Johnny Manziel blasts Texas A&M’s final play in loss to No. 1 Alabama: ‘Go for the kill!’

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Top-ranked Alabama’s supposed revenge game against Texas A&M devolved into a desperate fight for survival that came down to the last play of the game.

The Crimson Tide ultimately came away with a 24-20 victory following a last-second defensive stand. The final play was a Haynes King incompletion to Evan Stewart with Terrion Arnold in defense.

MORE: Tide survive Aggies’ upset bid with last-second defensive stand

At least one person — Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel — thinks the final score was more of a result of the Aggies’ play-calling than Alabama’s defensive acumen. And he was ready to express his frustrations on Twitter.

To Alabama’s credit, the Crimson Tide defenders — who were in man coverage — appeared to have their respective receivers locked down. In hindsight, King should have waited for someone to get open as opposed to forcing a low-yield play, especially considering A&M had decent protection against Alabama’s pass rush.

Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher defended the play.

“Got down there and had a chance. Kids played a good two-minute drive, took it down the field. Got it to one last play, had it, it was a good read, just didn’t get it executed and what we needed to do,” Fisher said in his postgame press conference. “But the decision was right in where we were going and what we did.”

Fisher further explained that it was the same play on which Moose Muhammad III scored previously.

“We had three looks. We were one-on-one. They were in zero rat (coverage). We were one-on-one, right on the corner, on a one-on-one route. We had it,” Fisher said. “And we had three options on the front side, (King) read it and it was the same play we had scored on earlier, and we’d hit Moose on.

“And they changed the coverage and he went right back to make the perfect read and where we’re going to. They played it off the first time and we knew if they did we had the one-on-one backside, and if they didn’t, the other way we had our two looks on the front side, which we wanted.”

MORE: Johnny Manziel vs. Alabama: Revisiting A&M legend’s Heisman moment against No. 1 Tide in 2012

The Aggies made the most of their chances against Alabama, turning three Crimson Tide turnovers into 17 points and adding a field goal late to make it a one-score game. Their only offensive issue was a turnover on downs early in the fourth quarter following a missed field goal attempt by Alabama.

That likely won’t take away the sting of this loss, with Fisher just one play away from becoming the third coach all time to beat Nick Saban in consecutive seasons (Les Miles in 2010-11 and Hugh Freeze in 2014-15).

Manziel, in an attempt at levity, later revealed an extra layer of displeasure over the loss: a bet with former Alabama golfer and current PGA Tour champion Justin Thomas:

With that, Manziel remains the last A&M quarterback to beat Alabama in Bryant-Denny Stadium, dating all the way back to the 2012 season.

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