McCoy And Texas Destroy Texas A&M
POSTED: 1:32 am CST November 28,
2008
Austin, TX -- (Sports Network) - Colt McCoy bolstered his Heisman campaign and the Longhorns' Big 12 and national title chances by tossing a pair of touchdowns and rushing for two more, as fourth-ranked Texas dominated rival Texas A&M, 49-9.McCoy threw for 311 yards on 23-of-28 efficiency while adding 49 yards on the ground on 11 carries for Texas (11-1, 7-1 Big 12), which has won three straight games by a combined 129-37 margin. Brandon Collins and Quan Cosby each caught a touchdown while garnering 103 and 80 receiving yards, respectively, and Cody Johnson rushed for two scores and 102 yards in the lopsided victory. Texas has now claimed at least a share of the Big 12 South title and can win it outright with a Texas Tech loss to Baylor on Saturday. In the likelihood the Red Raiders top Baylor and Oklahoma defeats Oklahoma State on Saturday, the South title will be determined by the BCS Standings, which currently favors the Longhorns by a slim margin over the Sooners. The Big 12 North is already decided with Missouri slated to participate in the conference championship on December 6. "The voters have a tough decision because there are a lot of really good football teams that are out there," Texas head coach Mack Brown said. "I do think that if we go to the Big 12 Championship, it will probably be because we are a great football team and we did beat Oklahoma on a neutral site. We lost on the last play of the game out at Tech. Then, we had the very treacherous four-game stretch with Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Tech. But, I do not want to say that Oklahoma and Tech are not deserving as well, because they are really good football teams." Stephen McGee connected on 16-of-24 passes for 207 yards before being replaced in the fourth quarter for Texas A&M (4-8, 2-6), which finished its disappointing season on a three-game losing streak. Jeff Fuller hauled in the Aggies' lone TD while finishing with 81 yards on five catches. The Longhorns took the opening kickoff and went 80 yards in 12 plays thanks to the legs and arm of their Heisman hopeful. McCoy connected with Cosby for 20 yards on 3-and-11 at the Texas 19-yard line, ran for another first down several plays later, and capped the drive on a 14-yard draw at the 8:57 mark. Texas A&M ran six plays for one yard in the first quarter but its defense held the Longhorns scoreless on their second and third drives of the game, as Ryan Bailey's 36-yard field goal attempt hit off the left upright and kept it a 7-0 game early in the second quarter. After another quick three-and-out for the Aggies and a partially blocked punt, Texas took over on the A&M 48 and scored in nine plays thanks to three third- down conversions. On 3rd-and-8 from the Aggies 20, McCoy found Collins across the middle and the receiver found his way into the end zone. Texas A&M finally got something going on its next touch, as Mike Goodson took a swing pass on third down and galloped 54 yards down the right sideline to the Texas 41. The drive stalled, however, and Randy Bullock's 37-yard field goal cut the deficit to 14-3. The 1:51 remaining before halftime was just enough for Texas to add another TD, as Cosby hauled in a nine-yard score to finish off the quick-hitting nine- play drive with 12 seconds to go. Out of the break, screen passes of 31 and 15 yards put the Aggies in field- goal position, but a sack on third down forced the visitors to punt and Texas went up 28-3 just five plays later, as McCoy scored on another draw, this time from 16 yards out. "We dominated the first half and we came out in the second half with a great first drive," McCoy said. "We wanted to make a statement coming out in the second half, and we did. From that point on, we controlled the game." Texas A&M again penetrated enemy territory but shot itself in the foot with a personal foul penalty that negated a big gain and Bullock's missed 49-yard field goal try. On 3rd-and-11 on the ensuing drive, Jordan Shipley turned a 15-yard pass over the middle into a 68-yard gain to the goal line, and Johnson plunged into the end zone less than a minute into the final quarter. Following a Texas A&M fumble on its next possession, Johnson rushed around the right side for a 23-yard score at the 12:22 mark of the fourth. Jerrod Johnson came in at quarterback for the Aggies and found Fuller down the left sideline for a 33-yard score for the lone highlight of the night for the visitors, and Texas backup quarterback John Chiles put the finishing touches on the blowout with a two-yard run to paydirt with 2:13 remaining. "Texas played a whale of a ball game, and we didn't," Aggies head coach Mike Sherman said. "I thought our guys played their hearts out. I thought they played hard. We were overmatched at different times in the ball game and didn't handle that very well. I thought our guys played hard, but obviously, playing hard doesn't guarantee a victory." Game Notes The victory moved Texas past Notre Dame for second place on the NCAA all-time wins list with 831, marking the first time since 1932 that Michigan and Notre Dame did not occupy the 1-2 spots in all-time wins...The Longhorns own a commanding 74-36-5 series lead over the Aggies but had lost the previous two meetings...Texas A&M, which came in averaging 26.5 ppg and 349.6 total ypg this season, logged 245 total yards, including minus-24 rushing, compared to Texas' 536 total yards...Texas was successful on an astounding 14-of-17 third down conversions...McCoy picked up career win No. 31, passing Vince Young for the school record, while also setting the Longhorns' single-season record with 3,594 yards passing.
Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.






