Team Speed Kills - Johnny Manziel Wins Heisman Trophy Over Collin Klein, Manti Te'oSports are just better in the SEChttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52580/tsk_fav.png2012-12-09T07:01:28-05:00http://www.teamspeedkills.com/rss/stream/34887072012-12-09T07:01:28-05:002012-12-09T07:01:28-05:00Encore? Manziel's Chance for a Second Heisman
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<figcaption>Mike Stobe</figcaption>
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<p>As everyone moves on from Saturday night, the question is whether the first freshman winner in the history of the Heisman Trophy can be the second person to win it twice. So can he?</p> <p>The first Heisman Trophy win by a freshman brings up the same question as the first Heisman Trophy win by a sophomore did when Tim Tebow claimed the award, and the question that has followed every junior winner who's decided not to enter the NFL Draft: Can he do it again? After all, only one player in the history of college football (Archie Griffin) has managed to claim the award twice.</p>
<p>Previous winners have found that winning again is easier said than done. Tebow was unable to win it again in either of his seasons after his Heisman victory. Matt Leinart arguably had better numbers in his senior year but lost the award to *. (He should have lost it to Vince Young anyway, but that's neither here nor there.) So what are the key factors in determining whether Johnny Manziel will be standing on the stage accepting a second trophy in 2013?</p>
<p><b>The competition.</b> Both of the other finalists on Saturday night -- Manti Te'o and Collin Klein -- graduate this year. But the remainder of the Top 7 in vote getting will likely or certainly be back in 2013, and many of them are well-known names that will take a serious shot at the award: Marqise Lee (sophomore), Braxton Miller (sophomore), Jadeveon Clowney (sophomore) and Jordan Lynch (junior). Jarvis Jones also got some votes this year, but he's probably bound for the NFL Draft next year.</p>
<p>Clowney is the only one on the list who's a true defensive player, which could cost him some votes. Lynch will also have an uphill climb simply because he plays in the MAC, meaning he would have to put up gargantuan numbers to get serious consideration. But Lee and Miller could both be playing for conference title contenders, and Miller will be even more comfortable in the system that won Tebow the Heisman.</p>
<p>And Manziel should know better than anyone that next year's winner could come out of nowhere. After all, that's what he did in 2012.</p>
<p><b>The rest of the roster.</b> The Heisman is supposed to be an individual award, and it should be awarded based on an individual's achievements. But we all know that football isn't quite that neat and simple on the field. Any player will rely on his supporting cast in 2013, and Manziel is no exception.</p>
<p>Much of the first-game starting lineup for Manziel's offensive line should return. His favorite target was not Ryan Swope -- who didn't have a bad year by any stretch -- but fellow freshman Mike Evans, who had 75 catches for 1,022 yards and five touchdowns. Still, someone will need to replace Swope's numbers (64, 809, 7) or at least come close for Manziel to make a successful return trip to New York City.</p>
<p>The picture in the ground game also doesn't change much. Ben Malena should be back. Christine Michael's departure could open up a few more carries for Manziel and/or Malena, but there won't be much of a difference.</p>
<p><b>The schedule.</b> After getting a pretty brutal slate this year, Texas A&M's second year in the SEC should be a little more hospitable. The non-conference slate is a little less tough, with potential BCS buster Louisiana Tech and S.C. State out, replaced with Rice and New Mexico. Both Sam Houston State and SMU are back.</p>
<p>The conference schedule is also less strenuous. Florida falls off and is replaced by Vanderbilt in the rotation -- and while the Commodore's defense wasn't bad this year, it wasn't Florida's. Alabama and Mississippi State come to College Station, but the Aggies have to face LSU and a potentially dangerous Ole Miss team on the road. No one said it was easy, but it's not the hardest season you could draw in the SEC West.</p>
<p>More significant will be whether the teams that faced Texas A&M this year are ready to make the defensive adjustments necessary to contain him better than they did in 2012. Just like he did for the Heisman watchers this year, Johnny Manziel took a bunch of teams by surprise this season. And just like the experts who are already putting together their watch lists for 2013, Manziel will be on every defensive coordinator's radar next season.</p>
https://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/12/9/3745762/heisman-trophy-can-johnny-manziel-go-2-0-in-the-race-for-collegeBrandon Larrabee2012-12-08T22:50:39-05:002012-12-08T22:50:39-05:00VIDEO: Johnny Manziel's Heisman Acceptance Speech
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<p>In case you weren't planted in front of the television on an otherwise college football-less night, here's the video of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/134696/johnny-manziel">Johnny Manziel</a> winning the award and his acceptance speech:</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wezz9hla_qk?rel=0" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe></p>
https://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/12/8/3745556/video-johnny-manziel-heisman-acceptance-speechBrandon Larrabee2012-12-08T22:14:14-05:002012-12-08T22:14:14-05:00Johnny Football Becomes Johnny Heisman
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<p>It wasn't the most surprising win in history when it happened, but it is surprising when you look at the preseason buzz. What does Johnny Football do for an encore?</p> <p>It's hard to remember that there were a lot of people -- <a href="http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/6/22/3105122/texas-a-m-football-preview-roster-sec">self included</a> -- who were skeptical that <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/134696/johnny-manziel" class="sbn-auto-link">Johnny Manziel</a> would be the starting quarterback at Texas A&M before the season. And there were very few people who thought Texas A&M would land in the Top 10. Manziel proved both notions wrong, putting together one of the greatest single seasons in the history of college football in the process, and because of that became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.</p>
<p>Manziel is the fourth of the last six Heisman winners to come from the SEC, something that has combined with the national championship streak to amplify the idea that the conference is the best in the game right now. It's also worth noting that both the first freshman and the first sophomore to win the award (<a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10166/tim-tebow" class="sbn-auto-link">Tim Tebow</a>) came from the SEC.</p>
<p>There wasn't much suspense in the unveiling of the award, given that Manziel was the favorite to win. He had 2,029 total points to 1,706 for <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/84654/manti-te-o" class="sbn-auto-link">Manti Te'o</a> and 894 for <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/36403/collin-klein" class="sbn-auto-link">Collin Klein</a>. <a href="http://twitter.com/Andy_Staples/status/277594245152505856">Andy Staples reported</a> that Manziel won all but one of voting regions.</p>
<p>Johnny Football now faces the prospect of at least two more years in college football, and three if he chooses to or needs to return for his senior season. Only one player, Archie Griffin, has ever won the Heisman trophy twice. No player has won it more than twice.</p>
<p>Of course, it will be difficult for Manziel to win the award twice, and it's almost impossible to believe that he could win it more than twice. But nobody saw Manziel doing what he's done up to now, so who's going to bet against him?</p>
https://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/12/8/3745396/johnny-manziel-wins-heisman-trophy-2012-freshmanBrandon Larrabee2012-12-08T15:11:51-05:002012-12-08T15:11:51-05:00Heisman Preview: Any Room for an Upset?
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<figcaption>Scott Halleran</figcaption>
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<p>Very few people are giving anyone but the Texas A&M quarterback a serious chance at winning the 2012 Heisman Trophy. Does the college football season have one last upset in store?</p> <p><i>Heisman Trophy Presentation, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN</i></p>
<p>College football is about upsets, and 2012 had more than its fair share of them. But if Texas A&M quarterback <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/134696/johnny-manziel">Johnny Manziel</a> somehow doesn't win the Heisman Trophy win the award ceremony ends Saturday night -- well, that will be perhaps the largest upset of them all.</p>
<p>It's very hard to find anyone who honestly thinks that either of the other two finalists -- Notre Dame's Manti Te'o or Kansas State's <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/36403/collin-klein">Collin Klein</a> -- have much of a chance at the award. Good luck finding an even money bet that Manziel will be the winner, much less one that would make your dollars worth the investment. And you'll need even more luck finding a Heisman forecaster of any type who doesn't think Manziel will be holding the hardware at the end of the evening.</p>
<p>That's, of course, a decision that we here at Team Speed Kills <a href="http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/12/3/3721000/johnny-manziel-heisman-stats-debate">heartily agree with</a>. There are some quibbles about who should be a finalist, but those are minor quibbles that don't get at the heart of the award.</p>
<p>And there will be some support for Te'o or Klein. Older voters will likely be hesitant to go with Manziel because he's a freshman, and freshman Heisman Trophy winners are just not done, for whatever reason. And there are a few journalists out there who like to show their contrarian streak, the fact that they are smarter than all of us, by picking someone unappreciated by the rabble for a spot on their ballot. But the overwhelming majority of voters will have Manziel on their ballots, and many will have him first.</p>
<p>Enough so that there isn't much suspense to tonight's ceremony -- despite the Heisman's reported attempt to crack down on media members who release their ballots. When the result is this clear and already baked in, there's no room for upsets. There's just the inevitable crowning of the best player in college football.</p>
https://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/12/8/3744250/heisman-trophy-presentation-preview-johnny-manziel-favoriteBrandon Larrabee2012-12-03T20:28:32-05:002012-12-03T20:28:32-05:00Heisman Finalists: Manziel, Te'o, Klein
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<figcaption>Ronald Martinez</figcaption>
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<p>Johnny Football will be going to New York City for this weekend's ceremony. But is his margin of victory really the only question remaining?</p> <p>It's official: Johnny Manziel, the leader in almost any credible Heisman survey you can find, will be <a href="http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8706848/heisman-trophy-johnny-manziel-collin-klein-manti-teo-named-finalists">making the trip to New York City</a>. Manti Te'o and Collin Klein are just along for the ride. Or is there, perhaps, more to it than that?</p>
<p>No, if <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/heisman">CBS Sports' long-running Heisman watcher</a> is to be believed. In fact, just having three finalists invited this year -- the number can go as high as five -- makes perfect sense according to CBS. No one is even close to Manziel, Te'o and Klein among the potential nominees, and even Manziel and Te'o appear to have separated themselves from Klein.</p>
<p>But this is the Heisman. There are still some voters who might be hesitant about giving the award to a freshman, even if giving it to Te'o would go against the tradition that you almost <i>have</i> to either play on offense or be a return man to get consideration for the trophy. And for those who aren't comfortable with breaking either tradition, Klein's candidacy is at least not thoroughly laughable.</p>
<p>There is one quibble you could have with the finalist list, though we won't know until the votes are released whether the Heisman Trust had anything to do with this or not: Why is Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois not getting an invitation? Listen, I'm not going to argue that a guy who plays in the MAC has faced the kind of competition that should get him the award, at least not this year, but a guy who's third in total offense behind Manziel and Baylor's Nick Florence and has over 1,300 yards more than Klein deserves an invite.</p>
<p>That's a far smaller outrage than would be presented by Manziel getting blanked in NYC, though. Let's hope we don't have to discuss that one Saturday night.</p>
https://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/12/3/3724706/heisman-finalists-announced-johnny-manziel-manti-teo-collin-kleinBrandon Larrabee2012-12-03T09:01:59-05:002012-12-03T09:01:59-05:00Our Endorsement: Johnny Manziel for the Heisman
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<p>We don't always endorse the SEC candidate here at Team Speed Kills. But there's no way to get around the fact that Johnny Football has had the best season among this year's contenders</p> <p>As a conference blog, it would be easy for us to toe the company line and always endorse for the Heisman Trophy the candidate from the SEC. Most years, especially with a conference that has a long-running national championship streak, it would be easy to find a conference player to endorse with a straight face and play to the home crowd.</p>
<p>We have not done that at Team Speed Kills. Last year, we <a href="http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2011/12/8/2619517/heisman-endorsement-robert-griffin-iii-should-win-the-2011-heisman">endorsed Robert Griffin III over Trent Richardson and Tyrann Mathieu</a>. And when I cast a ballot in a blogger version of the Heisman Trophy in 2009, that vote <a href="http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2009/12/10/1194301/who-should-win-the-heisman">went to Toby Gerhart over Mark Ingram</a>. If there are times when this blog lets its SEC-centric nature get in the way of clear-headed analysis, the Heisman award season is not one of them.</p>
<p>But this year, it is clear that the most deserving candidate for the Heisman Trophy comes from the SEC -- even if he and the team he plays on have not been in the conference very long. For the 2012 Heisman Trophy, Team Speed Kills endorses Johnny Manziel. If there are voters still putting the finishing touches on their ballots, we urge them to put Manziel at the top of the list.</p>
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<p>There are plenty of metrics that voters often use, but we think that Manziel fits the bill on nearly every one. The Heisman Trophy is not an MVP award -- but if you want to give the award to the player that most improves his team, you could find very few candidates more deserving than Manziel.</p>
<p>Sure, Kansas State might not have been a factor in the national championship race without Collin Klein. And Manti Te'o undoubtedly bolsters Notre Dame's defense. But there are many reasons that Kansas State is as good as it is, and Notre Dame would have a solid defense even if Te'o weren't on the field for the Irish.</p>
<p>But does anyone think that Texas A&M is more than a marginal bowl team without Manziel? Is it even credible to imagine a 10-win season, with one of those victories coming against Alabama, if the Aggies had been forced to go with another quarterback?</p>
<p>We would argue that the answer to those questions is clearly no. And the reason for that answer gets back to what the Heisman Trophy should truly be about -- the player who displays the most excellence on the field, week in and week out, over the course of the college football season.</p>
<p>- - -</p>
<p>Over the course of the year, it's easy to see that Manziel's numbers are special. As a freshman, he set a record for total offense in a single season in the SEC -- a record held by Cam Newton in 2010, which he grabbed by breaking the record held by Tim Tebow in 2007. And while marks like that don't mean that Manziel should automatically win the award those two players did, it shows how impressive the achievement is.</p>
<p>His averages also compare nicely with Tebow and Newton. In 2007, Tebow averaged 7.47 yards per play, gaining 4,181 yards on 560 touches. In 2010, Newton had 7.95 yards a play, gaining 4,327 yards on 544 touches. This year, Johnny Manziel has handled the ball on 584 plays and gained 4,600 -- a 7.88 yard per play average that puts him squarely between Tebow and Newton. (Several sources were used for these stats, but the most helpful site by far was, as usual, <a href="http://www.cfbstats.com">cfbstats.com</a>. You should give it a try if you want college football info.)</p>
<p>In passing efficiency, Manziel ranks 17th in the country with a 155.85 rating. Throw in the fact that Manziel ranks 33rd among all college football players with 98.4 yards per game rushing, as a quarterback, and you begin to see how dynamic Manziel is. His 6.42 yard per carry average is a bit better nationwide -- 30th -- and his 8.5 yard per pass attempt average is 15th in the nation.</p>
<p>His passing numbers alone would not be enough to give him the Heisman, nor would his rushing numbers in isolation. But when you combine the two figures and look at the defenses Manziel generally faces, it becomes clear that Manziel has had an extraordinary year. You don't even have to grade him on a curve for being a freshman; with one season under his belt, the A&M signal-caller is among the best players in the country.</p>
<p>And he's also had big games, at times when his team most needed them. There were 14 times this year in which a player broke 500 yards of total offense; Manziel is the only player in the country with two of them. And one of those was in the Louisiana Tech game, when A&M needed every yard it could get to escape with a win. Manziel has five of the 100 biggest games in terms of total offense.</p>
<p>More importantly, he's consistent. Only twice has Manziel failed to pick up more than 300 yards of total offense -- with one of those games coming against Florida and the other against South Carolina State, when Manziel was responsible for just 28 plays. Manziel hasn't just had some of the best games in the country this year, he's had very few of the worst ones.</p>
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<p>On Sunday afternoon, I sent out a tweet asking for people to tell me what their favorite stat or play about Manziel was. Among the response were a couple of people who mentioned something that wasn't so much a stat or a play, but a characteristic, and one that shows both Manziel's talent and his impact on A&M.</p>
<p>Johnny Manziel is exceptional on third down.</p>
<p>Overall, Manziel converts about 44.8 percent of his running attempts on third-down; that's compared to 40.9 percent for Klein. Passing is no different -- Manziel's attempts lead to a first down about 54.1 percent of the time, compared to about 50.7 percent for Klein. When Manziel is put into a position where he has to respond, he does. Perhaps better than when the pressure is not on -- Manziel's passer efficiency rating on third down is 193.65, almost thirty points above his score on his next-best down (first). That's no doubt a big reason why Texas A&M converts an NCAA-leading 55.4 percent of its third downs.</p>
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<p>The only strike against Manziel that anyone has been able to come up with is his age. As a freshman, Manziel would be the first first-year player to ever win the Heisman Trophy. And if the Heisman Trophy is what it says it is, that really shouldn't matter.</p>
<p>The Heisman Trust's <a href="http://www.heisman.com/trust/mission_statement.php">mission statement</a> says the award goes to "the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity." Nowhere does it say that the award has to go to an upperclassman, or that freshmen need not apply. If Manziel has the achievements to justify being the Heisman Trophy winner, his age should not be a factor.</p>
<p>It is a bar Manziel has easily cleared. No other player has been as excellent and as consistent and as important to his team as Manziel has been. No matter what conference you follow, no matter what standard you use, Johnny Manziel should be this year's Heisman Trophy winner.</p>
https://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/12/3/3721000/johnny-manziel-heisman-stats-debateBrandon Larrabee