AT&T Cotton Bowl

AT&T Cotton Bowl

Friday January 4th, 19:00 CST (01:00 GMT)
Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas
(9)Texas A&M Aggies vs. (11)Oklahoma Sooners

The Cotton Bowl or Cotton Bowl Classic to give it it's full name has been played since 1937. It was created as a showpiece played at the Texas State Fair Grounds and in its inaugural year, there were a reported 17,000 spectators. Through its various guises under different sponsors, the game has always been played in the Dallas area and for many years resided at the Cotton Bowl itself. (now host of the Heart of Dallas Bowl) It has always featured teams from Texas and the Southwest when available and currently consists of a matchup between the 2nd selection from the SEC and the 1st selection from the Big-12 after the respective BCS Bowl teams are chosen. Last year featured Arkansas and Kansas State and one of those teams improved to play in a BCS Bowl, the other, well they weren't very good after their coach got fired for his misdeeds off the field.

Texas A&M come into this Bowl having done something only LSU and Auburn have done in the last four years, beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa. On their way here they beat SMU, Mississippi State, Louisiana-Tech and Auburn (well almost everybody beat Auburn this year) as well as the Crimson Tide while only dropping two games, to (3)Florida and (8)LSU, surprisingly enough both in College Station. You may have heard of their Quarterback, he's the REDSHIRT Freshman sensation Johnny Manziel. This year Manziel won the Heisman Trophy and finished 3rd in the nation in terms of total offense with a monstrous 4600 yards, that total is greater than any of the last 4 No.1 NFL draft picks and only 75 yards short of last season's Heisman winner Robert Griffin III's totals. Manziel was responsible for 3419 passing yards and 24 touchdowns and 1181 rushing yards and 19 TDs. On the ground, he was assisted by Ben Malena, who added 752 yards and 7 touchdowns. His main threat receiving the ball has been Mike Evans who lead the team with 1022 yards but only 5 touchdowns while compatriot Ryan Swope snagged 809 yards but 7 touchdowns. All in all this means the Aggies offense finished 3rd in total yards behind Louisiana-Tech and Baylor with 552.3 yards per game and 4th in scoring offense with 44.8 points per game, trailing only Lousiana-Tech, Oregon and Oklahoma State. Defensively they weren't an embarrassment, allowing just 22.5 points per game (28th nationally) and significantly in this game, 248.4 passing yards per game, ranked them 83rd in the country.

Oklahoma also finished 10-2 with highlight wins over Texas Tech, Texas and Oklahoma State, but they lost their chance at the BCS and the Big-12 title outright when they crashed to (5)Kansas State. Their other loss came at home to (1)Notre Dame, so you'd think that would be a successful season. Well no, as expectations are a little higher in Norman, and upon entering the season ranked No.4, this team was expected to be in the Fiesta Bowl ahead of Kansas State at the very least. Senior quarterback Landry Jones plays his final game at the school having set records for career passing yards with 16,368 and career touchdowns with 122. Both of those totals place Jones in the top 5 all-time in the respective categories within the FBS. So why isn't he the consensus No.1 NFL draft pick, well he had a bad year last year and shown a tendency to panic in pressure situations and force an awkward pass instead of throwing the ball away. Despite those flaws he finished the regular season with 3989 yards and 29 touchdowns. 11 of those touchdowns were converted by leading receiver Kenny Stills who gained 892 yards this season to propel the Sooners to the 5th best passing attack in the FBS, and 10th best in total offense once you include tailback Damien Williams 905 yards and 11 touchdowns. Defensively they need to step up in this game and improve from their FBS ranking of 79th defending the run as they can't afford to give up close to their average 181.9 yards in this game.

FOR TEXAS A&M TO WIN
Let Manziel do his thing, protect him, give him time and rushing lanes. Manziel was a sensation this year and he had journalists and oppositions coaching fawning over his play. He led his team into Alabama and knocked off the then No.1 ranked team in the nation (hasn't done Alabama any harm) and secured his team a spot in this game. The kid looks composed under center and against a defense that isn't anything special at pressuring the quarterback, Manziel should be more than capable of marching his team down the field and scoring consistently. He is equally adept at throwing the ball or tucking it under his arm and running it, and his team-mates are happy to provide outlets and allow “Johnny Football” to be the star. That's what the Aggies need from him, something similar to his performance against Alabama and ideally a repeat of his offense output against Auburn where he went 16 of 23 for 260 yards and 2 TDs while adding 90 yards and 3 TDs on the ground. Yes please, that'd do very nicely.

FOR OKLAHOMA TO WIN
Get to Manziel, put him on his backside before he can distribute the ball. This Oklahoma defense has only produced 24 sacks this season, they will need 3 or 4 to have a chance in this game. Although the only have 11 interceptions as a team this season, Javon Harris and Aaron Colvin have managed 9 between them, so they will need to be big when covering Evans and Swope. The offense has to remain as efficient as it has been through the regular season and the offensive line is the big key to achieving that as they will need to protect Jones. He doesn't have the speed or evasiveness of Manziel and as we've seen over the past two seasons, he doesn't have the sense to throw the ball away to avoid the sack or even worse interception. If all of those pieces fit together, Oklahoma will be at worst level with the Aggies, and probably have a great chance of winning this game.

VERDICT
This is one of the closest match-ups on paper of this postseason and I wouldn't be surprised if we got some DVD extras (Overtime) from these teams. I'd expect plenty of offense, and the key question in determining a winner is trying to work out which defense can step up and win this game. Texas A&M have enjoyed their first year as a member of the SEC and that seasoning may help them out in this game. Defensive End Damontre Moore has been a star this season, recording 12.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss while being named a 2nd team All-American by both CBS and the AP and last week declaring for the NFL Draft. He's the kind of player that can make a big play at a crucial moment and that's why I'm picking Texas A&M.

ADVICE
Texas A&M -3
Over 71.5 points

DRINKING GAME
1 drink: A “Keep College Station Normal” t-shirt is spotted
2 drinks: Anybody refers to Manziel as the first redshirt freshman to win they Heisman
Finish it: Any reference to Landry Jones playing for Kansas City next season.