Quarterback Johnny Manziel, the frenetic playmaker who led Texas A&M to an upset of then No. 1 Alabama, became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder from Kerrville, Texas, was honored with the coveted award Saturday night at the Best Buy Theater in New York. The only other Texas A&M player to win the Heisman Trophy was running back John David Crow in 1957.
Previously, the closest a freshman came to winning the award was Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson in 2004,when he finished second by USC quarterback Matt Leinart.
Notre Dame senior linebacker Manti Te'o was second in the voting and Kansas State senior quarterback Collin Klein was third.
Manziel was selected the O'Brien Award winner on Thursday as the nation's best quarterback. He finished second to Te'o for the Maxwell Award, which goes to most outstanding player.
Manziel passed for 3,419 yards and 24 touchdowns, rushed for 1,181 yards and 19 touchdowns, and completed 68.3% of his passes. He led the Aggies to a 29-24 upset of the Crimson Tide, who are no ranked No. 2 and will play unbeaten Notre Dame in the Bowl Championship Series national title game on Jan. 7 in South Florida.
Manziel set a Southeastern Conference single-game record for total offense with 557 yards in a 58-10 victory over Arkansas and broke it two weeks later with 576 yards in a 59-57 victory over Louisiana Tech.
Te'o leads the top-ranked Irish with 103 tackles and seven interceptions.
Klein was the mid-season front-runner for the Heisman, but he played his worst game late in the season in a 52-24 loss at Baylor, which intercepted three passes and held him to 37 yards in 17 carries.
