Texas A&M pulls stunning upset of No. 1 Alabama

• Johnny Manziel threw for 253 yards two touchdowns
• Alabama's loss opens door for other unbeatens to make title game
• It could end the SEC's run of six consecutive national titles

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Alabama couldn't beat Johnny Football.

The Crimson Tide fell behind early and couldn't catch up to freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel and upstart Texas A&M, which joined the Southeastern Conference just in time to knock off the nation's No. 1 team 29-24 in the program's first trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Texas A&M scored three touchdowns on its first three drives for a 20-0 lead, and although the Crimson Tide charged back, Manziel and the Aggies always stayed out of reach.

The Aggies (8-2, 5-2), playing in the Southeastern Conference for the first season after ditching the Big 12, also might have ended the league's run of BCS titles at six years.

The defending national champion Crimson Tide (9-1, 6-1), who have been No. 1 almost all season and had won 13 straight, didn't go quietly.

AJ McCarron nearly pulled off a second straight scintillating comeback. He threw one touchdown pass and motored the ball downfield before Deshazor Everett stepped in front of his fourth-down pass at the goal line with 1:36 left.

Manziel passed for 253 yards and rushed for 92, confounding the Tide defense with his ability to keep plays alive as the Aggies scored the game's first 20 points.

"No moment is too big for him," coach Kevin Sumlin said of his remarkable redshirt freshman.

And no defense or venue too tough, apparently.

"If you're around him every day, I don't think it bothers him that much," Sumlin said.

The Aggies had been 1-10 against top-ranked teams with the only previous win coming 30-26 over Oklahoma in 2002, but Manziel and Sumlin have entered the SEC with speed and swagger - and fit right in.

"They played a tremendous game and certainly outplayed us," Tide coach Nick Saban said.

The Tide struggled to slow Manziel either passing or running, as he began the game by converting seven straight third-down plays into first downs. In one of his best moments,Texas A&M faced third-and-six at its own 41, but Alabama's pass rush left an opening as it crashed down on him. He exploited it for a 32-yard run.

Afterward, Saban complained that his team seemed "out of gas" in practice and that it failed to play with the consistent focus it has maintained much of the season.

"You have to have a tremendous amount of discipline to play against a guy like that," Saban said. "There were times when we didn't quite get it done the way we'd like to."

Incredibly, Alabama still had a chance to win at the end. Texas A&M led 29-17 until McCarron hit Amari Cooper for a 54-yard touchdown pass with 6:09 to play. Then, after forcing Texas A&M to punt after three plays for only the third time, Alabama drove to the Aggies' 6 and had first-and-goal.

The drive stalled, and on fourth-and-goal from the 2, Alabama chose passing over running. McCarron tried a quick out pass to the right side, but Texas A&M's Deshazor Everett intercepted to end the threat.

"If we would have run it, you would be asking me why we didn't throw it," Saban said.

Saban added, "We didn't get the play executed. I'm not going to criticize the call, but I'm like everybody else when it doesn't work, I wish we would have done something else."

McCarron said the play was designed to run quickly.

"It's a one-hit wonder," he said. "On three steps, I throw it. The guy got underneath and got it."

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said afterward he didn't know the school was entering the SEC when he took the job. But he does now, as the Aggies knocked off the conference team with the best shot at a national title.

"To go on the road and win like that, it will be moment our guys will never forget," Sumlin said.

Mark Edwards writes for The Decatur (Ala.) Daily.