Willie W. Bonvillain
November 20, 2013
Patterson still alive after hard-fought victory
November 27, 2013
Against everyone else in the SEC, he’s Johnny Football – the explosive Heisman Trophy winner that overwhelms opponents with both elite running and passing skills.
But against LSU, he’s merely Johnny Manziel – the redshirt sophomore quarterback that was not highly recruited out of high school because he sometimes struggles to throw the football.
For the second-straight year, the Tigers’ defense kept Manziel inside the pocket and dared him to throw the football. And for the second-straight season, the plan worked to perfection, as LSU stumped the Aggies’ offense throughout Saturday’s game en route to a comfortable 34-10 win.
LSU’s defense held Texas A&M to 299 total yards in the victory – a season-low for the Aggies.
The dominance also ended Texas A&M’s year-long streak of scoring 40 or more points in every game.
“At halftime, (defensive coordinator John Chavis) talked to the defense and here’s what he said: he said, ‘Listen, it’s not the scheme. It’s the great effort and energy of the guys that are playing for LSU on defense.’” LSU coach Les Miles recollected following the game. “He said, ‘You’ve got 30 more minutes and you’ve got to play just like that.’ Hats off to that defense. That defense did exactly that.”
The Tigers mirrored their 2012 formula for containing Manziel in Saturday’s win.
Just like they did in last year’s 24-19 triumph over the Aggies, the LSU defensive ends rushed Manziel wide and didn’t allow him to run the football on the edges.
With his running heavily restricted, Manziel was forced to attack the Tigers with his arm. On a wet and windy day, that proved difficult to do.
Last season’s Heisman Trophy winner was 16-of-41 passing with 224 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He rushed for 54 yards on 12 carries.
Manziel’s statistics on Saturday were eerily similar to the three-interception outing that he had in last year’s LSU game.
Manziel said the Aggies’ offense didn’t have a rhythm all game.
“You have to come out and establish a tempo, get some things going, and we could never really get it going,” Manziel said. “You have to give a lot of credit to them. They came out and mixed a lot of things up. They kept us guessing, and it really took us awhile to figure it out.”
With the Aggies’ offense struggling to keep possession of the ball, the Tigers’ offense took full advantage by pounding Texas A&M in the gut of their defense.
LSU rushed for 324 yards in Saturday’s win, routinely pushing forward for five yards or more on a given running play.
Junior halfback Terrence Magee paced the Tigers’ tailbacks, rushing for 149 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown. Sophomore Jeremy Hill also was a force, powering forward for 76 yards. Senior Alfred Blue added 61 of his own, and Tri-parish native Kenny Hilliard scored a touchdown.
“I think we knew we could have some success running the ball tonight,” Hill said. “We knew that the running backs would have to run physically. They haven’t faced many powerful running backs this season, and that would be an advantage for us. I think we did a great job of rotating the backs tonight. We kept fresh legs in there, and I think it showed.”
The rushing dominance allowed LSU to possess the ball for 40 minutes of the game. It also set up the Tigers’ passing attack, as well.
With the LSU running game moving the chains and forcing the Aggies to creep extra defenders into the box, senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger and the Tigers’ passing game enjoyed an efficient day.
Mettenberger completed 11-of-20 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns – both scores to junior receiver Jarvis Landry.
Landry and Hill both surpassed 1,000 yards on the season in Saturday’s win.
Landry’s two touchdowns on the day gave him 10 for the 2013 season and 15 total touchdowns for his three-year career.
That is a source of pride for the Tigers’ offense, according to Miles, who noted the accomplishment in his post-game press conference.
But Mettenberger said the credit belongs to five unsung heroes within the team.
“Honestly, all of our success comes from the offensive line and those five guys up front,” Mettenberger said. “When they are playing well, we feed off them. They open holes for the running game and give me time to dissect the defense and get the ball to Jarvis and Odell.”
With the win, LSU will now head into a short week of preparation.
The Tigers will host Arkansas on Friday afternoon in Tiger Stadium – the last regular season game for both teams. The game will kick-off at 1:30 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on CBS.
If LSU is victorious, it will mark an undefeated season at home for the Tigers.
Miles always says it’s a stadium where opponents dreams go to die.
It sure seems like it’s also a place where Johnny Football’s hopes for a second Heisman Trophy went to die, as well.
LSU junior halfback Terrence Magee breaks into the open field during Saturday afternoon’s 34-10 Tigers’ victory over Texas A&M. After struggling for most of the 2013 season, LSU’s defense rose to the occasion on Saturday and shut down Aggies’ Heisman Trophy quarterback Johnny Manziel, limiting him to just 224 passing yards.
