Austin, not Lubbock. No Graham Harrell. No Michael Crabtree. No problem, but wait. The Longhorns beat Texas Tech 34-24 on Saturday night; it wasn’t an emphatic win, it reminded me of their last season battle with Oklahoma State where they won 28-24.
Revenge was on the mind of the Longhorns and the 100,000 plus screaming fans. And it was only fitting since last season’s matchup saw Crabtree erase their dreams of getting to the National Championship with a one second touchdown grab.
With Texas Tech losing their playmakers, in Crabtree and Harrell, it was a no-brainer that the Longhorns were going to walk through their opponents. However, junior quarterback Taylor Potts was not going to be known as the stand-in for the graduated Harrell. He finished the night 42/62 for 420 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
On the opening drive, Potts marched the Red Raiders down the field with precision passing that made everyone notice, but the offense stalled and they got a field goal. He showed good zip and velocity on his passes all night. Usually when a team loses their playmaker, at whatever position, there is a drop-off but Potts clearly has command of the quarterback position and the offense.
From the onset and throughout the night Colt McCoy was not himself. He threw a lot of errant passes that were either wide or high. Word came out of Texas that he was battling with flu-like symptoms (it seems like some Florida players got the flu bug as well and this contributed to their lackluster performance against Tennessee; I'm not buying the whole Florida thing) throughout the week so this attributed to his okay performance.
But there is a difference with McCoy; he does not look like he is having fun out there like in ’08. Last year we saw pitch and catch from McCoy to his receivers. However, this season, he is getting off to a slow start and in the second half is when he comes alive. This really has to be a mental thing and, yes, the flu has something to do with his performance tonight but he is trying to live up to everyone’s expectations. McCoy needs to just play football and realize that this is your last year: have fun and let loose.
McCoy was 24/34 for 205 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. One must believe that being sick and also the pressure of being a Heisman front-runner has not allowed McCoy to be himself with his playmaking ability.
The Texas Tech offensive line played stellar in the first half. But it was only a matter of time until Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp figured them out and mixed up his blitzes and that allowed more hurries on Potts, to good results. The only touchdown in the first half was a 46 yard punt return by sixth year senior Jordan Shipley that gave Texas the lead 7-3 going into the second half.
The second half saw a more relaxed McCoy and mixture of run and pass plays. The first drive of the third quarter was capped off by a 19 yard run by freshman running back Tre’ Newton to give the Longhorns the lead 17-3. Newton had 88 yards on the night, carrying the ball 20 times for a 4.4 yard per carry average and one touchdown. He showed toughness and will to win on his runs. He might not have the game-breaking speed of a Jahvid Best, but he was more than serviceable that night.
Potts found junior wide receiver Lyle Leong on two touchdown passes on the night: One of his touchdown grabs was for fourteen yards that put the Red Raiders back in the game, pushing the score to 17-10. However, McCoy found sophomore Dan Buckner, who has good size at 6’4 and weighs 215 pounds, for a 25 yard reception to the Red Raiders one yard line and the drive was capped off by a one yard run by sophomore running back Cody Johnson for the touchdown. At this point it seemed that Texas was pulling away as the score would indicate, 24-10.
Potts, not to be undone, comes right back with the second touchdown pass to Leong pushing Tx. Tech closer 24-17. The fourth quarter saw Potts getting picked off by Earl Thomas at Tx. Tech’s 20 yard line. At this point, I thought the game was over and so did the rest of the fans. But a high pass by McCoy that was intended for Malcolm Williams was intercepted by D.J. Johnson.
On the ensuing drive, Sergio Kindle jacked up Potts with a tackle that jarred him and his helmet, and the ball loose for a Longhorn recovery. A three yard touchdown pass to Buckner ended a 6 play, 14 yard drive to give the Longhorns the lead, 31-17.
Once again Potts, not to be denied, came back with a 22 yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Tramain Swindall on a broken coverage play by Texas to move them closer 31-24. On the next drive, McCoy and his team settled for 3 points to push them further ahead 34-24. On the final play of the game, Potts tries to convert a fourth-and-seven play, but the pass was broken up and the Longhorns escaped the comeback from the Red Raiders.
Tx.Tech outgained the Longhorns with 414 total yards compared to 340. The Red Raiders wish they could take back the fourteen penalties that cost them a whopping 108 yards, and they were a dismal -6 rushing yards on the ground.
Texas did not look like the second best team in the country when the dust settled in Austin, Texas. They have the Red River Rivalry coming up on October 17th, and Sam Bradford should be back, and the following two weeks they have away games at Missouri and Oklahoma State.
They need to show the nation that they are deserving to be behind Florida in the rankings. However do not count out McCoy, he can get it done when needed and maybe the Red River Rivalry will be the game that he realizes how fun it is to play football, especially at a big school like the University of Texas.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Longhorns Hold off Texas Tech in Austin
Austin, not Lubbock. No Graham Harrell. No Michael Crabtree. No problem, but wait. The Longhorns beat Texas Tech 34-24 on Saturday night; it wasn’t an emphatic win, it reminded me of their last season battle with Oklahoma State where they won 28-24.
Revenge was on the mind of the Longhorns and the 100,000 plus screaming fans. And it was only fitting since last season’s matchup saw Crabtree erase their dreams of getting to the National Championship with a one second touchdown grab.
With Texas Tech losing their playmakers, in Crabtree and Harrell, it was a no-brainer that the Longhorns were going to walk through their opponents. However, junior quarterback Taylor Potts was not going to be known as the stand-in for the graduated Harrell. He finished the night 42/62 for 420 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
On the opening drive, Potts marched the Red Raiders down the field with precision passing that made everyone notice, but the offense stalled and they got a field goal. He showed good zip and velocity on his passes all night. Usually when a team loses their playmaker, at whatever position, there is a drop-off but Potts clearly has command of the quarterback position and the offense.
From the onset and throughout the night Colt McCoy was not himself. He threw a lot of errant passes that were either wide or high. Word came out of Texas that he was battling with flu-like symptoms (it seems like some Florida players got the flu bug as well and this contributed to their lackluster performance against Tennessee; I'm not buying the whole Florida thing) throughout the week so this attributed to his okay performance.
But there is a difference with McCoy; he does not look like he is having fun out there like in ’08. Last year we saw pitch and catch from McCoy to his receivers. However, this season, he is getting off to a slow start and in the second half is when he comes alive. This really has to be a mental thing and, yes, the flu has something to do with his performance tonight but he is trying to live up to everyone’s expectations. McCoy needs to just play football and realize that this is your last year: have fun and let loose.
McCoy was 24/34 for 205 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. One must believe that being sick and also the pressure of being a Heisman front-runner has not allowed McCoy to be himself with his playmaking ability.
The Texas Tech offensive line played stellar in the first half. But it was only a matter of time until Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp figured them out and mixed up his blitzes and that allowed more hurries on Potts, to good results. The only touchdown in the first half was a 46 yard punt return by sixth year senior Jordan Shipley that gave Texas the lead 7-3 going into the second half.
The second half saw a more relaxed McCoy and mixture of run and pass plays. The first drive of the third quarter was capped off by a 19 yard run by freshman running back Tre’ Newton to give the Longhorns the lead 17-3. Newton had 88 yards on the night, carrying the ball 20 times for a 4.4 yard per carry average and one touchdown. He showed toughness and will to win on his runs. He might not have the game-breaking speed of a Jahvid Best, but he was more than serviceable that night.
Potts found junior wide receiver Lyle Leong on two touchdown passes on the night: One of his touchdown grabs was for fourteen yards that put the Red Raiders back in the game, pushing the score to 17-10. However, McCoy found sophomore Dan Buckner, who has good size at 6’4 and weighs 215 pounds, for a 25 yard reception to the Red Raiders one yard line and the drive was capped off by a one yard run by sophomore running back Cody Johnson for the touchdown. At this point it seemed that Texas was pulling away as the score would indicate, 24-10.
Potts, not to be undone, comes right back with the second touchdown pass to Leong pushing Tx. Tech closer 24-17. The fourth quarter saw Potts getting picked off by Earl Thomas at Tx. Tech’s 20 yard line. At this point, I thought the game was over and so did the rest of the fans. But a high pass by McCoy that was intended for Malcolm Williams was intercepted by D.J. Johnson.
On the ensuing drive, Sergio Kindle jacked up Potts with a tackle that jarred him and his helmet, and the ball loose for a Longhorn recovery. A three yard touchdown pass to Buckner ended a 6 play, 14 yard drive to give the Longhorns the lead, 31-17.
Once again Potts, not to be denied, came back with a 22 yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Tramain Swindall on a broken coverage play by Texas to move them closer 31-24. On the next drive, McCoy and his team settled for 3 points to push them further ahead 34-24. On the final play of the game, Potts tries to convert a fourth-and-seven play, but the pass was broken up and the Longhorns escaped the comeback from the Red Raiders.
Tx.Tech outgained the Longhorns with 414 total yards compared to 340. The Red Raiders wish they could take back the fourteen penalties that cost them a whopping 108 yards, and they were a dismal -6 rushing yards on the ground.
Texas did not look like the second best team in the country when the dust settled in Austin, Texas. They have the Red River Rivalry coming up on October 17th, and Sam Bradford should be back, and the following two weeks they have away games at Missouri and Oklahoma State.
They need to show the nation that they are deserving to be behind Florida in the rankings. However do not count out McCoy, he can get it done when needed and maybe the Red River Rivalry will be the game that he realizes how fun it is to play football, especially at a big school like the University of Texas.
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