One game separates Johnny Manziel from yet another first.

If Manziel has another stellar game against Missouri in Texas A&M's regular-season finale, he likely will become the first freshman to win the Heisman in the award's illustrious 77-year history.

And that will go along with the other firsts Manziel, or Johnny Football, has already achieved this season. He was the first freshman to lead his team to a win over a No. 1 team since 1972. Last week, he became the first freshman FBS quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. With 167 yards against Missouri, Manziel will pass the SEC's last Heisman Trophy winner, Cam Newton, for the SEC record for total offense in a season.

And all of this in his first season with a new coach, a new system and a new league.

Manziel's surge up the Heisman ladder has mostly been about his strong play, but it's also been about poor play from some of his competitors. Frontrunner Collin Klein has been shaky the past couple weeks and his poor performance in a critical loss at Baylor all but dropped him out of the conversation. Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o hasn't put up the same stunning stats he did in the beginning of the season, but if he leads his team to its first national championship game since 1988, many will be inclined to have him hoist the bronze statue.

This week should give us our Heisman winner.

Here's a look at Dr. Saturday's Heisman Watch for this week:

(US Presswire)It's hard to let go of the past. And it must be especially hard for the SEC to let go of the memorable Derek Dooley era at Tennessee.

So hard that the operator on the weekly teleconference asked if there were questions "for Coach Dooley" Wednesday, three days after Dooley was fired, according to @CBSSportsSEC:

Well then. Interim coach Jim Chaney, who did answer those Tennessee football questions, said, "There's nothing normal about the week," and that certainly isn't surprising.

(US Presswire)The NCAA has no subpoena power, and has no power to get people outside of its jurisdiction (such as current athletes or coaches) to cooperate in an investigation. So, in the Miami case, the NCAA is using what little leverage it has with former Hurricanes players.

The NCAA, according to the Miami Herald, sent a letter to former Hurricanes players implicated in the Nevin Shapiro allegations telling them they either talk to the NCAA, or the NCAA will simply believe they are guilty of Shapiro's claims.

Every year about this time of year, seniors say their tearful good-byes to the football program, fans and friends who have played a major role for the previous four or five years.

But when Penn State seniors take the field Sunday, the emotion will be multiplied. Senior cornerback Stephon Morris earlier this week gave a candid answer about the feelings he'll experience when he runs out of the tunnel for the final time on Saturday.

(AP)

Jeff Tedford's firing has not sat well with a lot of former Cal players, least of all current Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers, who was a junior college transfer and ended up being a first-round draft pick, lashed out on his weekly radio show Tuesday, chastising those involved in pushing Tedford out.

"It's a terrible, terrible decision," Rodgers told 540 ESPN in Wisconsin. "And it's disrespectful too."

(AP)USC quarterback Max Wittek might be short on experience, but he seems to be long on confidence.

Even though Saturday's game against No. 1 Notre Dame will be Wittek's first start and first extensive playing time, Wittek has no doubt he can handle the challenge.

"We haven't got the full game plan yet, but from what I can tell, we're going to play our offense, whatever coach [Lane] Kiffin feels comfortable giving me," Wittek told ESPN Radio in Los Angeles. "If he wants to air it out, let's air it out. If he wants to pound it on the ground, let's do that. Like I said, I'm going to go out there, I'm going to play within myself, within the system, and we're going to win this ballgame."

Look at Wittek, throwing down guarantees like an old pro.

(US Presswire)

It was August when Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour gave a ringing endorsement of coach Jeff Tedford and said he was not on the hot seat this season.

Oh, how a 3-9 season changes things.

Tuesday, the university announced it was cutting ties with Tedford, who had amassed an 82-57 record in 11 seasons.

"This was an extraordinarily difficult decision, one that required a thorough and thoughtful analysis of a complex set of factors," Barbour said. "Ultimately, I believed that we needed a change in direction to get our program back on the right track."

We all know Arkansas fans are desperate to find a coach to bring Arkansas to prominence, but I don't think anyone could fully grasp how desperate until this video surfaced this week.