Revisiting Johnny Manziel’s Alabama upset: Inside the 2012 game that launched ‘Johnny Football’ nickname

Revisiting Johnny Manziel’s Alabama upset: Inside the 2012 game that launched ‘Johnny Football’ nickname originally appeared on The Sporting News

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How Texas A&M upset Alabama in 2012
Johnny Manziel stats vs. Alabama
Johnny Manziel vs. Alabama highlights
How much was Alabama favored to win by?
Johnny Manziel nickname origin
What year was Johnny Manziel in 2012?
Johnny Manziel career record vs. Alabama

Upsets are just one part of what makes college football so great. There have been several memorable ones over the years, but one of the best came in 2012, when Texas A&M upset Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide.

Entering this game in mid-November, Alabama was undefeated and the top-ranked team in the country. The Aggies entered ranked 15th nationally, with sitting at 7-2. Although the Tide was heavily favored in this one, Texas A&M went on the road and delivered a shocking 29-24 upset.

Let’s take a look back at how this upset happened, some of the most memorable moments, key figures and more.

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How Texas A&M upset Alabama in 2012

Entering this game, both of these programs were in two quite different places. Alabama was coming off of a national championship season under head coach Nick Saban, who was in his sixth season in Tuscaloosa.

Texas A&M was being led by first-year Aggie head coach Kevin Sumlin, who was one of the hottest names in college football coaching, having compiled a 35-17 record over four seasons with Houston.

Alabama entered this game unbeaten. The Tide already earned signature wins over ranked opponents in Michigan and Mississippi State as well as a 21-7 road win over then-No. 5 LSU the week prior. Texas A&M had two losses to ranked opponents in Florida and LSU but notched signature wins over Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

Alabama was ranked No. 1 in the land for the majority of the season and entered the game vs. the Aggies in that spot. Texas A&M checked in at No. 15.

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Texas A&M takes 20-0 lead in first quarter

The Aggies’ offense came out firing on all cylinders early. Texas A&M had three scoring drives while holding Alabama’s offense to two three-and-outs and an interception off Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron. Aggie running back Christine Michael scored two touchdowns, and Manziel added a passing touchdown to Ryan Swope.

Alabama makes it a game by halftime

The Tide weren’t going away quietly. Alabama’s offense got the ball back late in the first quarter. McCarron led Alabama to a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped off by a T.J. Yeldon rushing touchdown.

On Texas A&M’s ensuing possession, the Aggies managed to drain over five minutes off the clock. But Bama’s defense had a key fourth-down stop on a Manziel rushing attempt, giving the Tide offense the ball back with 4:10 left before halftime.

Alabama responded with a 10-play, 67-yard scoring drive, capped off by an Eddie Lacy touchdown to make it 20-16 at halftime.

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Alabama’s defense comes alive in third quarter

As eventful as the first half was, this game’s third quarter really slowed down. Alabama’s defense forced two Aggie three-and-outs. Alabama got on the board late in the quarter with a Jeremy Shelley 28-yard field goal to make it 20-17 heading into the fourth quarter.

Fireworks in the fourth quarter

As quiet as the third quarter was, the fourth quarter delivered. Texas A&M opened the quarter with a Taylor Bertolet 29-yard field goal that raised the Aggies lead back to six.

The lead held early in the quarter, as Texas A&M missed a 37-yard field goal attempt. Alabama, meanwhile, had another three-and-out and Yeldon fumbled, giving the Aggies the ball back. Manziel threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Malcome Kennedy to give his team a 29-17 lead with 8:37 left.

McCarron and Alabama didn’t go away quietly though. On the Tide’s next possession, he put together a nine-play, 94-yard scoring drive that cut the deficit back to six. He hit Amari Cooper on a 54-yard bomb on the score.

Alabama forced another Aggie three-and-out to give McCarron and the Tide the ball back with 4:27 left. Alabama managed to march down the field to Texas A&M’s two-yard line. But on 4th-and-goal, Texas A&M’s Deshazor Everett picked off McCarron in the end zone.

Alabama had a chance to get the ball back again, as Texas A&M was set to punt with 40 seconds left. But Alabama was flagged for a costly offsides penalty, which let the Aggies run out the clock, sealing the upset victory.

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Johnny Manziel stats vs. Alabama

Manziel played lights out against the Alabama defense, which allowed their most points of the entire season. He finished going 24-of-31 with 253 yards passing along with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

He averaged 8.3 yards in the air. He also led the team in rushing, tallying 92 yards on 18 carries. His favorite target was his receiver Ryan Swope, as the two hooked up 11 times for 111 yards on the day.

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Johnny Manziel vs. Alabama highlights

Johnny Manziel wreaked havoc on Alabama’s defense throughout. One of his most unbelievable plays came on Texas A&M’s first touchdown of the day. While it looked like the Tide defense was going to sack Manziel, he bobbled the ball, but somehow caught it and hit Swope in the end zone:

Throughout the game, it looked as if Alabama’s defense didn’t know how to stop the quarterback. Helped by Texas A&M’s fast, up-tempo scheme, the Tide looked like it couldn’t predict where Manziel was going to throw or run.

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How much was Alabama favored to win by?

The fact that Alabama lost this game was shocking in itself. But the Tide were also 13.5-point favorites at home. Alabama also had a chance to clinch the SEC West with a win over the Aggies but failed to do so with the loss.

Luckily for the Tide, Alabama was able to clinch a spot in the SEC title game with its 49-0 win over Auburn in the Iron Bowl. The Aggies gave Alabama its last loss of the 2012, season, as the Tide went on to beat Notre Dame 42-14 in the BCS National Championship.

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Johnny Manziel nickname origin

Johnny Manziel received the nickname “Johnny Football” pretty early on in his career. Per Wikipedia, the moniker was started by a popular Texas A&M site TexAgs when Manziel was just a sophomore in high school. But after Manziel topped the Tide, the nickname spread like wildfire throughout college football. He went on to win the Heisman in 2012, becoming the first freshman to win the award.

It followed him to College Station, and it was so big that Manziel applied for and was granted a registered copyright for the name during his 2013 season.

Ahead of the 2014 NFL Draft, Manziel said that the nickname was so prevalent that people started referring to him as just “Mr. Football”.

“And I do like (the nickname),” Manziel said. “At the same time, it’s really, it’s almost — I get people that come up to me that I don’t even think they know my last name.They just know — people call me ‘Mr. Football.'”

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What year was Johnny Manziel in 2012?

In 2012, Johnny Manziel was just a redshirt freshman. He signed with the Aggies’ 2011 class as a three-star quarterback prospect, ranked as the No. 13 overall dual threat quarterback in his class per the 247Sports Composite. Playing out of Tivy High School in Kerrville, Tx., Manziel was ranked No. 63 overall from the Lonestar State as a recruit.

Johnny Manziel career record vs. Alabama

Johnny Manziel finished 1-1 overall in his career against the Tide. He played just two seasons in college, entering the 2014 NFL draft after his second season at Texas A&M.

In the rematch between these two schools in 2013, Alabama won 49-42 in another thriller. Manziel finished that game with a whopping 464 yards passing with five touchdowns and two interceptions. He rushed for another 98 yards, as well.

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