Texas A&M flies past Vanderbilt

Source: The Eagle, Bryan, TexasOct.迷你倉 27--Sometimes, it's what you least expect that's most appreciated.Johnny Manziel ended a week of anxiety by throwing for 305 yards and four touchdowns, but it was the return to form by Texas A&M's defense that keyed the Aggies' 56-24 Southeastern Conference victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday at Kyle Field.Manziel, whose status was a game-time decision because of a shoulder injury, completed 25 of 35 passes including his first 10 on the game's opening drive as the 14th-ranked Aggies scored a touchdown en route to a 28-0 lead.The Heisman Trophy winner showed no lingering effects from last week's jarring tackle in which his right shoulder was slammed into Kyle Field's turf during a 45-41 loss to Auburn."My shoulder is just a little sore," Manziel said. "I don't know if it's bruised or what is going on. I kind of got squished when I went down last week against Auburn. It didn't cause me too many problems today, so that was positive."An even bigger positive: Manziel and the offense didn't have to win a shootout.That had been the case in recent weeks as A&M's defense slipped to 118th in the country, allowing 494.4 yards per game.Vanderbilt (4-4, 1-4) scored on three straight possessions to pull within 28-17 at halftime in the first meeting between the two, but A&M's defense turned things around with Howard Matthews' 26-yard interception return on the first play of the second half. That trend continued as Vanderbilt mustered only 28 yards in third quarter, allowing the Aggies (6-2, 3-2) to build a 49-17 lead."We've still got some things we have to get cleaned up," A&M defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said. "We had a bunch of three-and-outs. We kept them under 100 yards rushing. Those are things that we should do."They hadn't been recently.Two weeks ago at Ole Miss, A&M gave up 21 points and the lead in the fourth quarter, but Manziel and the offense scored the final 10 points to pull out a 41-38 victory. Last week, A&M again allowed 21 fourth-quarter points as Auburn rallied from a 10-point deficit. The Tigers rolled up 615 yards, 379 of them on the ground as A&M's chances to win an SEC championship virtually ended.Things changed in a big way Saturday as A&M's defense complemented the offense in a manner much like it did last season when the Aggies finished their first year in the SEC with an 11-2 record.A&M held Vanderbilt to 329 yards, a season-best effort for the defense. Vanderbilt rushed for 95 yards, averaging only 2.2 yards per carry with the longest run 14 yards.It was a long day for Vanderbilt redshirt freshman quarterback Patton Robinette in his first start and third-stringer Josh Grady, who took over in the third quarter before being knocked out with an injury. A&M sacked them seven times, matching the Aggies' total in the first seven games. A&M also had five quarterback pressures and intercepted three passes.The defense, hampered by injuries, suspensions and inexperience this season, played its starting defensive backfield for the first time with De'Vante Harris and Deshazor Everett at cornerbacks and Matthews and Floyd Raven Sr. at safety. Raven was suspended for the opener and needed two games to work himself back after missing three games with a collarbone injury."There was some continuity at the back end,"A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said. "I thought Noel Ellis and Toney Hurd Jr. gave us some depth at the nickel position."A&M's defense got off the field six straight times in the third quarter, which helped since the Aggies fumb自存倉ed twice. Travis Labhart fumbled what would have been a 6-yard touchdown catch, and running back Tra Carson fumbled with Vanderbilt recovering the ball at its own 40."I don't know what was going on," Sumlin said. "We started fumbling the ball, which we don't do."The offense ended the sputtering with Manziel's 14-yard touchdown pass to Derel Walker to cap a 10-play, 50-yard drive that gave A&M a 42-17 lead with 6 minutes, 10 seconds left in the third quarter. It also ended Manziel's day, one he cherished as did the crowd of 86,584."In my mind, I was always going to play," Manziel said. "It would take a lot to keep me off the field and away from these guys. These guys count on me and they expect me to be there, so if I have to come in and get treatment or whatever I have to do to get back, I have to do it for these guys."Manziel practiced for about 30 minutes Friday without pads and said he felt sore Saturday morning. But during warmups the sophomore told Sumlin he was ready.Junior Matt Joeckel who along with freshman Kenny Hill who got the majority of the snaps during the week with Manziel ailing, mopped up.Joeckel made it 49-17 on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans. A&M had to go only 28 yards after senior linebacker Nate Askew came up with an interception."The turnovers on offense I think were really the story of the game," Vandy head coach James Franklin said. "Turnovers on the road are difficult to overcome."Evans, coming off a record-setting 287-yard game against Auburn, had five catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Malcome Kennedy led A&M with eight catches for 83 yards.A&M added 182 yards rushing, but a season-low 11 by Manziel on three carries."It wasn't really in our game plan this week for me to run,"Manziel said.Trey Williams led A&M with 65 yards on six carries. Fellow sophomore Brandon Williams, a transfer from Oklahoma, took advantage of Carson's fumble for 61 yards on 11 carries in his first action in three games. Neither Williams was caught behind the line.Vanderbilt senior wide receiver Jordan Matthews, projected to be a first-round pick, had eight catches for 92 yards. Jonathan Krause had three catches for 89 yards before leaving with a leg injury.A&M had a fast start for the earliest game of the season with an 11:21 a.m. kick for SEC TV.Manziel capped the opening drive with an 8-yard pass to Walker, a play after Carson converted a fourth down with a 4-yard run. A&M overcame two 5-yard penalties on the 13-play, 75-yard drive.A&M's defense got its first three-and-out and A&M needed only 81 seconds to go 66 yards in six plays to make it 14-0 with LaQuvionte Gonzalez catching a 7-yard pass.Evans made it 21-0 with a 43-yard catch, beating Vanderbilt senior Andre Hal, the team's best cover man. A&M's roll continued with Trey Williams' 11-yard touchdown run, but Vanderbilt scored the next 17 points.Carey Spear kicked a 23-yard field goal, then Vandy successfully executed an onside kick. Krause caught a 30-yard touchdown pass on a busted A&M coverage and Seymour scored on a 4-yard run with 49 seconds left in the half taking advantage of a 32-yard interception return by Kenny Ladler.A&M's defense in the third quarter put the clamps on Vanderbilt, which was coming off a 31-27 victory over Georgia, the first upset for Franklin, who is in his third year after taking Vandy to back-to-back bowls for the first time in school history.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) Visit The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) at .theeagle.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉