While the award winner was announced in December, McCoy traveled to Fort Worth with Texas football coach Mack Brown to receive the award at an awards banquet featuring former quarterbacks Dan Fouts, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Jim McMahon, Charlie Ward, Brad Banks, and Jim McPherson.
McCoy, as quoted on MackBrown-TexasFootball, would say about the award, “It’s such an honor to even be mentioned with the quarterbacks who have won this award. To win an award in the state of Texas, an award that Vince (Young) won and honors the legacy of Davey O’Brien, it makes it that much more special. I’m truly humbled, and I wouldn’t be here without coach Brown, the coaching staff and my teammates.”
McCoy is the third Longhorn to win the award, following quarterback Vince Young (2005), and running back Earl Campbell, who won the award in 1997 when it was awarded to the best player in the Southwest.
Apparently, McCoy took Glandorf to DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on Monday night, and had “Will You Marry Me?” up on the Godzillatron. When she turned around, McCoy was on his knee to propose. As any smart women seeing McCoy’s earnings potential over the next few years (OK, OK, that’s not the only reason we hope), she said “yes.”
Good for Colt. If you can’t play in or win the national championship, you might as well take the national championship of good-looking women. Well done, sir. God did indeed have a plan for you; her name was Rachel and we are all jealous.
Seriously, best wishes to Colt and Rachel for the real win in life, being happy. Congrats!
Some highlights and lowlights from week 11 in the Texas Longhorns football locker room.
Colt McCoy Ties Record for Wins In Saturday’s win over Baylor, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy tied the NCAA record for the most wins by a college quarterback. He ties former Georgia quarterback David Greene with 42 wins in his college tenure, and with two more regular season games, the Big 12 Championship game, and a post-season bowl, McCoy has the chance to set the NCAA record next week with a win against Kansas in Austin.
D.J. Monroe Arrested for DWI Texas freshman kick returner D. J. Monroe, who has scored two TDs on returns this season and been a spark plug for the ‘Horns special teams, was arrested overnight for driving while intoxicated. There is no doubt head coach Mack Brown will have strong disciplinary actions for Monroe, as he has become less and less lenient with player’s antics or missteps over the years. Expect Monroe to be suspended for at least a game or two, if Brown lets him come back and play this season at all. The last thing this Texas team needs is negative distractions, and you can bet Brown will do everything in his power to make sure nothing gets in the way of a trip to Pasadena.
A few key bits of Big 12 Conference football news to share this Thursday evening, from the campuses of oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State.
ou QB Sam Bradford Undergoes Successful Shoulder Surgery After injuring his shoulder for a second time this season against Texas in the Red River Rivalry, quarterback Sam Bradford elected to have surgery on his right, throwing shoulder on Tuesday by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Alabama. After the 35-minute surgery, Andrews said, “It went as expected.” Bradford should spend 4-6 months recovering, and be ready to enter the NFL Draft in April.
Oklahoma State WR Dez Bryant Ruled Ineligible For 2009 After lying to the NCAA about his meeting with former NFL player Deion Sanders and being suspended for the last four games, the rules committee ruled on Tuesday to suspend Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant for one year. Although Bryant would be eligible to play again midway through next season in Stillwater, many believe he will give up his remaining college eligibility to play in the NFL, where Bryant is expected to be a top 10 choice in April’s draft.
Texas Tech To Start Redshirt Frosh QB? For the first time in Mike Leach’s tenure at Texas Tech, the head coach will likely switch his starting quarterback for this this week’s game against Kansas without an injury to a player impacting his decision. Leach has said he feels former starting QB Taylor Potts has “confidence issues” and with second-string QB Stephen Sheffield out with an injury, he might defer to redshirt freshman QB Seth Doege to start against the Jayhawks this weekend. Doege played in Saturday’s home loss to Texas A&M, where he accounted for 146 yards passing on 18-for-25 attempts.
There will always be a debate over whether certain players are better than others. Each season, it happens on team’s two-deep depth charts, or in the determination of the Heisman Trophy and other post-season award winners. In addition, comparisons across sporting generations occur – between current and former college sports team legends, across conferences, and across a specific athletic event. For instance, will any college football player ever be as good as Ohio State running back Archie Griffin, who is the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy? Is Vince Young, Major Applewhite, or James Street the best Texas Longhorn quarterback? Is a non-BCS team quarterback better or worse than a BCS team quarterback? Are the D-I and D-II national championship teams on an equal playing field?
This week, in particular, USC’s head football coach Pete Carroll discussed his thoughts on Washington quarterback Jake Locker, who just led the Huskies to an upset of the now former #3 ranked Trojans, with a writer from the LA Times. Carroll’s conclusion – or at least the way it was portrayed in the article – was Locker was a better quarterback than former Texas quarterback Vince Young, who led the Longhorns to a national championship in 2005 over the vaunted Trojans and their star California trio of Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and Lendale White. Carroll’s justification: Locker is the best quarterback he has ever coached against, while Young played the best quarterback game he has ever seen. Sounds like a bit of spin to Eyes Of TX; well done, Pete – smoke and mirrors.
Living in the Pacific Northwest, and having watched Jake Locker grow up under center at Husky Stadium for the past three years, Eyes Of TX thought Carroll’s comparison was suspect – much to the chagrin of my U-Dub friends. Below, broken down to the best estimations, Eyes Of TX’s analysis to see who was/is the better passing quarterback.
Some clarifying points before reading on: 1) Analysis is based on Young’s three-year starting role, and Locker’s projections on his three-year starting role – estimating for lost time due to injuries in 2007 and 2008 and his 2009 projections; 2) Eliminated the “team” factor as much as possible (i.e. – what if Locker played for the current Florida Gators, would he be better because of the talent around him? What if Texas ran a more proficient passing offense, and Young didn’t rush as often in the offensive scheme?); 3) Focus on the passing game, since we’re under the solid assumption that Young was the best rushing quarterback of the two athletes, based on “escapability,” but not to take away from Locker’s obvious rushing prowess; and finally, 4) Young holds a two-game advantage in games played (13-12-13) to Locker’s estimated (12-12-12).
Vince Young, Texas Longhorns 3-year starter at quarterback
Career:
444-for-718 (completions to attempts) for a college career 62% completion rate
Total passing yards: 6,040
Total passing TDs: 44
Total INTs: 28
Jake Locker, Washington Huskies 3-year starter at quarterback
Freshman year (12 games; injured for one game):
Passing yards: 2,062
TD passes: 14
INTs: 15
Sophomore Year (3.5 games; injured in game four):
Passing yards (actual): 512
Passing yards (estimation of full season, or 12 games, based on 3.5 game performance): 2,052
TD passes: 1
TD passes (realistic estimation of full season, or 12 games, based on 3.5 game performance): 6
INTs: 0
INTs (realistic estimation of full season, or 12 games, based on 3.5 game performance): 5
Junior year (through three games):
Passing (actual): 811 yards
Passing yards (estimation of full season, or 12 games): 3,244
TD passes (actual): 5
TD passes (estimation of full season, or 12 games): 20
INTs (actual): 1
INTs (estimation of full season, or 12 games): 4
TOTAL to-date:
268-for-526 (completions to attempts), for a college career 51% completion rate
Total passing yards (actual): 3,385
Total passing yards (estimated, through 3 full seasons): 7,358
Total passing TDs (actual): 20
Total passing TDs (estimated, though 3 full seasons): 40
Total INTs (actual): 16
Total INTs (estimated, through 3 full seasons): 24
Net-net, Young and Locker net-out near equal in most every category. The clearest exception, however, is their actual completion percentage, which Young leads with the 62% to 51% advantage. Locker, however, would clearly win the career passing yards battle (7,358 to 6,040). When it comes to ball security and leading the team to points via the passing game, it’s a draw: Young is +4 in TDs thrown, and Locker is -4 in INTs thrown.
Who do you think is the better college quarterback? Eyes Of TX still says Young, but will whole-heartedly concede that it was much closer than initially imagined. Maybe the 2005 national championship ring is blinding the analysis of the data.
Last night in the National Football League (NFL), the Houston Texans took on the Minnesota Vikings. And, merely 13 days in to his debut with Purple Power, quarterback Brett Favre led his team to victory on Monday Night Football by a score of 17-10. Unfortunately, two of the highlights from the game will be detrimental to the Texans. The first, Minnesota running back (and former oklahoma sooner) Adrian Peterson’s 75-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, and second, Brett Favre’s crack back block on Texans cornerback Eugene Wilson. Let’s watch the play, then talk about the latter.
First and foremost, let’s define “crack back block.” About.com says:
Definition: A block by an offensive player who is usually spread out away from the main body of the formation and runs back in towards the ball at the snap, blocking an opponent back toward the original position of the ball at the snap. Blocking below the waist or in the back in this situation is illegal.
Based on this definition, there is no doubt that Favre’s block on Wilson was illegal, and he and the Vikings were penalized on the play. Eyes Of TX wants to clarify – or ask reader’s opinions on – do you think it was intentional? Do you think Brett Favre was trying to injure Eugene Wilson? Eyes Of TX thinks “No,” rather it was a QB trying to lazily protect himself while blocking (although foolishly, Favre puts his throwing shoulder in to the block). We give Favre credit, actually, for being practically fresh out of a retirement home and out there throwing blocks on trick plays – that must say something about his commitment to the team, right? Was it right to block Wilson the way he did? Absolutely not. Did Favre really intentionally throw that kind of block or intend to injure Wilson? Eyes Of TX thinks not.
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Eyes of TX 