Of all the defensive ends that can say they once sacked Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, most will tell their grandchildren about the sack without telling them about the blowout loss to the Aggies and the 400 yards Johnny Football posted in the same game.
Dee Ford, on the other hand, will have a true heartbreaker story to tell.
About broken Aggies hearts, anyway.
The Auburn defensive end sacked Manziel not once but twice during a desperation drive that could easily have resulted in just another thrilling win, and another opposing skin hanging on Manziel's wall. Ford, one of the Tigers' top NFL prospects as a pass rusher who projects as an outside linebacker at the pro level, dropped Manziel for a loss of 22 on 4th-and-13 to put the game away for a 45-41 win for Auburn, with just a few seconds remaining.
But it was Ford's sack of Manziel two plays earlier, on a 2nd-and-10 play with less than a minute left, that may have been even more crucial. It was the 8-yard loss on that play that put Manziel in true desperation position, facing 3rd-and-18 from the Auburn 26 with just 28 seconds left. They were the only two tackles Ford made all day, but they were perhaps the biggest AU made.
Ford, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound senior, is projected primarily as a late-round pick for next year's draft. His season started late due to a knee injury, but he is now averaging one sack per game with five on the season.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
