It's only appropriate that we begin our game review with Colt McCoy behind center, as he was the star of the day on offense for the Horns.
You've got to put his performance in its proper context, and not just look at the stat line - which was modest (11 of 18 for 108 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT). Here was a redshirt freshman playing in his first ever Red River Shootout - second ever Big Game - against a coach and a team with one goal in mind: ruin his afternoon. Bob Stoops' turn of the century dominance of Texas quarterbacks was not accidental; the man knew how to get his defenses prepped to harrass Texas QBs.
But Colt more than held his own. He made plays. His was directly responsible for all three of Texas' offensive scores.
First, setting up Selvin's touchdown run, he made a ballsy, magnificent, 3rd and 6 completion to Quan Cosby, spinning out of a blitzing Sooner and zipping a perfect ball across his body, while on the run. It was a 9 out of 10 on the Difficulty Scale, and he just nailed it.
The second great throw - the 33 yarder to Sweed for a touchdown - was even better in some ways. The throw itself wasn't a terribly difficult one (although it was absolutely -perfectly- thrown), but the read he made was one that you typically see from seniors - not freshmen. Recognizing an impending Sooner blitz that would leave Limas Sweed in one-on-one coverage, McCoy nodded Sweed's way and audibled the new route. Sweed abandoned the call made in the huddle, ran around his defender, streaked toward the end zone, and easily hauled in the Texas touchdown. Absolutely gorgeous.
McCoy wasn't finished, though, making a third terrific pass, thiss time to Jordan Shipley on a wheel route. The throw was perfect - up and away, for only Shipley to catch - but the best part was the read, which Colt nailed. He had other options on the play, but he checked through and saw Shipley headed for open space. Perfect throw, great catch, touchdown Texas... ball game.
Getting back to the context, you can't really overstate how solid McCoy is already, or how impressive his week-to-week improvement is. Haters beware: that credit goes beyond McCoy himself and to Greg Davis, the quarterbacks coach. He's developed McCoy into a deadly efficient, smart, and accurate quarterback. He's given him more and more to work with each week, and save a brief stretch during the second quarter where Texas lost its rhythm (more on this later), the offensive gameplan was outstanding. Really outstanding.
A huge congratulations to both McCoy and Davis for their Saturday. McCoy gets a solid A- for his steady play.
--PB--