Texas A&M Rallies to 52-48 Victory Over Duke
The Aggies’ rally from
21 points down ranks as the largest comeback in school history. It
eclipsed a 20-point rally from a 27-7 deficit against Baylor in 1958
(Aggies won 33-27). The Aggies went into halftime with a 38-17 deficit
and Duke was receiving the opening kickoff of the second half.
Biggest Comebacks
Deficit
Score Opp.,
Year
Final
-21
38-17 Duke,
2013
W, 52-48
-20
7-27 Baylor,
1958
W, 33-27
-17
0-17 Oklahoma St., 2007 W, 24-24
-17
0-17 Baylor,
1986
W, 31-30
-15
12-27 Kansas St.,
1998 W, 36-33 ot
-15
7-22 Oklahoma St., 1997 W, 28-25 ot
ABOUT THE WIN ...
• The Aggies won bowl games in three successive seasons for the first time in school history.
•
It was the first time that Texas A&M has won three bowls in a row
since a three-game streak comprised of wins in the 1978 Hall of Fame
Bowl, the 1981 Independence Bowl and the 1986 Cotton Bowl.
•
The win was the 20th of the Kevin Sumlin era. It was the seventh time
that Texas A&M has won 20 or more games in a two-game span. No
other head coach has more than 18 wins in his first two seasons at
Texas A&M.
• It’s the first time A&M has had
consecutive seasons with at least nine wins since 1997-98. It was the
22nd time A&M has had at least nine wins in a season.
Manziel takes down Tannehill
Record-setting
QB Johnny Manziel took down the season school record of 3,744 passing
yards set by Ryan Tannehill in 2011. Manziel needed 13 passing yards to
break the record and did it on his first completion of the game -- a
15-yarder to Mike Evans.
Kaser takes down Lechler
Sophomore
punter Drew Kaser wasn’t credited with a punt (punt blocks are credited
to “team”) and thus ended 2013 with a 47.4 average that breaks Shane
Lechler’s school record of 47.0 from 1997.
Manziel just shy of 10,000
Johnny
Manziel needed 466 total yards to become the first sophomore with
10,000 career yards. He finished just 11 yards shy of 10,000 with 455
yards against Duke. After his sophomore years (26 games), Manziel has
9,989 total yards, which is the most-ever by a sophomore.
In two bowl games, Manziel has generated 971 yards, nine touchdowns and two wins.
Texas A&M bowl recordS
•
Senior WR Travis Labhart set the A&M bowl record with three
touchdown catches (old record of two by Jimmie Williams in the 1981
Independence Bowl). He also tied the game TDs record of three, which
has been done four times previously (most recently by Ja’Mar Toombs in
the 2000 Independence Bowl).
• Sophomore QB Johnny
Manziel set A&M bowl records for completions (30) and passing yards
(382), breaking Jerrod Johnson’s bowl records of 29 and 362 from the
2009 Independence Bowl.
records challenged or broken
•
The Aggies passed for 382 yards to bring their season total to 4,593,
which breaks the school (4,114, 2012) and SEC record (4,534 by Florida,
1998).
• The Aggies fell just a yard shy of gaining
7,000 for a second straight season with 6,999 total yards. A&M’s
2013 total ranks No. 2 in SEC history behind last year’s 7,261 yards.
•
With 30 first downs against Duke, the Aggies improved their season
total to 356, which was one short of the SEC record of 357 set by the
Aggies in 2012.
• The 30-of-38 passing night by
Johnny Manziel raised the Aggies’ season completion percentage to a
school record 69.3, which is a school record and ranks No. 3 in SEC
history.
• The 52 points scored by the Aggies raised
the season total of 575, which was just three points behind last year’s
school record of 578. A&M’s points per game was 44.2, which is No.
4 in SEC history (No. 2 in school history).
•
A&M finished the year with 78 touchdowns, which ties the school
record set originally the 2012 squad and ranks No. 2 in SEC history.
12th MAN, POLO, CAPTAINS, COIN TOSS
• For the 13th straight game, sophomore defensive back Sam Moeller was the 12th Man.
•
Wearing the #90 jersey in memory of fallen teammate Polo Manukainiu was
junior gavin stansbury (normally wears #72). Manukainiu died in a
tragic car accident last summer.
•
The Aggies’ team captains at the coin toss were senior captains Toney
Hurd Jr., Ben Malena and Jake Matthews. Texas A&M won the toss and
elected to receive.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT (courtesy Chick-fil-A Bowl and ASAP Sports)
COACH KEVIN SUMLIN
JOHNNY MANZIEL
TONEY HURD, JR.
COACH SUMLIN: It's New Year's. Let's get questions and get
going.
Q. It was obviously a tale of two halves. How were you able
to keep them out of the end zone in the second half?
COACH SUMLIN: We missed a bunch of one‑on‑one situations I
thought. Play‑action pass got us. Some deep balls, some
missed tackles. We had a little bit of a discussion at halftime
about doing your job, not trying to do everything, take over the whole
thing in one big chunk, but play each play, do your job, be
accountable, be accountable to the next man.
As a coach, I think you get two of the greatest compliments you can be
given is if your team plays hard and doesn't ever quit. That kind
of leadership comes from the locker room and the guys that are on the
field.
These guys, what we talked about at halftime was don't go back out
there unless you think you're going to win the game. That belief,
looking at each other in the eye, counting on the next guy, I couldn't
be happier for the win, accomplished what this senior group has
accomplished, something that you'll never be able to take away from
them, a story that has set a tone for this program, winning 20 games in
two seasons, moving to a new league, getting a new coach, the whole
bit. It's a tribute to the players.
Q. You said you had a meeting on the sidelines. What was
said?
JOHNNY MANZIEL: The whole thing all night was, Don't quit.
We got down really big. But the main thing I kept stressing to
everybody, offense, defense, special teams, kickoff, whatever it was,
Don't look at the scoreboard, don't look up. No reason to do
it. The game is 0‑0. I kept trying to reiterate to them we
worked hard, fought all year, specifically talking to the offense, it
all starts with them up front. You guys are dogs. You
worked hard all year, you're the strength of our offense. You
need to start pushing some guys around. And I think they did a
great job.
With the receivers I said, Continue to make plays. We're
close. We were just a little bit off I felt in the first
half. We settled down, stopped really pressing. I don't
know how many incompletions we had in the second half, but it wasn't
many. I know that.
Q. One.
JOHNNY MANZIEL: One.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOHNNY MANZIEL: I don't know. It's an unreal feeling, I
know that. I know the way these guys fought, unreal how proud I
am of them, biggest comeback in school history. Wow.
Q. (No microphone.)
TONEY HURD, JR.: I mean first and foremost, I want to take my
hats off to my coach and my teammates. We had a lot of adversity
in the first half and we found a way to bounce back. It's a
blessing.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOHNNY MANZIEL: We had a little play‑action bubble pass
out. I didn't get a very good look. Tyrell told me it was
an easy touchdown. I think the way things go down, I could make
it a little bit harder.
When I left my feet originally, I thought I was in trouble because
somebody from Duke was staring up at me. I don't know what
happened. I kind of shot backwards, bounced off of somebody, got
out of there and looked out and saw Lab sitting wide open.
COACH SUMLIN: That's coaching (laughter).
Q. Were you surprised at all finding yourself way down?
COACH SUMLIN: I said this all week, I told these guys, you get to
this time of year, you don't have bad football teams. You don't
beat Miami and Virginia Tech, Carolina, win 10 games luckily.
David Cutcliffe and his staff did a great job. That is a really,
really well‑prepared, well‑coached, well‑disciplined football team.
That being said, you give them credit for their execution, how they
played, how they came out. We had a little meeting with
everybody, I think it's called a meeting. I thought we pressed
early. I think we were just a little bit off, and they were
on. That's a tribute to how they approached the game. They
were prepared.
'Surprised' would not be the word. I said all week, you guys
don't know me that much, but guys around me, if I say I think a team's
good, I'm going to tell you. If I don't, that won't come out of
my mouth.
JOHNNY MANZIEL: For me, I think the biggest thing was, when I
came away from that game, I'll speak about this forever, I think that
team plays with more heart than anybody in the entire country. I
think those guys they have on their team, they play for Coach Cutcliffe
and they played for their coaches and for their fans and university
maybe harder than anybody in the country. It really was unreal to
see how much passion, fire, energy they did coming into that
game. It was pretty darn good.
It was a real credit to them how they played today. It was pretty
darn good.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOHNNY MANZIEL: Biggest thing that I kept stressing, Don't give
up. No matter how dark it gets, if they come out, score, go for
two, whatever the score got to, never stop quitting. I won't stop
quitting on those guys. They won't quit on me. That was it,
settle down, no matter what.
TONEY HURD, JR.: As a team we came out and each and every one of
us was a man. We just stepped up in the end and made plays when
it counted, came out with a W.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH SUMLIN: It's big. You get confidence from a situation
like this, particularly from where we were at halftime, the atmosphere,
the stage, national TV. I said at the end of the game, for the
seniors it's a big deal, for them moving on, setting the tone.
But for our young guys who played a lot of football this year, got on
the stage like the one tonight, national television with everybody
watching and responding, not quitting, that really sets the tone for
things to come.
A bunch of those freshmen that played a lot this year, they're going to
have to draw on these experiences and get better and be leaders for us
going into next year.
Q. (No microphone.)
TONEY HURD, JR.: Our front seven got a little bit of
pressure. The number one receiver ran a slant. I saw the
ball come out of his hands. The rest is history. It was a
great play.
Q. (No microphone.)
TONEY HURD, JR.: It's a great feeling. Not only Johnny, but
the entire offense. Coach Spav and Coach McKinney throughout the
whole season have dialed up great plays. It's fun to be exact.
On defense, we have to step up, make plays. It's fun to be able
to watch our offense make plays each and every game, as well.
Q. (Question regarding the NFL.)
JOHNNY MANZIEL: I feel like they dared us to beat one‑on‑one
coverage a little bit. They like to play some man in the NFL, I
know that. We did a great job in the second half. Our
receivers ran great routes. They continued to get open.
Just tried to put it on them as much as I could.
One completion in a whole half of football, that's a pretty good deal
by both me, I guess, and the receivers. But mainly in the second
half it was up front, those guys were unreal.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOHNNY MANZIEL: This is uncharacteristic of Mike. This is
not Mike. A little bit out of his element, a little bit out of
his comfort zone. He was just a little frustrated. Tried to
settle him down. If anybody could kind of come to him and settle
him down and get him out of that little zone he was in, I felt like I
might have been the person to do it. He's a guy that I've roomed
with all year. He's a guy I love like a brother. Tried to
settle him down and get him to be the guy that he is, the incredible
receiver he is.
Q. Talk about your career at Texas A&M.
JOHNNY MANZIEL: Unreal. To be with Coach Sumlin, have him
come in, didn't expect him to be there when I first came there, that's
for sure. But it was unreal how things played out in my career so
far at Texas A&M. It's been a blessing for sure to have Coach
Sumlin, guys like Coach Kingsbury and Coach Spav, everybody on the
staff that does a great job week in, week out, making sure we're
prepared, making sure our goal is to put partnerships up on the board
and they have the game plan to do it.
Most of all I'm extremely proud to have played on the offensive line
with guys like Luke, Jake, (indiscernible). Everybody on offense
the past two years, it's been unreal towards me, they've been awesome
towards me. They've helped me get to where I am today.
Without them I wouldn't be anything.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH SUMLIN: Here is a guy who we gave a scholarship to during
fall camp. Nobody even knew who he was. He has a couple
hundred‑yard gains. I'll be honest with you, it is offensive guys
kept talking about him during camp. Particularly this guy over
there. He's put, Put Lab in the game.
I'm like, What? We recruited the number one receiver class in the
country last year, and you want me to put Lab in the game?
That says a lot. He's a guy that really represents our
university, really represents Texas A&M. Here is a guy that
was basically playing with the women's basketball team, helping them as
a scout team for the women's basketball team. Then he comes over,
he's a scout team guy for our football team. Now he's got a
couple hundred‑yard games. What did he do tonight?
76. I think he gives hope to everybody. A guy that works at
it, didn't quit, plays extremely hard.
I think when you recruit, you try to recruit at the level we recruit
at, I think there's always room for that guy. That's why we put
him on scholarship during fall camp. That was money well spent,
obviously. That's a great reward for him.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH SUMLIN: I don't know. I thought our game plan was
good. We incorporated some other players. Cam Clear got a
few more touches at tight end. Added him really in the formations
a little bit more. All our runningbacks did a nice job. Our
O‑line did a nice job.
We were probably a little bit more multiple with utilizing different
formations and multiple players. Whenever you do that, you have
an opportunity to really heighten the energy level because more people
are playing.
I think, you know, you like to see that with Cam because he can be a
real force for us going into next year.
Q. What does a win like this tonight do for the team going into
next year?
JOHNNY MANZIEL: It's unreal. Like I said, that's the word I
can use to describe this game. From coming back, getting the game
to three points, watching the guy tiptoe down the sideline. How
he didn't go out of bounds is unreal. I was talking to people on
the sidelines, saying it was unreal. ESPN Classic on NCAA
football for sure.
Now it's 20‑14. Feel like we got our first win 20‑14. Gave
us momentum going forward.
COACH SUMLIN: It was interesting. I walked down to him and
I said, We're going to get the ball, we're going to score, and then
we're going to onside kick and we're going to win the game.
He said, I know that.
About that time I looked up, he was going the other way. That
eliminated that part of the game. We did have that discussion
right there.
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