AUSTIN, Texas -- For 21 University of Texas seniors, Saturday night was their last time playing at Texas Memorial Stadium. So they made it a night to remember.The second-ranked Longhorns overpowered Kansas en route to a 51-20 victory that cemented them as the Big 12 South division champions and sealed senior quarterback Colt McCoy's place as college football's all-time winningest quarterback with 43 career wins.
But the Texas Longhorns, who are well positioned for their first BCS national championship game bid since 2005, still have quite a bit of business to finish. They will have to get past rival Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night and then North division champ Nebraska in the Big 12 title game.
McCoy, who completed 32-of-41 for 396 yards and four touchdowns, also positioned himself near the front of the Heisman Trophy race with a near-flawless performance in front of a capacity home crowd.
In the meantime, the Longhorns will celebrate another impressive win that moves them to 11-0 and 7-0 in conference play. The Jayhawks, mired in controversy because of abuse allegations being aimed at head coach Mark Mangino, have now lost six straight and at 5-6 and 1-6, need to win their regular-season finale against Missouri next week to become bowl-eligible.
It was obvious almost from the outset that the Jayhawks were no match for Texas as they fell behind 27-6 by halftime. Kansas made it interesting early in their third quarter when it drove the ball 88 yards and running back Jake Sharp slammed in from two yards on the Jayhawks' first touchdown of the evening to pull within 27-13 with 3:08 left in the third quarter.
But just 10 seconds and one play later, McCoy hooked up with receiver Malcolm Williams for a 68-yard touchdown pass that re-extended the lead to 21 and more or less closed the door on any comeback attempt. Kansas never seriously threatened again though Dez Briscoe did muster an impressive 98-yard kickoff return that made it 44-20 early in the fourth quarter and kept things interesting a little longer.
Jordan Shipley, playing in his final home game, caught 10 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown.
