Colt McCoy – Quarterback for the Texas Longhorns

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

I was able to talk to Colt McCoy's father, Brad, last night as he and his Graham Steers finally broke the Midland Greenwood jinx, beating the Rangers, 20-0, in the first game of the GoFridayNight.com Champions Classic in Abilene.

Brad has two sons playing quarterback as sophomores this year, of course, and I asked him to compare them both from a year ago, and if Case (seen with Brad during last night's action) has shown the same kind of fire Colt had for the game at an early age.

Comparing them to 2006: "When you compare the two, the physical maturity plays in big with both of those kids. Of course, Colt's put on about 15 pound from the shoulders up. He's really matured upstairs.

"Case been more of a total body maturity, and he's actually grown up a little more - a couple of inches - whereas Colt hasn't gotten any taller since last year.

"But the mental aspect is even more noticeable. They've really both grown with developing their game, watching film and understanding it all. The game has slowed down for them, in that sense, and that's the big hope for Case - that he catches up as a sophomore. Colt, of course, has really been schooled, so he's been at it 6 or 8 hours a day. We don't have that much time with Case.

Same enthusiam? "Yeah, I really do Case has the same ... maybe even a little more. Colt was very docile in his warmups (in high school) as he got ready for the game. When it started, he got fired up quickly. Case is more an emotional, trying to get his team going a little more. That's a maturity he probably got from watching Colt play. He's a little more ahead of the game as a sophomore in high school because Colt didn't have an example of that to follow. Case studied Colt's enthusiasm in the game, and gets the team going. He's put some of that into his resume a little quicker than Colt did."

BTW: Case was 12-of-27 for 159 yards and 1 TD last night. Judging by several near-completions and a few drops, he could easily average about 300 through the air this year. No word yet where he wants to play college ball. ;-)

Posted by Abilene Admin at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's a great story this week from Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press, one of the best sports writers in Texas.

It's all about unowho. I'll give you a hint - his father called him the "baby-faced assassin" last season. Although in the AP photo above he doesn't quite look as young as he did in 2006. (BTW: I think he's signaling he'll throw 5 TD passes against Arkansas State)

Speaking of the elder McCoy (Brad), I'll talk to him tonight on the field at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene as his Graham Steers kick off the four-game GoFridayNight.com Champions Classic weekend against the Midland Greenwood Rangers.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

I'm not quite sure if I've ever seen Mack Brown look that happy.

But the wide smile is quite understandable considering the Longhorns' first opponent in six days.

You can see the transcript of his entire Monday press conference at the official mackbrown-texasfootball.com website, but here are the bits that relate to Colt McCoy:

On the quarterbacks: What we would do is plan on playing Colt [McCoy] as the quarterback and John [Chiles] would be in a back-up role. Unless some things changes between now and Saturday, we would not play him the third series in the game like we have in some other situations. We would just let Colt be the starting quarterback and John is the back-up quarterback. He would come in as needed."

On the teams' mood: "... I ate dinner with Colt last night after the meeting and he just said, "I can't wait." His life is different than it was at this time last year. He has a lot more answers and there again with answers he feels more pressure to be a great leader out there instead of just being the starting quarterback."

I tried to find a photo (happy or otherwise) of ASU head football coach Steve Roberts but no luck. However, I did find out that ASU's sophomore quarterback Corey Leonard was also named to the Davey O'Brien Award watch list last week.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many of you probably already know that the Longhorns' opener against Arkansas State University on Sept. 1 will not be telecast live on "free" TV.

You will be able to see it live, however, on pay-per-view courtesy of Big 12 Special Order Sports, Fox Sports Network Southwest’s pay-per-view division. That means it will be available on participating cable television systems in Texas and Arkansas, and nationwide to satellite dish customers, with a pricetag of probably $29.95.

The game will be rebroadcast the following Thursday (Sept. 6) at noon on FSN Southwest to the network's regular coverage area (Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, parts of New Mexico).

I'll try to give you updates starting at 6 p.m. on Sept. 1 (gameday) and will have game stats up as quickly as I can.

Sucky FYI: Yeah, that's right ... every other Big 12 football game that opening weekend can be found live on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CSTV or FSN! How did that happen?

Posted by Abilene Admin at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

Got my new Sports Illustrated yesterday.

Big ol' story on Colt in it ... senior Colt Brennan of Hawaii, that is. He's near the top of everyone's watch list for the Heisman Trophy. Wouldn't it be something if guys named Colt finished 1st and 2nd in the balloting? Again, they're not going to give that posing piece of bronze to a sophomore.

There is a picture of Colt McCoy in that same issue of SI, however. Magazines nowdays don't always have page numbers, but I can tell you about a fourth of the way into it there is an ad for NCAA College Football. Unowho is featured. It's classic Colt - he's pointing his "victory" fingers on both hands right at the defensive secondary. How many times have you seen that?

Speaking of watch lists, not surprisingly, Colt (the one from Tuscola) made the 2007 Davey O'Brien Award watch list on Tuesday. Remember, that award goes to the nation's best collegiate quarterback.

Here's how mackbrown-texasfootball.com explains watch lists: "The Watch List is based on All-America teams and Honorable Mentions published in at least six different preseason college football magazines. A candidate must be listed as an All-America quarterback or as a 1st or 2nd team All-American within his conference in at least one publication, or as Honorable Mention in at least three publications. The O'Brien requires Selection Committee members to consider the character and leadership qualities of each candidate, in addition to athletic prowess when voting."

That makes three official watch lists he's on (the Maxwell and Manning are the other two), and one unofficial list - don't hand over that Heisman to the other Colt just yet.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ALERT! Saturday's scrimmage has been canceled due to storms associated with tropical storm Erin. According to Burnt Orange No. 1 Fan Mary Youngblood, the autograph session is still on for tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at the Moncrief-Nehaus building.

Burnt Orange Nation fans - those that are early risers, that is - may attend a scrimmage at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. That's the official "Fan Appreciation Day."

The gates on the east side will open at 7 a.m., but construction is going to limit seating.

Seniors and current starters will be signing autographs after the scrimmage (approximately 10:30 a.m.)

P.S. No new word on the Limas Sweed injury. It was his left wrist, and even though he's right-handed, receivers need both wings. Supposedly it's not a real serious sprain, but don't expect to see him running routes Saturday.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

(UPDATE at 7 p.m.) The University of Texas just announced that Limas Sweed had sprained his wrist. No further details available at this time).

From the accompanying photograph, Colt McCoy looks like he's either telling everyone to just calm down or he's getting ready to lead the assemblage in a rousing chorus of "The Eyes of Texas."

To be sure, one of the biggest challenges for Colt this season will be having everyone singing from the same page in the hymnbook. That's the coach's responsibility from the sidelines, of course, but between the hashes, it's the field general's.

He'll have help in the person of Limas Sweed. According to most observers (including Alan Trubow in a good story at Statesman.com), Colt and Limas could very well be the best duet in college football this season.

The stars appear to have aligned to help this pass-and-catch act keep Colt from experiencing an outbreak of "sophomoritis." Not that he was going to catch that disease anyway - no deer-in-the-headlights out of of this fearless guy from Tuscola.

But having a teammate you can really count on just increases the comfort level. Not only will Limas be trying to experience the thrill of another national championship, he has a lot of NFL scouts to impress along the way. Lots of motivation all the way around.

Limas caught 46 passes last season for 801 yards and 12 TDs. In the previous two seasons, he had 59 grabs for 808 yards and 5 TDs. You do the math for what the potential for this season holds.

A comfort zone can definitely lead to an end zone ... or two, or 20.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was looking at some video on mackbrown-texasfootball.com of the first session of two-a-days on Sunday, and the footage of the plays involving Colt McCoy all had one element in common ...

Getting rid of the ball quicker.

The quick slant, the abbreviated drop-back, the rollout - they all had the ball out of Colt's hands in no time, and, more importantly, had him out of what would be harm's way in a real game in about two seconds.

I didn't see any play-action pass plays, but I'm sure plenty of those will be in the offensive mix this season. Enough of those and Jamaal Charles will consistently start having some really big games.

Everyone knows Mack Brown is going to "spare no expense" to keep McCoy from hitting the deck this season, so these quick-hitters will keep the pressure off most of the time. Hopefully, once the fairly young offensive line comes together as a protective unit, we'll also see plenty of those long bombs McCoy throws so well.

Backup quarterback contender Sherrod Harris injured his knee Sunday evening. It may be just a bruise, but it already emphasizes the vulernability of that key position on the field.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

Just in case you missed it earlier this week, Colt McCoy has been named to the "watch list" for the 2007 Manning Award. Just so you know, that doesn't mean he's eligible to receive a watch.

The Manning Award, which was created in 2004 by the Sugar Bowl to honor the three guys with that famous last name - Archie, Peyton and Eli - is given to the best quarterback in college football each season. If you recall, Vince Young won the award in 2005. JaMarcus Russell won last year and Matt Leinart in the inaugural year.

Earlier, Colt had been put on the Maxwell Award "watch list." Even though a sophomore winning the Heisman Trophy is rather a long shot, I'm sure he's on that "watch list" as well.

Personally, I think this whole "watch list" concept is a bunch of nonsense. Let the players play, do their talking on the field, walk the walk - whatever cliche you want to use. Don't create a bunch of hype for your award before the season even starts at their expense. The media feeding-frenzy starts soon enough as it is.

The real "watch list" is at the end of the season when you "watch" the awards list grow (like Colt's did last year).

Posted by Abilene Admin at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

Chris Duncan of the Associated Press believes the Texas Longhorns should be favored to win the Big 12 South this year if they can fill those key positions (read offensive line) among the 10 starters who graduated.

That's a good point, of course. It doesn't matter how much weight and muscle Colt McCoy has put on in the off season, because if there are holes up front, there's always going to be MORE weight and muscle barrelling down on him than last year.

"One big certainty is quarterback Colt McCoy, who returns after an impressive freshman season," said Duncan in his article. "The offense should be one of the nation's most explosive, with Limas Sweed and Quan Cosby heading a veteran pack of receivers and 2006 leading rusher Jamaal Charles spearheading the ground attack."

We all know Colt has the potential to be better this season than last. And if that is the case, then opposing defensive secondaries better be alert.

However, as good and strong and able as Colt will be this year, there will be one weapon in his arsenal missing that he had last season - the element of surprise.

That means that the challenge to succeed will be even more daunting than it was last year when the guy from little Tuscola had to pick up where Vince Young and the other national champions left off.

Now, it gets interesting.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas

Lots of good stuff on the first day of practice down in Austin. I wasn't there, but I hear the No. 4 pre-season ranking for the Longhorns isn't to be ignored.

By the looks of this photo from mackbrown-texasfootball.com, Colt McCoy definitely has put on some muscle.

The entire photo gallery of the first day can be found HERE. Also, there is a rather lengthy transcript on Colt responding to questions. A few excerpts are below:

On working out this summer: I spent a lot of time in the weight room trying to put on some weight and get bigger so I can take a few more hits. You know you’re going to get rocked in the Big 12 so you have to be ready. I still feel comfortable and feel like I have the same speed.

On the team leadership: I feel like we have a lot of leaders on this team. We’re a team, everyone is going to speak up, everyone is going to play hard, there are definitely leaders on this team that people follow and look up to. They’re the older guys and when the older guys are doing right, the younger guys are going to follow them. We feel confident. We have made some mistakes, but we’re not focusing on that. We’re looking forward and staying positive and want to win games.

On comparing the first day this year versus last year: I’m definitely more comfortable. I’m excited because I know the potential that we have and the offensive line and receivers did great. I think overall for a first day we did really well. I definitely wasn’t as nervous as last year coming into this practice. I have the respect of my teammates and my coaches. It’s going to be a lot of fun this year.

You can see the entire transcript HERE on the official training camp site.

There's also a good article by Suzanne Halliburton at Statesman.com. She talks about Mack Brown making sure Colt's replacement (if needed) is ably prepared.

She quotes Brown as saying: "I want (the backup) to be playing in games that matter, when the game still is competitive, without it breaking our rhythm."

If you are from Arkansas State, read that as meaning you can put good money on Colt not taking a snap in the second half on Sept. 1 if there are at least 35 burnt orange points showing on the scoreboard.

I'll take that bet.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For those rabid Longhorn fans lucky enough to live in and around Austin, today and tomorrow at 6:45 p.m., the practices are open to the public.

You can see the Longhorns working out at the Frank Denius Fields practice facility at the corner of Red River and Dean Keeton streets (see Google map below).

All the rest of the summer practices are closed to the public.

Posted by Abilene Admin at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)