Who else was it gonna be?
I mean, seriously, how much did Colt absolutely shatter even the most optimistic projections? Even when I watched him in the fall's first scrimmage, when I was totally enthused, I certainly didn't envision a record-setting season like the one he delivered.
Colt's eruption is all the more surprising when you consider the shoes he was filling: larger than life, national-title winning, impossible-defying, total freak of a football player Vince Young.
Have I mentioned that Colt McCoy was a two-star prospect from Tuscola, Texas?
It's just utterly ridiculous that he performed as well as he did, and a monstrous testament to Greg Davis for helping him get there. For all the coal Davis deserved in his stocking for the inept running game in '06, I hope he got one of these for his work molding Colt McCoy into the record-setting winner that he was.
It's pretty difficult to overstate Colt's performance or importance to the 2006 Texas Longhorn football team, but let's try, anyway. Imagine, for a moment, if Colt had just sort of been Mitch Mustain-ish in his freshman season. Considering the woes in the Texas secondary this year, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the 'Horns would have dropped additional games in Lincoln, Lubbock, and perhaps at the Cotton Bowl, as well. Even if Texas only lost two of those three games, can you imagine the gnashing of the teeth in Burnt Orange Nation had Texas finished the season 7-5, instead of 9-3? Or, God forbid, 6-6?
Colt McCoy was not just the most surprising player on the 2006 Texas Longhorns, he was the MVP. And there ain't no one, nowhere, who saw that coming.
Top 5 Surprises of the 2006 Season
#5 Scott Derry
#4 Derek Lokey
#3: Quan Cosby
#2: Aaron Ross
#1: Colt McCoy
--PB--