Former Texas A&M QB says Manziel's ahead of the curve

Bucky Richardson and Johnny Manziel took different paths to College Station, with one arriving from LSU's doorstep and the other from the heart of Texas, but both share one defining characteristic: Manziel, like Richardson before him, has captivated the Texas A&M fan base – and the rest of the country, one could say – as a freshman starting quarterback.

It's been 25 years since Richardson did the same. A native of Baton Rouge, Richardson surprised many when, as a high school senior, he chose A&M over the hometown Tigers. Richardson's recruitment was one of the Aggies' few victories over LSU in decades: Heading into the 1987 season, A&M had lost 13 of its last 16 in the series.

Like Manziel this fall, Richardson was an immediate hit. As a true freshman (Manziel is a redshirt freshman), he finished third on the team in rushing with 423 yards while alternating snaps with fellow quarterbacks Craig Stump and Lance Pavlas.

Thrust into the lineup due to injuries during the regular season finale against Texas, Richardson's late touchdown run lifted the Aggies to a 20-13 victory that secured a Cotton Bowl berth. Richardson's legend, born against the Longhorns, was cemented after he left College Station in 1991 with the second-most wins by a quarterback in A&M history.

"There's a lot to learn," said Richardson, looking back at his rookie season. "It's a huge adjustment, leaving home for the first time."

"I certainly wanted to play. My goal was not to have an expectation when that might happen. I approached it like everything else: I'm going to go, outwork everybody, try to get better every day. If you do more than that you're putting undue pressure on yourself."

More than two decades later, it's only natural that Manziel's superb play has drawn comparisons to the last freshman quarterback to take Texas A&M by storm.

Now the co-owner of Environmental Improvements, Inc., a manufacturer's representative in the waste water treatment industry, Richardson sees in Manziel many of the same qualities he flashed as a freshman starter – with one catch.

To Richardson, Manziel is ahead of the curve. Due to the proliferation of 7-on-7 tournaments and the intricacies of high school offenses in Texas, Manziel was far more prepared for life as a freshman starter than Richardson was in 1987.

"Johnny Manziel probably threw more passes in high school than I threw in my whole career," said Richardson. "That's how different the time is now. When he gets on campus, he's prepared. He's ready for reading defenses, for going through progressions, for all these kinds of things that he's doing as a freshman. He's just got a good feel for the game. He's got an idea of where to go."

All Manziel has done as a freshman is fly right into the Heisman race, helping Texas A&M off to a 5-1 start in the program's first season as part of the SEC. Heading into Saturday's game against No. 6 LSU, Manziel has completed 128-of-190 attempts for 1,680 yards and 14 touchdowns to go with 676 yards and 10 scores on the ground.

Last Saturday, Manziel overcame a potentially crippling interception in the fourth quarter to lead the Aggies past Louisiana Tech 59-57. Overall, Manziel threw for 395 yards and rushed for another 181 yards, setting a new SEC record with 576 yards of total offense.

To Richardson, it's the little things that make Manziel a Heisman candidate. "He's got a confidence about himself that you just have to have to be good. And it's a confidence, it's not an arrogance," he said.

"It's just in his blood. It's in him. All the great quarterbacks have that. They don't care if the defense has stopped them six times in a row. He knows that if he gets another shot at the ball, he'll get you."

Richardson saw this against Louisiana Tech, after the Bulldogs overcame a 27-0 deficit to draw within 46-44 with 12 minutes to play.

"A lot of kids can't handle that momentum going against you," he said. "I never saw Johnny hang his head, never saw him do anything body-language wise that would make me think that he didn't believe that we were going to win the game. His head, his confidence. He believes that when he gets his hands on the ball he's going to win."