McCoy and No. 7 Texas rally to beat No. 19 TCU 34-13
AUSTIN, Texas -- TCU was selling "Beat Texas" T-shirts before the season started. If the No. 19 Horned Frogs were going to be taken seriously as one of the top teams in the country, it would start with a win over the Longhorns.
Surely there's a car wash or good charity out there looking for some rags no one wants anymore.
Colt McCoy passed for a touchdown, set up another with a long run, and a dominant performance by its defense carried No. 7 Texas to a 34-13 win Saturday night, turning TCU's hopes for an upset into a second-half disaster.
"We knew they would come in and try to make it their house," Texas linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy said. "We showed them it was our house."
McCoy, who threw two first-half interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, cut a 10-0 TCU lead in the third quarter with a 33-yard strike to Nate Jones. His 23-yard scramble early in the fourth set up the go-ahead score before the Longhorns started piling it on.
"You didn't want to touch me in the second quarter, I had some bad luck there," McCoy said. "I had Bible study the other morning (and) you're going to get tested. You get tested, then you're blessed."
The Texas defense did the rest. Brandon Foster returned a fumble by TCU punter Derek Walsh for a TD and the Longhorns (2-0) held the Horned Frogs (1-1) to 251 total yards. TCU had just 17 yards and no first downs in the third quarter when Texas started surging.
Jones had eight catches for 91 yards and Jamaal Charles tacked on a 39-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter with just under three minutes left. McCoy finished 25-of-38 for 239 yards. Charles ran for 134 yards, most coming in the second half.
The loss was a bitter disappointment for TCU, which came in with a five-game winning streak over Big 12 teams and chip-on-the-shoulder visions of more payback for an old Southwest Conference rival and the league that snubbed the Horned Frogs in the mid-1990s.
A win might have catapulted the Horned Frogs into this season's "BCS busters" role as the team that would force its way into a Bowl Championship Series game.
"We have come a long way since TCU played Texas the last time (1995). But we still have some work to do," said TCU coach Gary Patterson. "I think TCU is past the moral victories. This is not one of those games where you are happy you played well for a half. We came here to win,"
If only TCU's offense could have matched its early defense.
McCoy's shaky start led to TCU's early lead and had the purple-clad Horned Frogs fans sprinkled throughout the stadium thinking they might get the upset.
Torrey Stewart faked a blitz, then dropped off and snagged an easy interception. Linebacker Jason Phillips got a good block on McCoy, leaving Stewart to run straight toward a large section of TCU fans.
A tipped pass led to another interception by David Roach, and the Longhorns made a key defensive stand by forcing a field goal instead of allowing a touchdown.
"Tonight we showed what our defense is made of," Muckelroy said. "We stepped up and put the offense on our shoulders until they came around."
Shut out in the first half, Texas got on track in the third quarter, rolling up nearly 150 yards and keeping the Horned Frogs off the field. TCU didn't have a first down in the second half until midway through the fourth.
"This is unacceptable. Zero points in the first half?" McCoy said of the first-half shutout. "We've got to show something."
On his TD pass, McCoy rolled to his right to avoid the rush, then floated an easy ball to Jones who was dragging across the middle of the end zone.
Texas had tied it 10-10 before McCoy's long run set up the go-ahead score. Dropping back to pass, he saw the middle come open and took off running to the TCU 1. Vondrell McGee punched in the TD two plays later.
TCU got within 27-13 on Chris Manfredini's second field goal late in the fourth, but Texas recovered the onside kick. On 3rd-and-6, Charles burst up the middle for the final score.
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