Leaving Memorial Stadium with a 22-20 win over Nebraska on Saturday, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was ready to defrost.
Passing for 220 yards and two touchdowns, the freshman said he was pleased with his performance, considering his facemask froze more than a few times in the fourth quarter.
But even with the weather conditions and the noise of a Memorial Stadium record crowd of 85,187, McCoy refused to take much credit, applauding the outstanding play of the Longhorn offensive line.
"(Nebraska) came in, and they're firing," McCoy said. "In the second half, they blitzed almost every play. They were coming at us from all different ways, so I was very proud of the offensive line. They handled it tremendously."
Slow to warm up his arm in the cold, McCoy opened the game 4-for-6 and 11 yards passing in the first quarter. He admitted he struggled to figure out the Blackshirts at first, but he found his stride in the second quarter, passing for 103 yards and two touchdowns by halftime.
On a six-play, 39-yard drive midway through the second quarter, McCoy found sophomore receiver Quan Cosby in the end zone off a six-yard pass. The score gave Texas its second lead of the game at 9-7.
Just three minutes later, the Longhorns regained possession on an interception by senior safety Michael Griffin. McCoy snatched the opportunity one play later, hitting junior Limas Sweed for a 55-yard touchdown pass, his longest of the day, and putting the Longhorns on top 16-7 at halftime.
"Early on we kind of got a feel for (Nebraska), started moving the ball on them and not going three-and-out," McCoy said. "I give all the credit to my teammates up front. We handled it well. They did a great job with the twists and the blitzes, and they do a good job of disguising them, Nebraska does. They took it to us, but we stayed with it."
Texas Coach Mack Brown said McCoy's performance was more proof of the young quarterback's improvement so far this season.
Ending the game 25-for-39 passing, McCoy held on to his second place ranking in the Big 12 Conference, completing 67.7 percent of his passes while tacking on 20 touchdown passes and throwing only three interceptions this season.
"Colt McCoy continues to grow up in front of our eyes," Brown said. "Colt's done an outstanding job of taking care of the football. He's throwing completions, but he's not turning over the ball much. That's such a key thing for a young quarterback on the road."
McCoy said he has never played in an environment like the one he experienced Saturday. Between the fans, the snow and the wind in the fourth quarter, he said he was pleased with the way he handled himself.
When Nebraska gained a 20-19 lead with just less than five minutes left and Texas failed to make it down the field, hope could have been lost, but an NU fumble with 2 minutes, 17 seconds left in the game put the Longhorns on the Nebraska 45-yard-line. Eight plays later, McCoy put Texas in range for a 22-yard field goal, which back-up kicker Ryan Bailey converted for the win.
"It's what you dream about as a quarterback, coming in here and getting a win like this," McCoy said. "Coming back from behind, facing all the adversity you can face - loud environment, snow, freezing cold, facemask freezing over - it's awesome, an awesome feeling. But it's not me. I give all the credit to my teammates."
Now the lone team unbeaten in conference play, the Longhorns head back to Texas to prepare for Texas Tech next weekend with a proven veteran at QB, not merely a rosy-cheeked youngster.
"The legacy of a quarterback is usually how he tends to handle pressure, especially when you're behind and you bring your team back to win," Brown said. "He did it at Oklahoma, and he did it last week after being down 10, and he did it today."
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