Fun Night for McCoy as Texas Gets Even

AUSTIN, Texas -- Just think, Texas coach Mack Brown worried last week that quarterback Colt McCoy wasn't having as much fun as he use to have playing the game.

McCoy showed his coach what fun really looks like Saturday night as the second-ranked Longhorns and Texas Tech got caught up in a virtual game of H.O.R.S.E. during the third quarter. With each touchdown the Red Raiders scored to try to reclaim the lead, McCoy was only too happy to match them.

"In the second half, he had a blast," Brown said. "When they'd score he'd say 'Look out, what a game. We've got come back and score.' He was the old Colt for the second half."

What's become understood around the Texas program the last few years is that when McCoy is enjoying himself that only means good things for the Longhorns. That was certainly case Saturday night at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium as McCoy out-dueled his Texas Tech counterpart, Taylor Potts, in a relatively low-scoring 34-24 win for the Horns in the first Big 12 game of the season.

After both teams exchanged touchdowns throughout the third quarter, McCoy and the Longhorns distanced themselves in the fourth quarter to preserve the revenge victory over the Raiders. Texas Tech placed the lone blemish on the Longhorns record last season and likely cost them a shot at the BCS national championship.

Meeting much earlier this season and without quite the drama of last season, the Longhorns would not be denied this time.

"I'm really proud of the kids, proud of the coaches," said Brown, whose team never trailed again after taking a 7-3 lead on a 46-yard punt return by Jordan Shipley midway through the first quarter. "I thought this was a great football game."

But it certainly wasn't the scoring football game that most of the state-record 101,297, standing room only crowd expected after watching both offenses score 40 and 50 a pop in their two outings this season. Neither offense scored a touchdown in the first half as UT went into halftime leading 10-3.

This one was surprisingly about defense for roughly three-quarters of the night.

Both the Raiders and Longhorns played hard-hitting, attacking styles that hindered the offenses from finding their rhythm most of the night. The only thing was the Longhorns (3-0 overall, 1-0 Big 12) hit a little harder and played a little more aggressively around the line of scrimmage.



Potts, who had enjoyed a charmed existence his first two outings as a starter, was pressured and hit all night. The Longhorns mixed up four and five-man blitzes to sack Potts three times while leveling him on at least a third of his 62 passing attempts.

The biggest of the hits came when defensive end Sergio Kindle came crashing in on Potts from his blindside for a ball-jarring sack that the Longhorns use to open up a two-touchdown, 31-17, lead early in the fourth quarter.

"I seen him coming, but I knew they didn't see him," UT middle linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy said of Kindle's hit on Potts. "Next thing I knew, he was there."

But really it was the dirty work of Muckelroy and Kindle together that gave Potts fits throughout. Facing an offense that is designed to get the ball out quick to avoid hits and sacks, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp brought pressure from more places than the Raiders could plug.

It made for a long night for Potts, who still ended up with a decent outing with 46 pass completions for 420 yards and three touchdowns. His problem came when he constantly had to account for Muckelroy and Kindle.

"No quarterback likes people in their face so we had a sense that we were getting to him, we just had to keep getting to him," said Muckelroy, who ended up with seven tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss on the night. "He started getting a little comfortable in the second half and he started throwing the ball because we weren't getting as much on him as did in the first half. We felt like had to go back to what worked."

Still, Texas Tech coach Mike Leach seemed proud of Potts in his first true test as a starter. Potts, who entered the game as the nation's passing yards leader and touchdown passes leader, kept getting back up after every vicious blow by the Longhorns defense.

"He's really tough," said Leach, whose team dropped to 3-1 overall, 0-1 in the Big 12. "He got hit hard a number of times and kept getting up. I don't think it affected his play to the negative. He's a rare, rare, rare quarterback."

But Potts came up against one of the best quarterbacks in the country Saturday night in McCoy. And McCoy didn't disappoint, even in a game where he found it hard to get into rhythm at times. McCoy completed 24 of 34 passes for one touchdown and two interceptions.

He hit a couple timely passes in the opening drive of the second half that got the third quarter shootout going after neither offense produced a touchdown in the first half. McCoy, aided by the switch to faster pace no-huddle approach in the final two quarters, helped guide the Longhorns to three second-half touchdowns and a field goal.

McCoy said the second half outburst was testament to the offenses patience.

"It had nothing to do with me, we just had to keep fighting as a team," he said. "It's a tough first half, but not everything is going to go our way every time we step out on the field. We just regrouped, came out in the second half and played football."