Colt McCoy – Quarterback for the Texas Longhorns

By Danny Reagan

SAN ANTONIO - As the first half of the Alamo Bowl wound down Saturday night, Burnt Orange Nation finally grasped that Colt McCoy had indeed recovered from the infamous pinched nerve.

In a matter of those few minutes, McCoy delivered a 7-of-10 performance for 86 yards which not only gave renewed vigor to the sea of orange filling the Alamodome, it proved that the former Jim Ned standout had all the nerves (of steel) to make the University of Texas fans forget the last six weeks' worth of two losses and mounting doubt.

McCoy's performance in Texas' come-from-behind, 26-24 victory over Iowa proved he no longer has a pain in the neck, but rather - as a press box colleague mentioned - WAS a pain in the neck for the Hawkeyes.

Later in the interview room, McCoy waited for the first "nerve" question.

"No sir!" That's all he said when someone asked him if his pinched nerve bothered him at all during the game. Earlier in the week, the redshirt freshman told the press he was getting a little tired of talking about that nerve all the time.

The topic didn't come up much after that, thanks mostly to his stellar performance on the field. McCoy, who was voted Most Outstanding Offensive player of the game by the press corps, finished the night 26-of-40 for 308 yards and two TDs. His longest pass, a 72-yard scoring strike to Jamaal Charles, tied the NCAA record of 29 TD passes for a freshman quarterback.

"I wasn't scared to get hit," McCoy added, just to make sure everyone understood. "I put the injury behind me and didn't think about it."

He was busy enough thinking about the hits he was taking "post-nerve." McCoy was knocked down time after time throughout the game, winding up on his backside numerous times. A busted lip and several scrapes on his arms and elbows proved he will remember this Alamo for a while.

"You tell me," McCoy said when someone tried to disguise a "nerve" question with a "rust" question. "I'm just glad to be back. I had my confidence back. Coach Brown talked about dedication and family, and I dedicated that game, and those three senior offensive linemen are like family to me. I can't say enought about them; I'll miss them so much. They're incredible!"

Earlier, the young quarterback said that coming into the season, all he wanted to do was win and earn the respect of the rest of the player.

McCoy has kept his head on straight throughout a season when many young men might "eat the cheese," as Dallas Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells refers to buying into the publicity and praise.

"It's not me," McCoy said when asked another praise-laden question. "It's the team. It's the blockers and the receivers getting open."

Minutes later, in the same interview room, UT head coach Mack Brown begged to differ and offered some "cheese" of his own.

"To step into the shoes of one of the greatest quarterbacks in college history and to give us the chance he did this year, it's amazing." said Brown, who also was impressed with McCoy's fight back from the injury and how quick he regained his poise.

"His leadership and his confidence, bringing the offense back the way he did, it was just incredible," said Brown.

As McCoy was being escorted out of the interview room, one plucky reporter broke protocol and garnered the glare of a burly "escortee" to ask one final question some fans in and around the Big Country might find interesting:

"Are you going to try to talk (brother) Chance into attending Texas?"

Colt and wide receiver Chance connected for dozens of TD passes during their time at Jim Ned together.

"He's already made up his mind," McCoy said smiling at the mention of his brother. "He's going to Abilene Christian. That's what he wants to do."

And that was all he was able to say on the subject before the aforementioned "escortee" spoke some pain-in-the-neckish words to the aforementioned pain-in-the-neck (or lower) reporter and scooted the pride of Tuscola out the door.

The nerve!

Posted by Abilene Admin at 7:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan

SAN ANTONIO - The Longhorn defense came up big when it counted, causing Iowa to punt with 2:28 left in the game. Texas started from its own 15-yard line and was looking at only a couple of first downs away from a 10-victory season. They only made one, however, and had to punt themselves. Iowa took over at their own 15 with 2 seconds remaining. I can let you finish the story. Final Score: Texas 26, Iowa 24.

3:35, 4th Q: This was surely looking critical. An 18-yard punt by Texas and Iowa has it at the Horns' 48-yard line. Then Marcus Griffin stopped the Hawkeye runner for an 11-yard loss. More later....

6:20, 4th Q: For some reason, the officiating crew is not calling holding on the Iowa offensive linemen today. This, in addition to a couple of nice plays that would have been nullified with the aforementioned holding calls, allowed Iowa to move right down the field until the Horns' defense stiffened. Result? A 38-yard field goal for the Hawkeyes. Texas still leads, 26-24.

10:48, 4th Q: SORRY ... Lost Internet for several minutes up here in the press box, xo you missed an Iowa TD to retake the lead, 21-20. After several completions by Colt, the Longhorns appeard to be stalled at 4th-and-inches at the Iowa 9-yard line until Colt snuck around the right side and almost made it into the end zone before going out at the 2-yard-line. That just delayed the inevitable as Selvin Young dove for paydirt. The Horns went for two points, but failed. UT still leads, 26-21.

7:17, 3rd Q: Speaking of Mo, Colt McCoy and Jamaal Charles introduced themselves to him on the first play of the ensuing drive, connecting for a 72-yard TD, and the first lead of the day for the Horns, 20-14.

7:45, 3rd Q: Uncle Mo' didn't show up after all for Iowa. They couldn't take advtange of their good fortune and missed a 45-yard field goal.

9:25, 3rd Q: The UT defense finally got a sack on the elusive Drew Tate and forced Iowa to punt. However, Aaron Ross coughed up the ball on the punt return and Iowa was back in business at the UT 35-yard line. Uncle Mo' may have jumped back onto the Hawkeyes at that point.

11:43, 3rd Q: Colt McCoy picked up where he left off on the first drive of the second half, hitting 5-of-6 passes for 54 yards. After a dropped passed the Longhorns had to settle for a 43-yard field goal to make it a one-point game, 14-13.

Halftime: Iowa owned most of the first half until Aaron Ross intercepted Drew Tate in the end zone with less than 5 minutes left in the half and the Horns down, 14-3.

Colt McCoy then took control with scrambles and pin-point passing (7-of-10 for 86 yards), culminating in an acrobatic catch by Limas Sweed in the endzone. This was definitely the pre-injured-nerve version of Colt. He finished the half 12-of-22 for 145 yards and one TD (20 yards).

OTHER STATS: Sweed caught 3 passes for 70 yards, while Quan Cosby grabbed 4 for 41 yards. Surprisingly, Jordan Shipley is the Horns' leading rusher with 14 yards. Jamaal Charles has only 6 yards on 3 carries. For the Hawkeyes, QB Drew Tate is 8-of-13 with 1 INT for 193 yards and 2 TDs. Albert Young has 41 carries on 8 trips for Iowa.

0:45, 2nd Q: Colt McCoy and Limas Sweed made it a close ballgame with one of their patented lob and corner-of-the-end-zone connections. He came up shaky, however, and went straight to the locker room. Still, after the PAT, it was 14-10 and a completely different ball game.

McCoy was 7-for-10 for 85 yards on the 13-play, 80-yard drive which started with Ross' INT.

4:55, 2nd Q: The difference so far in the game is the elusiveness of Hawkeye QB Drew Tate. He has been giving the UT defense fits, especially on a first-down scramble on 3rd down from his own 6-yard line which kept the Iowa drive alive. He followed that up with a 41-yard completion to Andy Brodell - which was mostly YAC (yards after catch).

The UT defense momentarily stifffened from their own 33-yard line, however, and just when an illegal touching penalty looked to take the wind out of the Hawkeyes' sails, Tate came through again with a 29-yard pass play for 1st and goal from the 7 ... with the drive more than seven minutes old at the time.

Aaron Ross ended the drive, however, with an interception in the end zone.

12:18, 2nd Q: After another 3-and-out for Iowa, the Horns started from their own 15-yard-line. A 39-yard improvised connection between Colt McCoy and Limas Sweed put the ball into Hawkeye territory. The very next play only a brilliant defensive tip kept Colt from having his first TD pass of the game. One more incompletion because of a terrific hit and Texas had to punt again. They are 0-for-4 on third down, and Colt is 5-for-12 for 60 yards.

Good news for those wearing burnt orange is the punt backed the Hawkeyes down to their own 2-yard line.

1:36, 1st Q: The defense finally held and forced an Iowa punt. Texas started from its own 30-yard line. Colt was 3-of-5 for 19 yards going into the possession. He tried a 45-yard bomb on the first play but didn't quite connect. He came out of the possession 3-for-7, and UT had to punt again.

4:32, 1st Q: That quick score seemed to wake up everyone on the Texas sideline. Quan Cosby ran the kickoff back 52 yards, Colt McCoy completed an 11-yard pass to buddy Jordan Shipley before Shipley notched 14 more yards on an end-around.

A couple of short running plays and an Iowa personal foul later, the Longhorns had the ball on the Hawkeyes' 6-and-a-half yardline. The Horns couldn't do anything with it from there, however, than kick a 27-yard field goal to close the score to 14-3.

8:30, 1st Q: Wow, that was fast! A one-play, 63-yard pass play and it's 14-0, Hawkeyes. The burnt orange defensive secondary left the receiver wide open.

8:50, 1st Q: Colt McCoy back on the field since the final minute of the Aggie game more than a month ago. First and second passes were complete. Good sign, but Texas went 3-and-out.

Kickoff! Iowa got the ball first and the Texas defensive line looked like it came to play, harrassing Drew Tate and almost sacking him three times. He just barely got off long passes each time, however, eventually leading his team to a 7-0 score on a 9-play, 77-yard drive with 11:05 left in the first quarter.

I guess you could say Iowa moved right down the field, but except for a couple of inches here or there on a missed sack, it would've been a different story.

There are supposedly more than 65,000 fans in the Alamo Bowl today, and it looks like about 60,000 of them are wearing burnt orange.

One hour before gametime and Colt's arm looked just fine in warmups. Yesterday he mentioned that he was tired of everyone asking about that pinched nerve of his.

I plan on asking him about brother Chance after the game and if he's going to try to talk him into going to Texas instead of Abilene Christian.

1:30 p.m. - It's almost showtime and the Alamodome is filling up two hours before kickoff.

Remember you can post your thoughts on the game afterwards at the chatroom or on the "comments" section under this entry.

I'll blog off and on throughout the game and then will try to get a word with Colt after the official post-game interviews.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, Texas Longhorn fans received their Christmas present early a few days ago when the doctors cleared Colt McCoy to play against Iowa in the Alamo Bowl a week from today.

I'm going to take a few days off to wrap some presents myself and "rest up" for the game. Unless there's some more big news, I won't see you again until after Christmas. Root around in previous entries or check out Colt's Awards for 2006 if you missed it.

Have the Merriest of Christmases and/or the Happiest of Your Favorite Holidays!

Posted by Abilene Admin at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

UPDATE: ESPN just announced (8:45 p.m.) that Colt was cleared to play in the Alamo Bowl. And sure enough, mackbrown-texasfootball.com confirms the news. See complete Associated Press story at the "Colt in the News" link above.

Suzanne Halliburton of the Austin American-Statesman (now lead reporter for the UT beat) has a good story this morning about Colt McCoy's now famous (infamous?) pinched nerve.

If you recall, the nerve was pinched in the Kansas State game on a quarterback sneak and was coming along nicely until the last few minutes of the Texas A&M game when it (or perhaps it was a different nerve) was injured on a horrific blow under the chin.

Lots of good medical terminology and explanations in her story, and an affirmation of what a lot of us know about stingers: "The danger is when the injuries recur. Doctors say that if a player keeps suffering these type of stingers, there is a risk for career-ending damage ... a player with two previous injuries would have a 'minor' risk. Three or more would put the player in a 'moderate' risk category."

My next-door neighbor, an A&M alum, recounted the story of a similar incident during R.C. Slocum's Aggie reign years ago. After a player suffered several stingers, the coach told him he'd keep him on scholarship and he could suit up, but Slocum wouldn't play him because he didn't want the athlete to suffer permanent danger. The player eventually transferred out of A&M because he wanted to play. Don't know how that story eventually ended.

But according to Halliburton's story, the timetable for Colt's return is right on the bubble for when he might be cleared by the doctors. They want a player to go a month without pain before giving the OK to return from such an injury.

It'll be close, and with Jevan Snead now gone and ultra-blue-chip QB John Brantley now staying in his home-state, will Mack Brown take a chance on aggravating Colt's injured nerve again? The "blog-boards" are saying Mack already took a chance when he sent Colt on a sneak twice in a row at KSU, and then another chance when he played Colt against A&M instead of Snead.

Speaking of Chance: Colt's little brother Chance, the 6-2, 178-pound senior wide receiver for the Graham Steers, was named to the Associated Press second-team offensive squad. It'll be interesting to see where he signs in less than two months (probably Abilene Christian).

Mack Comments: On anything new with Colt McCoy: No, I think they'll want him to go home and spend some time at home, and they'll check him when we get to San Antonio. I would not expect anything new from our doctors until then.

On Matt McCoy: Matt's done a good job. I think he feels kind of like it's his turn. He obviously wants Colt to be healthy and play, that's the fair thing, and Colt's done really well for us, so we need him to play, but Matt knows his role would be to help our football team if Colt's not in there. (Quotes from Brown's Wednesday press conference)

In Other News: I'll be blogging from the press box at the Alamo Bowl and will be writing a "sidebar" for the Abilene Reporter-News. I'd also like to submit a list of fan comments about the game. So, once the game is over, if you want to give your opinion, either click on the "Comments" link under the blog entry or go to the chatroom and post something.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jevan Snead, the former blue-chipper from Stephenville, has told ESPN.com that he is transferring to Ole Miss.

"I don't regret any of my time at Texas," he told the site. "I hope nothing but the best for Colt McCoy and the Longhorns. But I'm ready to follow my own dreams now."

That was a shock to me. I was holding out hope for Tech, but thought he would probably go to Houston or TCU. Supposedly, what prompted Snead to become a Rebel was that Mississippi is losing both of their top quarterbacks after the 2007 season - Seth Adams and Brent Schaeffer. There are four other QBs on the official roster right now - three freshmen and one sophomore.

If my math doesn't fail me, Snead will still have three years of eligibility left when he starts playing again in the 2008 season.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

(Updated on Feb. 13, 2007)

While waiting for Christmas and the opening kickoff to get here - yes, Santa "awarded" me press credentials to the Alamo Bowl - I thought I would recap Colt McCoy's awards this past season:

National Freshman of the Year, presented by Touchdown Club of Columbus (Ohio). Major Applewhite (1998) and Vince Young (2003) are past winners of the award as well.

Named Quarterback of the 27-man Football Writers Association of America Scripps 2006 All-American team.

Offensive Player of the Game, 2006 Alamo Bowl (he tied the NCAA record of 29 TD passes in a season for a freshman in that 26-24 victory over Iowa with two scoring strikes).

College Football News Big 12 Player of the Year and quarterback on their All-Freshman team.

Team's Offensive Most Valuable Player as voted by the Texas Longhorn coaches.

Named the George “Hook� McCullough Co-MVP along with Aaron Ross by the Texas Longhorn coaches.

Walter Camp Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week.

Master Coaches Survey Game Ball for offense for his come-from-behind win against Texas Tech.

AT&T Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.

Seven (7) Player of the Game awards for regionally and nationally televised games (he even won the award in the Ohio State loss).

Two (2) Cingular/ESPN All-America Player of the Game weekly awards.

Sporting News' College Football Freshman of the Year.

Associated Press Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

Scout.com's Offensive Freshman of the Year and first team Freshman All-America Team.

Sports Illustrated's All-America Honorable Mention Team.

AT&T Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.

AT&T All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Team.

Of course, he didn't actually win the Davy O'Brien Award or the Heisman Trophy, but he was named a semi-finalist for the former, and right before his injury at Kansas State he was fourth in the Heisman race. Both accomplishments are extraordinary for a freshman.

Colt may win a few other individual awards before it's all over this season (and if you know of one I missed, please let me know), but the one that might take a little bit of the sting away from the team awards that didn't happen (Big 12 title, National Championship) would be MVP of the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30.

I bet Santa won't mind staying in San Antonio a few extra days to take care of that.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here are Colt McCoy's comments from Wednesday's Players Press Conference, courtesy of mackbrown-texasfootball.com:

On how he is feeling now: I feel better; everyday it feels better. The doctors are doing a great job evaluating me and rehabbing me. Just hopefully I’ll keep getting better everyday.

On if he thinks he can play or if he realizes that he’s not ready yet: I know that nerve injuries are pretty important, and you want them to heal so you won’t keep re-injuring it. The doctors are doing a great job. They’re treating me and they just want me to be 100 percent. They’re evaluating me at practice, and the coaches are evaluating me, and we’ll just see where it goes from here.

On if he’s practicing at all or if he just watches practice: No, I’m practicing. The coaches and the trainers are watching me and evaluating me, but I feel like I’m doing pretty well.

On if everything feels pretty close to normal or if there’s pain at all: It feels pretty close [to normal]. I just want what’s best for this team though. If I’m healthy and cleared to play, then I’ll go out there and do my best to win for this football team. If I’m not, then we’ll have somebody step in, and they’ll be great.

On if he feels as though he’s taken on the added role of tutoring: (The other quarterbacks) definitely need some guidance aside from the coaches, so I’m there for them all the time. Hopefully I’ll be ready to play, and like I said, it’s getting better every day.

On if the last two losses linger with him or if he is able to put them behind him: As hard as it is, you have to be able to put it behind you. You can’t go into psycho-mode when you lose, and that’s really easy to do. When you put it behind you and look at the season, we’ve got one more game and the chance to win 10 games. We can let these seniors go out on a high, positive note and use this as a steppingstone for next year. Going into the spring, we’ll have that sour taste out of our mouth. When you have the opportunity to go to a bowl game and win, you need to do it and get the 10 wins.

On the Iowa defense: They’re really sound. They’re really coached well. All of their players are going to be in the right position at the right time. They know exactly what they’re going to do. We have to be really sound on offense. We’ve got to run the football well, and that’ll open up the passing game for us.

On what he’s saying to Quan Cosby right now: I think that Quan will be fine if something happens and he has to come in and play (at quarterback). That’s the coaches’ decision and I don’t really know what they’re going to do about that. But hopefully I’ll be 100 percent and be ready to go there to play my best for this football team.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Matt McCoy, a senior walk-on who has never thrown a pass in college, is practicing as the No. 1 quarterback for Texas while the Longhorns wait to see if Colt McCoy will be able to play in the Alamo Bowl against Iowa.

An Associated Press story about this by Jim Vertuno should be available later this afternoon on the "Colt in the News" link above.

Quotes from Vertuno's story:

• "We still don't know about Colt. It's a long way till game time, and they have not told us yet if he'll play." - Mack Brown
• "It's coming along every day. All of the pain is gone." - Colt McCoy
• "We know Colt's going to be ready to play." - Matt McCoy
• "I'm the emergency quarterback only." - Quan Cosby (wide receiver)

Posted by Abilene Admin at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

(Addendum: Yesterday, The Sporting News named Colt McCoy their Freshman of the Year. TSN doesn't hand out awards lightly, either).

The Alamo Bowl will be a "statement game" for Colt McCoy and the Texas Longhorns.

The Hawkeyes won't be a "Cakewalk on the Riverwalk," as some UT fans may theorize due to Iowa's 6-6 record. The Hawkeyes cut their teeth this year on some very tough (and close) Big 10 losses, and they will be looking to make a statement of their own.

Colt will be wanting to show that a couple of injuries haven't really changed him, and his potential to be the next, great UT signal caller hasn't diminished a bit. HIs coaches definitely still believe in him. He received the Most Valuable Player award for offense last Friday at the annual Longhorn banquet (picture courtesy of mackbrown-texasfootball.com).

And the Longhorns will be wanting to show the pollsters that they shouldn't start them too far down on the list in the pre-season poll next season.

Speaking of statements, I'm amazed by some of the comments I see on other blogs or chatrooms that badmouth Colt for getting hurt and ruining the Longhorns' chances for another national title. Somehow I can't believe these are real fans (much less alumni), but rather disenfranchised bandwagon riders who already regret spending $12.99 for that on-sale, national championship T-shirt last January.

I won't see them, but maybe I'll see you at the Alamo Bowl, Dec. 30. One statement I never tire of making is "Let's go to San Antonio."

Posted by Abilene Admin at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

Updated 11:25 a.m.: I was able to ask Mack Brown one more partial question about his concerns about the quarterback situation before other questions started flying and interrupted me.

Brown said if Colt McCoy isn't ready to play, they'll have to go with the senior Matt McCoy (no relation), a 5-year, non-scholarship veteran of the program. Brown also said they are planning on an "emergency quarterback" scenario, and he and his staff would talk more about that. The press conference ended on that note.

Earlier, someone had asked Brown about Vince Young, and the coach said he missed him. "He's doing for the Titans what he did for us last year," he said. Laughing, Brown also said he remembers "calling some of those same plays (third and 12)," and Young was still running them "with a smile on his face and no dirt on his jersey."

A couple of times Brown was asked about the defensive coordinator opening and reiterated he would not comment until after the Alamo Bowl.

Brown's comments about bowl games in general were interesting: "If you're not playing in a BCS bowl, you want to go somewhere that wants you," he said. "The other bowls around the country are not getting as much attention as they deserve. If you can play a great team you respect, before a full house on ESPN, it just doesn't get any better than that."

Then he took a little jab at the BCS, in my opinion. "You're seeing some bowl matchups that aren't as exciting anymore." He also said he was very proud Texas fans bought tickets so quickly.

His response was brief: "It's entirely too early to rate him, because it's a wait-and-see process."

Coach Kirk Ferentz mentioned that his Hawkeyes really enjoy visiting the Alamo Bowl, and are looking forward to the challenge of playing Texas. Iowa was in San Antonio in 2001 and really enjoyed the experience.

Coach Mack Brown echoed that he and his team were excited about playing in San Antoinio, "an opportunity they haven't had" in the past, and he's looking forward to all the UT fans being in attendance. Brown also talked about the importance of a bowl game, but didn't think a win or a loss would affect recruiting.

Both coaches, of course, talked about mutual respect for each other's squads.

I'll keep you posted of anything important during the call. BTW: The Alamo Bowl is definitely a sell-out - which means at least 65,685 fans will be in attendance.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

Since my chances of getting press credentials to blog from the Alamo Bowl are somewhere between slim and none, I went to AlamoBowl.com to see about tickets.

I didn't have any luck after checking several price ranges. They appear to be all gone. Statesman.com reported that the sell-out is just about a reality, and chances for getting a ticket come down to if any of the 11,000 tickets allotted for Iowa fans aren't sold.

This is supposed to be the quickest sell-out in Alamo Bowl history.
Well, if you can't get there to see Colt McCoy and company, at least it'll be on ESPN in high-def at 3:30 p.m.

CAN'T WAIT? And for those of you who are already looking forward to next season, the final slot was nailed down with ASU.

I already have that second Saturday in November marked on my calendar.

Longhorns 2007 Schedule

Sep. 1 - Arkansas State

Sep. 8 - Texas Christian

Sep. 15 - at Central Florida

Sep. 22 - Rice

Sep. 29 - Kansas State

Oct. 6 - Oklahoma (in Dallas)

Oct. 13 - at Iowa State

Oct. 20 - at Baylor

Oct. 27 - Nebraska

Nov. 3 - at Oklahoma St.

Nov. 10 - Texas Tech

Nov. 23 - at Texas A&M

Posted by Abilene Admin at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

Just about everyone believes Colt McCoy will be ready to play when the Alamo Bowl is held on Dec. 30 in San Antonio.

The Harry Cabluck (Associated Press) photo below shows Colt looking toward a receiver during a Longhorns workout session in early August of this year.

In the background is redshirt freshman quarterback Sherrod Harris (left) and senior QB Matt McCoy. Mack Brown has already stated that he's not pulling that red shirt off of Harris for one game. With Jevan Snead's departure, that leaves walk-on Matt McCoy (no relation) as the only other "real" quarterback for UT.

I believe you saw Matt at least one time last year spelling Vince Young in the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand.

Some people (whose blood does not run burnt orange) may not realize there is a third McCoy on the Texas roster - Mark McCoy, another senior walk-on from Dallas. He's a wide-receiver and the twin of Matt.

I bet once Texas widens the lead on Iowa, Mack Brown will put the two brothers in late in the game and call a pass play.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

On a scale of 1-to-10, Colt McCoy is between a 7 and an 8 on being back to 100% ready to play.

That's the assessment from father and former coach Brad who saw his oldest son over this past weekend.

"He's a lot more upbeat and up-tempo than right after the Kansas State game, so I'd have to say his mental condition is even better than his physical," said Brad. "He knows he has more time to heal, and that he'll be ready to play."

Colt and long-time friend and Longhorn teammate Jordan Shipley attended the playoff game at Abilene's Shotwell Stadium Saturday between Brad's Graham Steers and Midland Greenwood.

"They lean on each other," said Brad, noting that Jordan has had his share of injuries in the past as well. The two have been buds since about the 5th grade when Brad coached at Hamlin and Bob Shipley (Brad's old ACU football teammate and Jordan's dad) coached at Rotan.

In Brad's eyes, the two young men right now seem to mirror the psyche of Longhorn team as a whole.

"They're disappointed they're not playing in a BCS bowl, but at the same time they're kind of excited knowing they'll be playing close to home in front of a lot of fans. They're still a really close team."

If you tried to access AlamoBowl.com Sunday afternoon after 5 p.m., you probably didn't get to the "clogged" site because so many people were hitting it in search of tickets.

Brad says Colt has put a lot of the burden on himself for the losses at the end of the season.

"If I hadn't gotten hurt ..." is what Brad has heard from his son more than once. But as we all know, several Longhorns have had injuries this season, so that guilt doesn't need to be on any one person's shoulders - doesn't need to be on anyone's, actually. Injuries happen.

"The main thing is it's obvious that he's getting better," said Brad of his son.

Season Over: It's pretty obvious to Coach McCoy why his Steers lost to Greenwood, 34-10.

"Emotionally, we just couldn't get back up after the Sanger game the week before (a four-overtime thriller)," he said. The Steers were only behind 14-10 at halftime.

"We were pretty beat up anyway," said Brad, "but they were a lot bigger and stronger than we were. We just couldn't get anything going. Uncharacteristically, we just ran out of gas."

Taking a Chance: Now that Brad's middle son Chance has played his final prep game, Abilene Christian University still looms large in the wide receiver's future.

"He's still being courted by SMU, Oklahoma State, Tulsa and three or four others, but he thinks it's kind of cool that he might go to my alma mater. And, of course, it's close to home, so he likes that," said Brad.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By now you've heard that Colt McCoy and the Longhorns are going to the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30 in San Antonio.

Here's the list from the Associated Press of the matchups for other Texas teams or bowl games to be played in Texas.

Dec. 19 - Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego, TCU vs. Northern Illinois, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Dec. 22 - New Orleans Bowl, Troy vs. Rice, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Dec. 23 - Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa vs. Utah, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Dec. 28 - Holiday Bowl at San Diego, California vs. Texas A&M, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Dec. 28 - Texas Bowl at Houston, Rutgers vs. Kansas State, 7 p.m. (NFL)

Dec. 29 - Sun Bowl at El Paso, Missouri vs. Oregon State, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Dec. 29 - Liberty Bowl at Memphis, Tenn., S. Carolina vs. Houston, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Dec. 29 - Insight Bowl at Tempe, Ariz., Minnesota (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (7-5), 6:30 p.m. (NFL)

Dec. 30 - Alamo Bowl at San Antonio, Iowa (6-6) vs. Texas (9-3), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Jan. 1 - Cotton Bowl at Dallas, Auburn vs. Nebraska, 10:30 a.m. (FOX)

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