by ldh2013 » Thu Jun 23, 2016 8:38 am
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Johnny Football and No. . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. The difference on Saturday night was that the Aggies defence was solid, too. Johnny Manziel accounted for 346 yards with three touchdowns in just more than a half to help Texas A&M cruise to a 42-13 win over SMU. Texas A&M (3-1) was up 32-6 at halftime, and Manziel led the Aggies to a touchdown on their first drive of the third quarter before the Heisman Trophy winner went to the bench. The defence, which struggled as it dealt with suspensions early this season, had given up 36 points a game through the first three games. Defensive co-ordinator Mark Snyder made some personnel changes this week to help the Aggies improve. "Weve still got some areas weve got to work on, but a much better game from our side of the ball," Snyder said. "Were still a work in progress, for sure, but as long as I keep seeing improvement each week I think well be fine." It was a nice bounce-back game for Texas A&M after falling to top-ranked Alabama 49-42 last week. "I think we learned some valuable lessons a week ago," A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "I think we can get a little bit more confidence coming out of this game with our defence." Manziel had 244 yards passing with a touchdown and ran for 102 yards and two more scores. "We tried a little of everything," SMU coach June Jones said of trying to slow Manziel. "Hes an amazing player. You blitz him and hes accurate with the ball. You rush three, and he can scramble around and make it last forever. Hes a great college football player and hes in the perfect system." The Aggies have scored at least 40 points in each of their first four games for the first time in school history. Deshazor Everett returned a fumble 12 yards for a touchdown, and Ben Malena ran for 71 yards and two scores. He got things going for A&M with a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Former Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw for 310 yards and a touchdown with an interception for SMU (1-2). Despite the lopsided score, Texas A&Ms performance was far from flawless. The Aggies missed three straight PATs in the second quarter and were penalized 13 times for 114 yards. The Mustangs didnt play any cleaner, and piled up 16 penalties for 111 yards. The Aggies took a 14-0 lead when Manziel sidestepped a defender before high-stepping over another one en route to the end zone on a 7-yard run later in the first. Texas A&M recovered an onside kick and was driving again when a pass by Manziel was deflected and intercepted by Hayden Greenbauer. The Mustangs cut the lead to 14-3 when the ensuing drive resulted in a 42-yard field goal by Chase Hover. Manziel rolled out and found Malcome Kennedy on a 16-yard touchdown pass that extended the lead to 20-3 early in the second quarter. Taylor Bertolets kick failed. Manziels second 7-yard touchdown run made it 32-3 just more than three minutes later, but Bertolet missed again. Jeremiah Gaines fumbled after a reception on the first play of SMUs next drive, and Everett scooped it up and returned it for the score. Sumlin had seen enough of Bertolet and brought in Josh Lambo to attempt the PAT. But holder Drew Kaser fumbled the snap, and the kick was blocked. Sumlin said Bertolet and Lambo will compete for the job. A 47-yard field goal by Hover as time expired in the second quarter left A&M up 32-6 at halftime. Manziel had a nifty run on A&Ms first possession after halftime. He evaded three defenders that had hands on him to dash down the sideline on a 20-yard run. Malenas 1-yard run two plays later -- and a made extra point by Lambo -- made it 39-6. He was replaced by Matt Joeckel, who started A&Ms opener while Manziel served an NCAA suspension. Joeckel threw for 63 yards before Sumlin brought in freshman Kenny Hill. Lambos 40-yard field goal extended A&Ms lead to 42-6 near the end of the third quarter. A 31-yard touchdown reception by Keenan Holman made it 42-13 early in the fourth quarter. Holman finished with 10 receptions for 133 yards. . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (5) – He had good saves on Giroux, Akeson, and Hartnell tonight. . PETERSBURG, Fla. . The Naismith trophy is awarded yearly by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the college basketball Player of the Year.BOSTON -- DeMar DeRozan understands that a playoff berth for the Raptors has meaning beyond Torontos locker room. Terrence Ross scored 24 points, Kyle Lowry 23 and the Raptors edged closer to their first playoff spot since 2008 with a 99-90 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. "Not just the franchise, the whole city of Toronto and Canada," said DeRozan, sitting at his locker with his left foot in a bucket of ice. "Ive been here five years and see how passionate the fans are. It definitely means a lot. We feed off them, the energy they bring every single night. That would be great for the city and we have to take advantage of the opportunity." DeRozan added 20 points for Toronto, which increased its Atlantic Division lead to 2 1/2 games over Brooklyn. The Raptors could have clinched a playoff spot if the Knicks lost at Sacramento later Wednesday, but New York beat the Kings 107-99. It was Lowrys eighth straight game of 20 or more points and helped the Raptors snap an 11-game losing streak in Boston. "Im not going to lie," Lowry said. "I think everybody tonight is rooting for that Western Conference team over there." The Raptors are also chasing a division title. They face Boston in the back end of a home and home on Friday. "We cant be satisfied just making the playoffs," DeRozan said. "We could go out there and play four games and be home. Weve worked too hard to get to this point just to slow down and pace ourselves. Weve got a long, long way to go." Jared Sullinger led Boston with 26 points, going 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and Avery Bradley scored 16. Boston lost for the seventh time in eight games. "Sully got hot and I thought even though we were really undersized we played pretty well in that time," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. Toronto captured its 19th road win, one off the club record set 2000-01. Boston guard Rajon Rondo was cut on the forehead midway into the third quarter and received nine stitches. He returned to tthe bench early in the fourth quarter with a bandage that ran from the bridge of his nose straight up to his forehead and he re-entered the game with 8:05 to play. . . He finished with 15 assists and nine points. "I think it obviously says a lot," Stevens said. "He wants to play and I think the most important part about it is he came back in and guarded DeRozan. He went after it and I think he did a pretty good job on him." The Raptors had opened a 79-64 lead early the fourth quarter, but Boston went on a 9-0 run. Toronto pushed it back to 85-75 before Sullinger nailed consecutive 3s 34 seconds apart, narrowing it to four points with just under 6 minutes to play. "I saw that Rondo went down so I saw that we needed production, so I took it upon myself and just tried to get the best shots possible," Sullinger said. Chris Johnsons basket -- on an officials reviewed goaltending call -- closed it to 93-90 with 1:49 left, but Lowry and Ross hit consecutive 3s on the next two possessions to send the Raptors to the victory. In the third quarter, Lowry nailed consecutive 3s on Torontos first two possessions, pushing the Raptors lead to 61-46. They held at least a nine-point lead for the rest of the quarter, opening it to 77-62 after Ross nailed a 3 at the buzzer. Toronto, which blew an 11-point second-quarter lead in less than 2 minutes, held a 55-46 advantage at halftime. NOTES: A few minutes before the opening tip-off and about 10 after the National Anthems were completed, the Celtics asked the crowd to rise for a moment of silence to honour two Boston firefighters that were killed battling a fire in the citys Back Bay section -- about three kilometres away. ... Stevens praised Raptors G Lowry before the game. "(He) is playing terrific," Stevens said. "He was arguably an All-Star earlier. He makes a lot of plays that dont go talked about." ... Sullinger had 25 points and 20 rebounds when the Celtics beat the Raptors at home on Jan. 15. He had eight boards on Wednesday. ' ' '