Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel was selected Sunday as the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week for his role in leading the Aggies to a 29-24 upset of then-No. 1 Alabama.
Manziel, a redshirt freshman from Kerrville, racked up 345 yards of total offense Saturday against the nation’s stingiest scoring defense to help the Aggies (8-2, 5-2 in SEC) prevail in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The upset broke a 13-game winning streak for Alabama (9-1, 6-1), college football’s defending national champion.
Manziel led A&M, ranked 15th in the BCS standings heading into the contest, to three first-quarter touchdowns and the Aggies never trailed while posting the school’s second victory in 12 meetings against a team ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. Manziel completed 24-of-31 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 92 yards on 18 carries.
The performance allowed Manziel, a Heisman Trophy candidate who ranks second nationally in total offense (379.4 yards per game), to become the second freshman in FBS history to rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 2,000 yards in a season.
Manziel has 1,014 rushing yards and 2,780 passing yards this season. The only other FBS freshman to hit the 1,000/2,000 threshold was Missouri quarterback Brad Smith, who rushed for 1,029 yards and passed for 2,333 in 2002.
Manziel is now 220 passing yards away from becoming the first freshman and fifth player in FBS history to reach 1,000 rushing yards and 3,000 passing yards in a season. The list includes Texas’ Vince Young (2005), Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour (2007), Nevada’s Colin Kaeparnick (2010) and Northern Illinois’ Chandler Harnish (2011).
_ Jimmy Burch
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