A&M quarterback saves best for last

OXFORD, Miss. — Johnny Manziel threw for 346 yards and ran for two touchdowns as No. 9 Texas A&M rallied to beat Mississippi 41-38 on Saturday night.

Texas A&M’s Josh Lambo made a 33-yard field goal as time expired to give the Aggies (5-1, 2-1 SEC) the victory. They trailed 38-31 midway through the fourth quarter, but Manziel engineered a 75yard drive, ending with his 6-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 38 with 3:07 left.

After A&M’s defense held, Manziel led the Aggies on one final drive that led to the game-winning field goal. He had runs of 12 and 13 yards on the winning drive.

Ole Miss linebacker Serderius Bryant was carted off on a stretcher during the final drive after a big hit. The extent of the injury wasn’t immediately known.

Ole Miss (3-3, 1-3) trailed 21-10 in the third quarter but rallied thanks to two unlikely touchdown passes by backup quarterback Barry Brunetti.

Manziel made his usual array of spectacular plays but also a few costly mistakes, including an interception in the end zone during the third quarter and a fumble early in the fourth. In the end, he was victorious.

Ole Miss’ Bo Wallace threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns.

It was an entertaining, back-and-forth game featuring two of the league’s young offensive coaching minds in Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin and Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze. The teams combined for 41 points in the fourth quarter — 21 for Ole Miss and 20 for Texas A&M — and Texas A&M had 587 total yards while Ole Miss had 462.

Manziel was creating his usual havoc in the first quarter, running for 17 yards on the first play. It was part of a 78-yard drive — capped by Ben Malena’s 7-yard touchdown run — that gave the Aggies an early 7-0 lead.

They were driving again on their next possession when Manziel rolled out to his left before releasing a long throw. He wasn’t touched by the defense, but immediately tumbled to the turf after releasing the pass while clutching his left knee.

The sophomore stayed on the ground for a few minutes before walking off the field with some help from Texas A&M’s trainers. Although it initially looked like it could be a significant injury, he was up almost immediately on the sideline, jogging and stretching, and returned on the next drive.

It wasn’t long before he was running again, with a nimble, shifty 24-yard dash that allowed the Aggies to convert on a third-and-14. But even with Manziel’s big plays, Texas A&M’s offense never clicked at its usual pace.