Texas A&M’s Jerrod Johnson Introduces Himself To The Nation

Everybody had stuffed their faces on a day in America where gluttony reigns supreme. But one young man stepped onto a football field in Texas as hungry as he had ever been with the intention of ruining his rival’s holiday, season and the possible storybook ending of their quarterback’s career. Jerrod Johnson led a young Texas A&M team into a showdown with 2nd ranked Texas with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove to a nation that had overlooked him for his entire junior season.

Some of it was well deserved. Whenever the Aggies played a quality opponent early in the season they were embarrassed. Losses are a part of the learning process for young teams though. The most important characteristic for a growing program is the ability to look past those defeats and focus enough during practice the following week to compete with the next veteran conference opponent.

A 3-0 start was followed by a three game losing streak for Texas A&M, with each loss more devastating than the last. A blowout at the hands of a hot Arkansas team started the nosedive and a 36-31 home loss to Oklahoma State - a game in which the Aggies led in the third quarter - was the second part of the learning curve. The most disappointing of the losses came against Kansas State, 62-14, in a game that was over before it started.

Still, through the first six games of the Aggies’ season, Johnson had remained steady and the maturation process was taking place before every A&M fan’s eyes. There were times when Johnson would miss an open receiver or make the wrong read but with a young team these problems are to be expected. Minimizing them is the key and Johnson did just that. He had 16 TDs and 3 INTs - all coming in the K-State game - to show for it and all of a sudden, Texas had a second quarterback to showcase and be proud of.

Johnson doesn’t have that “go-to” receiver that Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow boast. Instead he has a group of young, athletic, basketball-bodied pass cathcers that are have the ability to stretch the field and do things on the field that you wouldn’t expect from receivers on a 6-6 football team. Of Johnson’s 267 completions this season, 194 have been delivered to freshmen or sophomores and of his 28 touchdown passes, 22 have been thrown to the class of ‘12 and ‘13. To say the future is bright in Aggieland is like saying Eva Longoria is cute.

All year long so much talk had revolved around Florida’s mission to repeat as National Champs, Sam Bradford’s inability to stay healthy and Colt McCoy’s mission to lead Texas to his first elusive title that we were bound to lose a few outstanding players in the shuffle. But in the Big 12, where the quarterback reigns supreme, how did was Johnson able to fly so far under the radar?

Maybe it was his schedule. While teams like Boise State and BYU stole the show out of the gate, Texas A&M wisely scheduled games against New Mexico, Utah State and UAB in order to pile up wins before getting into their brutal conference schedule. It worked, as A&M went 3-0, Johnson threw 9 TDs with 0 INTs and the Aggies were an interesting story at the beginning of the year.

Maybe it was going 0-3 against the first three opponents he faced. Even though the Aggies struggled defensively, Johnson still walked away from the first half of the season with his head up high and statistics gleaming.

Maybe this just wasn’t meant to be his year. But don’t tell that to Jerrod Johnson.

He entered the Thanksgiving matchup with Texas having thrown 24 TDs against only 5 INTs and primed to enter the national championship picture one way or another. As 20-point underdogs, the Aggies were supposed to roll over and die for their in-state rivals but things didn’t go as planned.

Freshman RB Christine Michael will also be one of the premier players at his position in 2010

Johnson led Texas A&M on three scoring drives in the first half and traded touchdowns with the second ranked team in the land until Texas drove for a touchdown with five seconds remaining to go into halftime with a 28-21 lead. Johnson kept the Aggies in the game all night by converting on third down and making big throws on the run, all while opening the eyes of viewers across the country.

Johnson finished 26-33 for 342 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT and refused to be the co-star in one of Colt McCoy’s final Heisman audition films. Even though Johnson’s team was on the wrong side of the score - 49-39 - at the end of the night, the heated rivalry game will be looked at as the night Johnson introduced himself to the nation.

The Aggies return a plethora of young offensive weapons in 2010 and the emergence of Johnson couldn’t have come at a better time for Texas A&M. With many of the big name quarterbacks in the Big 12 heading for the NFL, there isn’t any reason for Johnson and friends not to be at the top of the conference next season. The expectations will be high in College Station but it will be a welcome feeling from the cold shoulder they have received from the national media over the past decade.

Finally, another team in Texas will know how it feels to have a Heisman Trophy candidate under center.