The Texas A&M Aggies played the first half on Saturday against Rice in their opening game of the season without Heisman winner Johnny Manziel after his suspension for violating some of the NCAA's rules after they couldn't prove he violated them and now he will get the chance to debut after the two teams played an exciting first half with the Aggies up 28-21 coming out in the third.
Rice ended up with the lead after the first quarter at 14-7 after a Charles Ross touchdown early and then responding to a rushing score by the Aggies with a pass from Taylor McHargue to Ross to go up by a touchdown. The Aggies added another rushing touchdown in the second quarter to tie the game after a nice drive from starter Matt Joeckel, who took over as quarterback for Manziel in the first half, passing for 87 yards with about 10 minutes left to go in the second. The Aggies took a 21-14 lead at one point in the second half after a pass from Joeckel and with Manziel coming back in they could take full control.
Last season the team defeated Alabama for their only loss of the season and went 6-2 in the SEC and 5-1 in the division and they also played well against ranked teams and should be a BCS player when the season ends. If Manziel can have even half the success he did last year, the Aggies should have a nice season.
Click here for the coverage of the game or for more on Johnny Manziel and the autograph scandal.
Manziel won the Heisman last season as a freshman for the first time in history and his debut is much anticipated and the big matchup for the Aggies comes in two weeks when they host the national champions in the Alabama Crimson Tide. Mike Evans has been having a nice game for the Aggies and McHargue has been solid for Rice during the game and the team has put up a good fight against a heavily favored Aggies team that went 11-2 last season in their first year in the SEC.
The Aggies went 11-2 last season and had a record year from Manziel and the team has even higher expectations after coming in as the seventh ranked team in the nation and they will play Sam Houston State next. The team plays Alabama in the most anticipated game of the year and then they will play SMU and some other games during the season include Arkansas, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and LSU. The team closes with a road game against Missouri after the road test against the Tigers and that could have huge BCS implications at the end of the year.
Click here for the live stream for the Aggies and Rice.
