Lincoln, Neb. – Texas could very easily perform the impossible. No, we’re not talking about defending its national championship after losing in Week 2. How about turning the team’s biggest question mark into the Big 12 offensive player of the year?
Redshirt freshman Colt McCoy could pull it off. As the season heads into the final third, whom would you pick? At this point, the two front-runners are probably McCoy and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel.
Forget the numbers for now. McCoy is ninth nationally in pass efficiency (165.4) while throwing for 1,449 yards, 20 touchdowns and three interceptions on 68 percent accuracy. At Nebraska’s delirious Memorial Stadium on Saturday, McCoy merely saved Texas’ season.
Yes, cornerback Alan Ross forced receiver Terrence Nunn’s fumble with 2:17 left and Nebraska leading 20-19. But Texas still stood 44 yards away from the end zone and had to drive through snow flurries and a vicious wind. McCoy, playing his first college game outside Texas, already had thrown two touchdown passes. He completed two attempts on the winning drive for 22 yards and ran for 3 yards to set up Ryan Bailey’s winning 22-yard field goal with 23 seconds left.
“That’s what’s so good about Colt,” guard Justin Blalock said. “This was his first true away game. He faced a lot of adversity, but he held true to form.”
Oklahoma State’s Bobby Reid and Nebraska’s Zac Taylor are ranked higher in the Big 12, but McCoy is the reason 7-1 Texas is seventh in the BCS standings with an outside shot at the title game.
Then again, who thought Missouri would be 7-1 and ranked 23rd (20th BCS)? Sophomore Daniel, who blitzed Kansas State for four touchdown passes, has thrown for 2,003 yards and 19 touchdowns against five picks – but more important, Missouri could find itself in the Big 12 championship game if it wins at Nebraska on Nov 4.
With Oklahoma tailback Adrian Peterson out for the regular season, the race for player of the year has become as interesting as the race to Kansas City.
Superman kicker
Texas coach Mack Brown had some calming words for Bailey before the walk-on sophomore attempted his first college kick – in front of a Nebraska-record 85,187 fans with the season on the line: “It took Dusty Mangum four years to be a hero. You’re going to be one with one kick. You’re lucky.”
And just like Mangum kicking Texas to the Rose Bowl win over Michigan two seasons ago, Bailey kicked Texas back into the national title hunt and himself into Longhorns lore. No wonder. His bio lists his favorite superhero as Superman.
The only schools that recruited Bailey out of Austin’s Anderson High School were Division III, namely that noted football power, Mary Hardin-Baylor. Instead, he sent a tape to Texas special-teams coordinator Mike Telleson and he came a year ago as a “preferred” walk-on.
How far down the roster was Bailey? Brown said he wasn’t sure he was on the team last year. He doesn’t even have a girlfriend.
Said defensive end Tim Crowder: “He can choose now.”
Clemson is set
Colorado knows all about James Davis, the Clemson tailback who embarrassed Georgia Tech’s superb defense for 216 yards. He was the guy who helped bury Colorado in last year’s Champs Bowl with 150 yards in the 19-10 win. But who is C.J. Spiller, the other tailback who had two 50-yard scores against Georgia Tech?
Spiller is Clemson’s first Parade All-America running back in 17 years. He was a USA Today first-team All-American and chose Clemson over Florida, Florida State, Miami and Southern California.
He’s drawing comparisons to Warrick Dunn and Reggie Bush and is still only a true freshman. With Davis just a sophomore, Clemson may be atop the Atlantic Coast Conference for a while.
Notre Dame vulnerable
Look past Notre Dame’s last-minute comeback/UCLA’s collapse (you choose) and you’ll see two problems nagging the Irish: a faulty offensive line and a leaky secondary.
UCLA had completed only one pass of more than 30 yards all year and backup quarterback Pat Cowan had two, both touchdowns, in the first half. Also, UCLA sacked Brady Quinn five times and formerly promising Darius Walker gained only 53 yards on 21 carries. Notre Dame was 4-for-19 on third down.
Solich succeeding
Ex-Nebraska coach Frank Solich has found his niche at Ohio. The school, which has played in only two bowls and none since the 1968 Tangerine Bowl, had won 11 games in the four years before Solich arrived last season. It is 5-3 and one win from bowl eligibility.
Its Mid-American Conference has three bowl ties, but four other MAC schools have five wins. At 3-1 in the East Division, Ohio visits first-place Kent State (5-2, 4-0) on Saturday.
Footnotes
Stanford (0-8) has scored three offensive touchdowns in its past six games and will match its school record of 11 straight losses if it loses to third-ranked USC on Nov. 4. … Alex Brink completed 20-of-23 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns to lead Washington State past Oregon. Brink went to Eugene’s Sheldon High School, not far from Oregon’s campus. Oregon did not recruit him. “To stick it to them like this feels good,” he told media after the game.
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
