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JOHNNY FOOTBALL?

ä Texas A&M freshman quarterback “Johnny Football” Manziel accounted for 303 yards, including 276 yards passing. But here is the key stat of the game: Manziel had zero touchdowns. Here is the second key stat of the game: Manziel was intercepted three times. LSU did a great job of making Manziel work extra hard for every yard he gained, and it hit him hard on numerous occasions. Manziel threw the ball 56 times. The one second-half scoring drive he led the Aggies on came in the final three minutes when the game was out of reach.

THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS

ä Add this to the category of “Stats That Don’t Make Sense”: LSU was 2 for 16 on third down (13 percent) and 2 for 2 on fourth down. The stats tell the whole story: LSU did a lot of punting, but made the fourth downs at key moments when it had to. Still, LSU has to have better execution of its plays on third down. That kind of third-down percentage won’t win many games.

LSU’S OFFENSIVE LINE

ä The Tigers have found a good group of guys on the offensive line the last two weeks, and it shows in the production of their running game. LSU started slowly, but the offensive line began to wear down the Texas A&M defense. LSU gained 316 yards. It rushed for 219 yards. LSU averaged 4.9 yards per carry on 45 attempts.

Tweet talk

“That looked easy for A&M. If the #LSU defense doesn’t play better, the Tigers offense won’t be able to keep up.”

@Scott Rabalais. Rabalais is
a sportswriter
for The Advocate.

“Is it too early to put LSU on #UpsetAlert? Aggies and “Johnny Football” looking good early on @espn. #LSUvsTAMU”

@CollegeGameDay

“Manziel’s got great wheels, but also impressed how he’s connected with 6 different receivers already in 1st Q. #TexasA&M”

@BFeldmanCBS. Bruce Feldman is columnist and
commentator for CBS.

“LSU offense still a well-oiled machine, I see.”

@YahooForde. Pat Forde is a columnist for Yahoo Sports.

“This combo of a C-USA coach and Big 12 players doing pretty well against vaunted LSU and SEC defense.”

@ReidLaymance. Laymance is the deputy sports editor at the Houston Chronicle.

“Mettenberger has no innate feel for the pass rush. #LSU”

@LesEast. East is a sportswriter for The Advocate.

“It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … Kadron Boone! #SupermanCatch #LSUvsTAMU”

@espn

“Manziel, wow, #JohnnyFootball”

@mortreport. Page of ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Mortensen is an NFL reporter for ESPN.

“A&M stopped controlling the game when it started turning ball over. 4-0 turnover deficit. As bad as Mettenberger has been, no turnovers.”

@TravHaneyESPN. Travis Haney is an national college football reporter at ESPN.com

Pierce W. Huff