Manziel, Aggies too much for ’Dogs
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State’s vaunted defense isn’t looking so good these days.
Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel has a way of doing that to opposing teams.
The redshirt freshman picked apart Mississippi State by completing 30 of 36 passes for 311 yards and dodged the No. 15 Bulldogs for 129 yards rushing and two touchdowns, leading the 16th-ranked Aggies to a 38-13 victory on Saturday.
It was a crushing loss for the Bulldogs (7-2, 3-2 SEC), who have dropped two consecutive.
“That’s as bad of a performance as I think we’ve had here,” Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen said.
Tyler Russell completed 19 of 30 passes for 212 yards and 1 touchdown and threw 1 interception for the Bulldogs. LaDarius Perkins led the team with 42 yards rushing, and Arceto Clark caught five passes for 64 yards.
A relative unknown before the season, Manziel has certainly been the unquestioned star for the upstart Aggies.
“He has a green light to make plays, some improvised, some called,” Texas A&M first-year Coach Kevin Sumlin said.
He made those plays in bunches against the Bulldogs, including a 37-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter that pushed the Aggies’ lead to 21-0. The 6-1, 200-pound Manziel rolled right, and when he didn’t see an open receiver, weaved around multiple defenders on his way to the end zone.
“He’s a great player,” Mississippi State linebacker Cameron Lawrence said. “He’s slippery. It’s hard to contain a guy like that. At times I thought we did a good job of containing him, but you let him get out one time and it can be trouble.”
Sumlin admitted the Aggies are still adjusting to their quarterback’s playmaking ability.
It’s a good problem to have.
“We’re lucky to have him,” running back Ben Malena said. “The play is never over. You’ve got to stay in the play and try to help him out any way you can.”
Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2 SEC) has won all five of its road games this season. Christine Michael ran for 50 yards and two touchdowns, and Ryan Swope caught nine passes for 121 yards.
The Aggies’ quick-tempo offense ran 97 plays and gained 693 total yards. Mississippi State had 310 yards.
Mississippi State’s defense had been one of the best in the SEC this season — especially in the secondary — but was blitzed early and often by the Aggies’ unpredictable offense.
Manziel completed mostly short passes in the first half, but hit on a few long ones. When the Bulldogs dropped too far back into pass coverage, the speedy freshman gained yards with his feet.
By halftime, Manziel had completed 18 of 22 passes for 164 yards and run for 82 yards as the Aggies grabbed a 24-0 lead. NO. 6 GEORGIA 37, MISSISSIPPI 10
ATHENS, Ga. — Aaron Murray threw four touchdown passes and No. 6 Georgia overcame a slow start to beat Mississippi and move one victory away from a spot in the SEC Championship Game.
Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) trailed 10-0 before scoring 37 unanswered points. The Bulldogs can clinch the SEC East title and second consecutive trip to the conference championship game with a victory at Auburn next week.
“We know now it’s down to one game to win the right to go back to Atlanta,” Richt said.
Ole Miss (5-4, 2-3) used blitzes to record five sacks in the first half. The defensive gambles left opportunities for Murray, who completed 21 of 28 passes for 384 yards and touchdown passes of 66, 40, 42 and 28 yards.
Georgia’s defense, coming off last week’s 17-9 victory over then-No. 2 Florida, held Ole Miss to 234 yards, including only 55 in the second half. Damian Swann recovered two fumbles for Georgia.
Jeff Scott led Ole Miss with only 21 yards rushing on 13 carries. VANDERBILT 40, KENTUCKY 0
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Vanderbilt dominated Kentucky on offense, defense and special teams to jump out to a 27point halftime lead and coast past the Wildcats.
Quarterback Jordan Rodgers completed 18 of 29 passes for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns and threw 1 interception, and three Commodores running backs scored rushing touchdowns against the overmatched Kentucky defense.
Vanderbilt’s 40-point victory margin was its largest against the Wildcats in 96 years. In the teams’ 85 meetings — 40 won by Vanderbilt — the only Commodores victories that were more lopsided were 45-0 in 1916 and 50-0 in 1897.
The Commodores (5-4, 3-3 SEC) scored touchdowns on four of their five first-half drives, none of which took longer than 4:19.
Rodgers drove Vanderbilt 71 yards on 11 plays to begin the game, ending with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Matthews. Rodgers also threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Chris Boyd in the second quarter.
Vanderbilt relied on its offense and Kentucky’s special-teams miscues to start drives in good field position and move the ball quickly thereafter. The Wildcats were penalized twice for interfering with the catch on punts on consecutive second-quarter drives, both of which Vanderbilt turned into touchdowns.
Kentucky (1-9, 0-7) missed an early scoring opportunity on a 16-play, 49yard drive that consumed 7:10. After converting a fourth-down play at the Vanderbilt 28, the Wildcats were pushed back, and Craig McIntosh missed a 50yard field-goal attempt on fourth-and15.