Colt McCoy may have won the Heisman Trophy with his performance Thursday against Texas A&M.
Jerrod Johnson did put his name in the hat for next season's Heisman hype with his showing.
Johnson started the game by finding Jeff Fuller in stride behind Chykie Brown for a 70-yard touchdown. Hard to top that opening act, but Johnson nearly matched it play after play for the rest of the game, hitting 26 of 33 passes for 342 yards and four touchdowns. And that was just the half of it, as he alone nearly doubled the yards on the ground (97) that the Longhorns' No. 1 rushing defense normally allows per game (50).
Most importantly, every one of Johnson's passes, runs and decisions was broadcast for a national TV audience. And that he did it mano-a-mano with McCoy, who was second in the Heisman voting last season, does nothing but help his candidacy for 2010.
Every time McCoy did something spectacular -- and there were many times -- Johnson countered. McCoy had two runs of more than 40 yards. Johnson had a 43-yarder. McCoy had two passes of more than 40 yards. Johnson had a 70-yarder and 36-yarder.
"There wasn't one time in that game he didn't think we had a chance to win it or one time he didn't want the ball in his hands," A&M head coach Mike Sherman said of his QB.
Johnson didn't back down in the fourth quarter, closing the gap to 42-39 with an 11-play, 78-yard drive that he started with an 11-yard run and ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Fuller. In between, Johnson threw for 17 yards to Terrence McCoy on a third-and-15 and added a 27-yard pass to Ryan Swope.
It was the kind of drive that sticks in the minds of football lovers all year. And with next year's Heisman talk beginning the moment after the present winner is announced, Johnson is one good bowl game performance away from putting his name in the 2010 Heisman hat.
"I can't say enough about Jerrod Johnson," Sherman said. "He's probably been under the radar until tonight. He had tremendous throws, great checks, managed the game very well. I'm proud he's my quarterback."
The Heisman has become a trophy in which all the discussion is about the best player on the best teams in the nation. McCoy has the ability and leadership qualities to receive the individual accolades. Most importantly though, he's had the good fortune to be on a team that has an opportunity to win it all.
Johnson will be a part of the conversation during the offseason. But what he needs to be a serious contender is for the Aggies to make the leap from a 6-6 team to a squad contending for a Big 12 title or in the BCS bowl talk.
With Thursday night's performance, A&M is at least headed in the right direction.
If McCoy wins the Heisman next month, he will have a vote for future Heismans. You can bet after the respect he showed Johnson at the middle of the field after the game, hugging him and talking with him in a way so one else could hear, the Aggie quarterback has a head start on getting at least one vote next season.
Notice about comments:
Theeagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. theeagle.com cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not theeagle.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here.
Aggiesports.com is proud to offer our users enhanced commenting features. You can now build user-to-user connections, follow friends’ recent posts, add an avatar that fits your personality and more. If you have posted here before you’ll need to sign up again, and if you’ve never posted start now by signing up! If you've already registered for the new comments on www.theeagle.com then just use your Eagle username to log in and start commenting.