Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel shows post-Heisman rust no factor in Cotton Bowl

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy in the award’s 77-year history, racked up 516 yards of total offense and accounted for four touchdowns in the ninth-ranked Aggies’ 41-13 rout of No. 11 Oklahoma in Friday night’s AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic at Cowboys Stadium.

Manziel rushed for 229 yards, a Cotton Bowl and FBS bowl record, and stressed after the contest that the Aggies (11-2) were far from rusty in securing what likely will be a Top 10 finish in the post-season polls.

“There is too much talk about how you perform after the Heisman and about the layoff and all that,” Manziel said. “There wasn’t anything holding us back. No rust, there was no nothing. We played as a unit and that’s all you can ask for … To go out and win 11 games and do what we’ve done is impressive.”

Manziel said the Aggies “played with a lot of heart” in breaking open a 14-13 game at the half and securing only the fourth season with 11 or more wins in school history. Even better, Manziel said, was doing so against Oklahoma _ the Big 12 co-champion _ in A&M’s first season after moving from the Big 12 to the SEC. A&M capped the season with six consecutive victories in which the Aggies did not trail, including victories over then-No. 1 Alabama, then-No. 15 Mississippi State and No. 11 Oklahoma.

“To come in and go against a Big 12 rival and do everything we wanted as a team, and send these seniors out with a win, we couldn’t feel any better,” Manziel said.

_ Jimmy Burch