Johnny Football: Alone on Heisman Island

The Johnny Football Show rolled on in the season finale at Texas A&M, but not without a brief detour. Late in the first quarter, our hero went down after a tackle and grabbed his knee, and 90,000 went silent and absolutely still.

And the producer of the national TV broadcast swallowed his headset mic wondering how he was going to fill the next 3 hours.

But alas it was just another plot point in Johnny Football, the movie. Manziel came back and did his usual thing: 439 total offense, 5 total TD. And despite the failed attempt for a TD reception, like the failed PAT attempt the week before, it appears that nobody's going to catch him for the Heisman.

It's not that Johnny Manziel doesn't have the Heisman numbers, he certainly does. He's the single biggest impact player on any team in college football. But Heisman voters have been cool to freshmen in the past. But in 2012, who could you vote over him?

Notre Dame's Manti Te'o? Maybe. He is the best player on a tough as nails, possible national champion defense. But he isn't the best defensive player in the country, not even the best LB. That would be the Dawgs' Jarvis Jones y'all.

Kansas State's Collin Klein finishes up with Texas. But the late-season debacle at Baylor (who were obviously protecting last year's trophy) will be stuck in the voters' heads. While Manziel's season only got better as the stakes got higher, beating Alabama on the road and taking the magic carpet ride from there. The night of The Home Depot College Football Awards is Manziel's 20th birthday. The Heisman is two days later.

The Aggies' regular season is over. Manziel can't lose ground on the Heisman. And it doesn't appear that anyone else can win it.

The Legend Of Johnny Football Builds

My first show in Shreveport in 10 years was somewhat eventful. It was possibly the biggest game in Louisiana Tech history, and delayed 6 weeks by the threat of Hurricane Isaac that forced the postponement of the originally scheduled August 30 meeting.

But to illustrate the difference between the type of resources that divide Texas A&M and Louisiana Tech, I cite my credential from the actual October 13 game. Notice they didn't bother to reprint from Week 1.

Texas A&M raced to a 27-0 lead and we were headed for your garden variety big school-small school, rich school-poor school blowout. Aggie freshman Johnny Manziel (aka "Johnny Football") was flinging the ball all over the place, running for touchdowns, and The Kerrville, Texas product was inspiring visions of Friday Night Lights and Varsity Blues.

But the second half broke out, and as Johnny (Johnny Carson) once asked, "Was that a football game or a track meet?"

The La Tech Bulldogs never quit. They put 41 points on the board after halftime and came within a 2-point conversion of forcing overtime before ultimately submitting 59-57. The game featured 1,293 combined total yards, and we may have seen the eventual Biletnikoff Award winner, Quinton Patton.

The La Tech PR department is obviously all over it, but Patton walked the walk with 21 catches for 233 yards and 4 TD against the Aggies' beleaguered defense.

But the story was Johnny Football. The freshman tallied 576 yards of total offense (395 pass, 181 rush) and 6 total TD (3 of each), breaking the SEC total offense record that he set just 2 weeks ago against Arkansas.

A&M's most important drive started at their own 1 with about 3 minutes to go, leading 53-44. Manziel dropped straight back and fired a 34-yard strike over the defense. Then two plays later, Johnny Football took off on a 72 yard gold rush on a 3rd & 23.

Manziel is listed at 6'1" but I don't believe it. But just because he's a shorter, scrappier, unconventional QB type, and a freshman - doesn't mean he can't win the Heisman Trophy.

Send the Heisman to Daniel McCoy, c/o Austin, Texas

Was there ever really any doubt? You don't want to say he was robbed last year since Oklahoma's Sam Bradford had an earth-shaking season as well. But D. "Colt" McCoy certainly got the short end of the stick.

Now after some merely adequate performances in the first half of the '09 season, he is definitely revving it up around hardware time. The 304 pass yards, 175 rush yards and 5 total TD against A&M was Vince-esque...only better.

Now he's just one win and an Ndamukong Suh from a a date with an engraver.

This season has had some intriguing darkhorses, but they're fighting for NYC plane tickets now.

Alabama's Mark Ingram was pacing the field, but looks like he needs some new tires on the last lap.

Clemson's C.J. Spiller was spectacular enough, but he'd need a Reggie Bush type of win-loss record to go with his Reggie Bush type of season.

Stanford's Toby Gerhart is a legit contender with 26 TD runs, but his games are on too late serving too regional an audience to impress enough voters nationwide.

But McCoy is in position to complete the trifecta: Tebow, Bradford, McCoy. They each get one. Everyone's happy, socialism at its highest level (as is the BCS itself but that's another post). I do have a friend who is a resident of Texas' capital city and calls it "The People's Republic of Austin."

My pick:

How about a little love for the Longhorns' other #12?

Texas CB Earl Thomas and his 8 INTs for the Thorpe Award!

He's just a sophomore. Has one school ever has a Heisman and Thorpe award winner in the same season with the same number???