Oklahoma football: Mike Stoops says Sooners didn't have players to keep up with Manziel

“They're a hard matchup for teams that don't have teams that don't have extraordinary personnel on defense,” said Stoops late Friday after Oklahoma's 41-13 loss defeat to Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl Classic.

“They can expose you. Certainly we got exposed in some areas tonight. We've been kind of average all year, and that's not good enough when you play a guy like this.”

The Sooners struggled against running quarterbacks in late-season shoot-outs, but always managed to eek out victories.

Not this time.

Not against this quarterback.

Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel was brilliant Friday, rushing for 229 yards and two touchdowns and completing 22 of 34 passes for 287 yards and two more scores.

It started early; on the game's opening offensive series, Texas A&M faced a third-and-9 on the Oklahoma 23-yard line.

Oklahoma linebacker Frank Shannon burst through the offensive line on third down and charged Manziel.

The Heisman Trophy winner coolly spun from Shannon, sprinted by defensive linemen David King and Geneo Grissom, tiptoed past defensive backs Javon Harris and Gabe Lynn along the sideline, then merrily skipped into the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown run.

The game would never be tied again.

“We couldn't execute, much less do anything tonight,” King said. “Johnny went out there and did everything that he has done all year.”

Mike Stoops, Oklahoma's defensive coordinator from 1999-2003, returned to his brother's staff after a seven-and-a-half year stint as Arizona's head coach. Early in the season, the Sooner defense appeared vastly improved from last season's unit, which collapsed in Oklahoma's losses.