at Auburn & Bama fans….u think Auburn is rooting for the SEC in the NC game? Hellllllll no…they appreciate the hatred that goes into a true rivalry. Same goes w/ Bama fan when Auburn won a few yrs ago….Bammers weren’t cheering for Auburn. And don’t give me the money excuse either….u come off sounding like a welfare recipient….besides your conference gets the money just for being in the game, not winning it. Y’all are like Cal Naughton in Talladegha Nights….you’re just Ricky Bobby’s wing man & the wing man is Bama. Sad.

____________________

No, what is sad is seeing Notre Dame act like Randolph Duke screaming to “turn the machines on, turn the machines back on!” out of “Trading Places”. Your precious little Rudy opined and then whined about Manziel winning over an AVERAGE linebacker from Notre Dame. Manti would not have seen the light of day at a Heisman award presentation if Notre Dame was not playing in the National Championship game. He is an average linebacker on his good days.

Now to your pathetic tirade against the SEC.

Let’s compare National Championships since 1989

Notre Dame National Championships
Fencing: (Combined) 1994, 2003, 2005, 2011,
Women’s soccer: 1995, 2004, 2010,
Women’s basketball: 2001

the pathetic SEC and all their hanger ons.

Football

1992 Alabama AP, Berryman, Billingsley, DeVold, Dunkel, Eck, FACT, FB News, Football Research, FW, Matthews, National Championship Foundation, NY Times, Sporting News, UPI/NFF, USA/CNN Yes
1993 Auburn National Championship Foundation No
1996 Florida AP, Berryman, Billingsley, Eck, FACT, FB News, FW, NFF, Sagarin, Sporting News, USA/CNN, NY Times, National Championship Foundation, Dunkel, Matthews, DeVold Yes
1998 Tennessee Alderson, AP, BCS, Berryman, Billingsley, DeVold, Dunkel, Eck, FACT, FB News, FW, Matthews, National Championship Foundation, NFF, NY Times, Seattle Times, Sporting News, USA/ESPN Yes
2003 LSU AP, BCS, Billingsley, Colley, DeVold, Dunkel, FACT, Massey, NFF, Sagarin, Seattle Times, USA/ESPN Yes
2006 Florida BCS, USA Today, AP Yes
2007 LSU BCS, USA Today, AP Yes
2008 Florida BCS, USA Today, AP Yes
2009 Alabama BCS, USA Today, AP Yes
2010 Auburn BCS, USA Today, AP Yes
2011 Alabama BCS, USA Today, AP

Mens Basketball

1994 Arkansas
1996 Kentucky
1998 Kentucky
2006 Florida
2007 Florida
2012 Kentucky

Women’s Basketball
1989 Tennessee
1991 Tennessee
1996 Tennessee
1997 Tennessee
1998 Tennessee
2007 Tennessee
2008 Tennessee

Men’sTrack and Field

1992 Arkansas
1993 Arkansas
1994 Arkansas
1995 Arkansas
1997 Arkansas
1998 Arkansas
1999 Arkansas
2000 Arkansas
2001 LSU
2002 Tennessee
2003 Arkansas
2004 LSU
2005 Arkansas
2006 Arkansas
2010 Florida
2011 Florida
2012 Florida

Men’s Baseball
1990 Georgia
1991 LSU
1993 LSU
1996 LSU
1997 LSU
2000 LSU
2009 LSU
2010 South Carolina
2011 South Carolina

I could go on, no need to. Face it, Notre Dame tries to wake up the echos of a bygone era by thumping their collective chests by saying “We’re relevant again!” Big Deal. Once every 25 years does not a dynasty make. Your pedigree is worn and tattered. Notre Dame is a fine school with great sheltered courses for their Football and basketball teams. Same as any big time sports factory.

Point is, why didn’t you apply for admission to the SEC instead of being a provisional member of the ACC? Answer, your teams couldn’t face the rigors of an SEC conference schedule in any sport.

Why not go find a nice bree to go with all your whining?

BTW, I’m a Bama grad, 1968 not TAMU and I do look forward to playing Notre Dame in the National Championship game.

Really A&M? Do you really need to spam something like the SI.com home page with Johnny Heisman adds?

How does that old football saying go? Act like you’ve been there before? Yeah, Aggies Nation, we get you are proud of Johnny Heisman, but act like you’ve won something like that before, even if you haven’t. You are in the SEC now. Time to put on the big boy pants.

That’s some sweet irony about the participation trophy & such. Congrats to Manziel but no one knows participation trophies like all the SEC hangers on like Kentucky, Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Georgia, Mizzou, South Carolina & Arkansas. Fans of those teams know their team will never compete for a NC, so they live vicariously through Bama, LSU & UF. Then to further prove their inferiority complex, they shout “SEC!” after Bama wins a NC. AD don’t give me that “you don’t understand” crap. Look at Auburn & Bama fans….u think Auburn is rooting for the SEC in the NC game? Hellllllll no…they appreciate the hatred that goes into a true rivalry. Same goes w/ Bama fan when Auburn won a few yrs ago….Bammers weren’t cheering for Auburn. And don’t give me the money excuse either….u come off sounding like a welfare recipient….besides your conference gets the money just for being in the game, not winning it. Y’all are like Cal Naughton in Talladegha Nights….you’re just Ricky Bobby’s wing man & the wing man is Bama. Sad.

Congrats to Manziel, but I disagree w/ your statement about shutting him down. LSU did just that. I know everyone focuses on the Bama win & the cupcakes that he rolled up all those numbers on, but u need to credit your SEC brethren b/c LSU solved the kid & shut him down in a hard fought win. Florida did similarly in the 2nd half. He still outplayed Driskell but his team lost nonetheless.