Oklahoma football: Fox turns second half into Johnny Football lovefest

The second half of Fox's broadcast turned into a “Johnny Football” lovefest with the broadcasters nearly running out of adjectives to describe him.

Much of it was deserved for a performance in which the redshirt freshman rushed for 229 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns. If ESPNU's Heart of Dallas Bowl announcers Clay Matvick and Matt Stinchcomb had called the game, they would have accused him of running up the score.

After showing a montage of Manziel's post-Heisman itinerary, including appearances on the David Letterman and Jay Leno talk shows, analyst Charles Davis noted the extracurricular activities didn't hurt his performance. “Heisman Trophy winners don't normally come back and play this well.”

Davis said Manziel wore down the Sooners mentally and physically. “What he does as the games goes on is affect you mentally because you can only chase him and miss so many times without that working on your mind and your spirit.”

Fox captured OU coach Bob Stoops and defensive coordinator Mike Stoops showing frustration after another big Manziel run. “Two of the better defensive coordinators in college football, and I'll say history,” Davis said, “and their players are frustrated, too.”

Play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson got carried away at times. “He's a bigger guy than you would think,” he said. “He's 6-1, 200 with a size 15 shoe. His hands look like baseball gloves. This kid could go to sleep tonight and wake up 6-7 tomorrow.”

Studio analyst Eddie George predicted the Aggies would be in the running for the 2013 national title. “They had no answer for him in the second half,” he said of OU. “I'm looking at 2013 with eight home games and four away games. This team could be in a position for a national championship because they are bringing the key guy back. There is no defense that is going to stop him.”