Scouting the Longhorns

QB
Third year starter Colt McCoy set school records this year with 2445 yards and 32 touchdowns and a NCAA record 77.6% completion rate. McCoy was second in the Heisman voting, losing to conference foe Oklahoma QB Bradford. He had seven interceptions during the season. The mobile QB led the team with 576 yards and was second on the team with 10 rushing TDs.

Receivers
The two leading receivers are Shipley and Cosby, each with over 900 yards. Shipley has known McCoy since they were kids, in fact their fathers were roommates and played together at Division II Abilene Christian. Shipley did not go to same high school as McCoy, but both received scholarships from Texas. Shipley, a year older than McCoy, was injured in his first year, missing the 2004 and 2005 seasons. McCoy sat out his first year in 2005, while Vince Young led the Longhorns to the National Title. Also catching balls for Texas are Ogdonnaya, Collins, and Williams. Shipley is the main kick returner with 312 yards, an average of 28.4 yards/return, and one touchdown.

Defense
The D-Line is led by DE Orakpo, member of All-America first team and winner of the Naurski (top defensive player), Lombardi (top lineman), and the Hendricks (best defensive end.) He had 38 tackles, 16.5 for loss, and 10.5 sacks. The Longhorns as a team led the nation with 44 sacks. Although the Longhorns did not face any teams with a strong running game, the unit still was second in the nation allowing only 73.6 yards/game. The unit did struggle against the pass, allowing 266 yards/game through the air.

This Season
In the first five games Texas blew past Florida Atlantic, UTEP, Rice, Arkansas, and Colorado. The first challenge was Oklahoma at home, a game the Longhorns won 45-35. In that game Texas had to come back in the second half with 25 points to pull off the victory, and take its place at #1. The Missouri game was a blowout at halftime, and despite the fact that Texas allowed Missouri to score 28 in the second half, Texas won 56-31. Texas was behind Oklahoma State at halftime. In that game McCoy threw for close to 400 yards, Texas had two turnovers, but in the end Texas won 28-24 by forcing a field goal instead of a touchdown by Oklahoma State. During the next game, #1 Texas lost due to a last minute touchdown toss. In that game McCoy was able to bring his team from behind, but he was outplayed by Tech's QB who had 474 yards and the incredible touchdown at the end. The first half of the Baylor game remained interesting, mostly because McCoy threw two interceptions, but Texas took control and cruised to a 45-21 victory. Texas started out slow with only 14 in the first half, but 21 points in the third quarter separated them from Kansas and led to the 35-7 victory. In an apparent effort to sway BCS voters, Texas ran up the score in the fourth quarter against Texas A&M, adding 21 points in the last quarter, winning the game 49-9. Unfortunately for Texas, under conference rules (agreed upon by each school), the tie breaker sent Oklahoma to the Big 12 Championship. Texas did a lot of lobbying for BCS voting, as that was the tiebreaker, but they did not succeed. With Oklahoma winning the Big 12 Championship, Texas also missed shot at the National Championship game.