Manziel Statistical Split: 1st Quarter Compared to the Last 3 Quarters

tidefan82

1st Team
Aug 16, 2000
395
7
37
Opp,Alabama,U.S.
We actually had more yards of offense than A & M. However, 3 turnovers killed us. Also, some no-calls for some blows to the head. First down on the 6 yard line calls for 4 power running plays, not 2 pass plays. In the 1st quarter our ends lost containment. We should have kept fast defensive ends in the game or used linebackers.
 

Tidetwin

All-American
May 15, 2006
2,020
290
107
Northeast Georgia
Wimp? The only time I recall him running out of bounds was when he was racing a db or linebacker to the first down marker. There were many plays where he put himself in jeopardy by refusing to go down.
 

BigEasyTider

FB | REC Moderator
Nov 27, 2007
10,029
0
0
I agree the passing stats were still impressive, that was my point in the OP that him putting up those passing stats but only scoring 9 points proved that we were able to contain his running ability and get off the field on 3rd down much better than our previous 5 quarters.

Some of his throws were so good that they were indefensible, and he played a phenomenal game and I in no way meant to discount that, I merely think the stats show that our original gameplan combined with whatever adjustments were made after the 1st Quarter were more than enough to win the football game had we been able to execute for 60 minutes. But we did not, and Manziel took advantage of nearly our every mistake, and that was enough for them to win the football game.
I agree that he played some fine football and made some throws in very tight windows. FWIW I think the defensive performance improved down the stretch, though it basically just went from horrendous to really bad. Adjustments aside, we're just going to have to get better edge and DB play before we can really stop him.
 

DrollTide

All-SEC
Oct 18, 2008
1,608
846
137
Hunts Patch
He looked great - until he got hit.
He looked great - until he got schemed.

For all of the second-coming fanfare, it took Alabama exactly one quarter to figure this guy out. If the offense had stepped up for just one drive, and given the DC a chance to make adjustments and the defense to catch breath, there is every probability that the first quarter collapse would not have happened. This is not to blame the offense, AJ or Nuss or anyone else. aTm's defense completely sold out for Q1 and got the stops it needed while aTm's offense was hot.

Manziel is an overachiever but he is just one guy. Even Jess's gushing post-game analysis mentioned that NFL coaches will not know what to do with him, and that is because good defenses figure out dual-threat QBs and make them more one-dimensional. Alabama has a good defense, and I'm not ready to concede the SEC West for the next 3 years.
 

trenda

Hall of Fame
May 17, 2000
6,496
213
187
55
Hendersonville, TN USA
He looked great - until he got schemed.

For all of the second-coming fanfare, it took Alabama exactly one quarter to figure this guy out. If the offense had stepped up for just one drive, and given the DC a chance to make adjustments and the defense to catch breath, there is every probability that the first quarter collapse would not have happened. This is not to blame the offense, AJ or Nuss or anyone else. aTm's defense completely sold out for Q1 and got the stops it needed while aTm's offense was hot.

Manziel is an overachiever but he is just one guy. Even Jess's gushing post-game analysis mentioned that NFL coaches will not know what to do with him, and that is because good defenses figure out dual-threat QBs and make them more one-dimensional. Alabama has a good defense, and I'm not ready to concede the SEC West for the next 3 years.
I'm going to give our staff enough credit to say that they had him figured out ahead of time. It's not like the guy did anything differently than he normally does. IMO, our defense was not prepared for their speed. Once we caught up to the speed of the game on defense, we pretty much held them in check. Unfortunately, those first three drives just killed us.
 

RollinTider1335

All-SEC
Jun 12, 2010
1,460
0
0
Spring Hill, TN
I haven't seen this mentioned in detail yet, so I thought I would give it a shot.

What I saw yesterday were two football games within the same 60 minutes, as I'm sure many others did as well, so I thought I'd take to the stats to see exactly how Manziel performed on the stat sheet in each of these two hypothetical games.

First Quarter:
5 rushes for 74 yards
10-11 passing for 86 yards

Quarters 2-4:
13 rushes for 18 yards
14-20 passing for 167 yards

I'm a believer that stats don't tell the whole story, but here, I think they come pretty close. What I saw in the first quarter was that we simply did not execute our contains on Manziel across the board well enough. Not to take anything away from Manziel's stellar performance, but he's a running quarterback, not a quarterback who runs, to me, and 13 rushes for 18 yards over three quarters is extremely unsuccessful in my mind.

He threw some phenomenal passes as well, which surprised me more than his running performance, but to improve a player's yards per completion by 3.3 yards, while still maintaining a 70% completion percentage and only scoring 9 points (12 if you count the FG Manziel had nothing to do with missing) really shows me that we had the ability to stop and contain him, but it just took us too long to get in a rhythm.

Always tough to dig yourselves out of a hole 20 points deep, but it's really too bad we couldn't, because our defense showed me more in those last 3 quarters than they have in any game all year. Just my 2 cents.
Great assessment.

We did get in a hole, but we had 3 drives with momentum where we didn't execute and lost the ball. After all we went through, we were in a position to take the lead/win for 3 straight drives.
 

txag2002

New Member
Nov 12, 2012
3
0
0
I don't understand why people seem to be of the opinion that either you can shut him down completely or not at all. The general argument seems to be that he got stuffed after the 1st quarter, the reality is that he put 13 on the board in the 4th (one touchdown, point after where we went for 2 pt conversion and a missed chip shot field goal). I know that's not how the score looked but holding the poor kicking game against the quarterback hides how he really played.


It's unrealistic with a defense as good as Alabama's to think that JF got shut down just because he didn't score on a few drives.
 

TideLegacy

Scout Team
Nov 22, 2005
145
0
0
54
Dallas, TX
RS Fr. still learning and trying to improve. Vs. LSU 1 INT was not his fault (WR had ball bounce off his chest). Manziel put up 276 yards passing vs. LSU while A&M put up 410 yards on Tiger defense. Just as a relative point. A&M got off to a fast start but was hardly "shut down" in the 2nd half. If their FG makes the missed FG and Manziel gets that extra yard on that 4th and 6 (?) inside the Bama 40 it may not have been so close at the end.

In no way shape, or form is Manzial a running QB who throws... Go to the 1:44:15 mark of this video. Wait for the 3rd replay, the overhead EZ shot, freeze it at 1:44:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUHD45cUHNM&feature=related


The only other SEC college QB I have ever seen that could make that pass was Peyton Manning, as a Jr. or Sr.

Alabama is the better team. Texas A&M was the better team Saturday. It happens. LSU out-played Bama and lost.

Bama still going 11-1, beat the **** out of Barn, and likely beat UGA for SEC Champ. and play in Rose Bowl.

2 of 3 NCs, followed by an SEC championship, still a great run for Bama and to be a Tide fan. Can't get too bent out of shape over one loss, as much as it may sting.
 
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bamamc1

Hall of Fame
Oct 24, 2011
5,401
3,898
187
Haleyville, AL
If we had came out and played ball control early and kept him off the field in the first qtr. the game would have been a lot different. The kid played great. There is a lot of ball left to be played this season. RTR
 

rizolltizide

Hall of Fame
Jan 4, 2003
14,825
19
157
57
st pete, fl
The kid is a sandlot wimp. He was a big tough dude when he was shaking his hips and avoiding contact. Amazing to me how his sudden drop in stats coincided with him getting hit clean by our guys on back to back plays in the second quarter. I noticed that, too. Go back and look at the first couple of aTm possessions in the third quarter. He would stay behind the line desperately looking to throw the ball - he didn't want to get hit. Remember that pass the Aggie bobbled and held onto? He threw that and let the receiver get plowed rather than himself.

Make no mistake: Texas A&M outplayed us and deserved to win the game. But impressive he was not after Smart figured him out. He's like a pitcher who throws five or six great games and then gets rocked the second time he faces a good team. We gave them a few first downs with poor tackling. But the great Johnny got all of 9 points after the first hit, and six of that was because we turned the ball over (Yeldon).

I'm sorry but the kid is a wimp. He is not Tim Tebow or Cam Newton, who both got in and mixed it up and took big hits and then made plays. The moment that kid gets hit, he decides the game isn't fun. He's a flag football player wearing a uniform.

Let me remind everyone that he didn't score every single drive, which means we stopped him. And he wasn't on the field when McCarron threw the last pick or the offsides jump on the non- punt.

He looked great - until he got hit.
Yep. He mad.
 

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