SB Nation - Limas Sweed

Things I've Said Colt McCoy Can't Do

Horn Brain — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:00:22 -0000

More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

You wanna bet I can throw a football over them mountains?.

Colt McCoy has proven you wrong.

Yes, you - Fan who called for Chiles to split time with McCoy at the beginning of 2008. And you - guy who complained about Colt not being athletic enough to draw attention in the zone read game - wow were you wrong!

But don't blush, we've all been wrong when it comes to Colt, even his fervent supporters. Even as I've always rooted for McCoy to pull through and prove the doubters wrong, I don't think even the most optimistic among us (limiting our scope, of course, to those capable of predicting anything other than three straight Heismans and National Championships for every player) expected anything even approximating what Colt has become. I thought it would have made a nice story if he could just be a part of a great season - drive the bus, so to speak.

Now? Hell, I don't even think Uncle Rico's self-perception could have done some of the things Colt's pulled off.

The fact is: There isn't a person on the planet who's expectations weren't absolutely obliterated by what Colt McCoy has become. Don't be that guy and try and explain how you saw this in him all along, watched him dominate 2A football and you could just tell he was going to be one of the best ever - Bull crap. Even the most legitimately optimistic among us would have laughed if I told them that Colt would break the all-time season completion percentage record (with a high probability of breaking the career mark after this season), or if I told them that Colt would need only 11 wins in 2009 to become the winningest QB in college football history. The whole situation here is just unreal.

So on the eve of Colt's next "Shock the Nation" campaign, follow the jump as I look back on everything I ever said Colt couldn't do...

Colt McCoy Can't Work in Our Running Game

Pocket Passer. Pro-Style. Statue. White.

Everyone had their own way of saying it, but it all meant the same thing: Not Vince. Vince's mere presence was enough to delay the arrival of the gap defenders as they held back a split second to double check that #10 wasn't on his way to the end zone before killing the options for the tailback, but Colt was a liability. Colt would never get backer or an end to so much as turn his head on their way to flooding the available gaps for the running back. Something was going to have to change, we all thought. The love affairs with the I-formation and a John Chiles spread option game began soon after Texas fans realized that there would be no 1,000 yard rusher in 2006. Colt would serve well, many thought, as a compliment to the featured running game.

Wrong: Colt McCoy shows some wheels in the midst of his ridiculous streak of excellent games to start 2008, finishing the season as the top rusher, all while delivering gems like the Truck Stick against Rice, the Don't Mind Me quick snap and race around the corner for a score against Arkansas, and - coolest of all - the Pirouette in the Fiesta Bowl. While we didn't have a banner year for running the ball as a team, Colt was hardly to blame (replacing a TE with Jordan Shipley or our worst blocking offensive lineman didn't help, and much of the rest is just inconsistent line play). If the line play improves satisfactorily, I don't think there will be much whining about the running game this year (except, ironically, about the fact that our running game now relies too heavily on Colt. Ha!).

Colt McCoy Can't "Start" Our Offense

This was actually one of my favorite opinions. Thought it up all by myself. It came about after a few games in 2007, when it became clear that something was very wrong with the team. Forgetting the defense and special teams disasters, the offense was just ugly to watch. It looked like Greg Davis had decided that Colt McCoy was going to be the featured player in our offense. The problem was, Colt didn't appear to have superior athleticism, arm strength, accuracy, or really anything special about him that was going to give us an advantage. The result was a mediocre offense that worked in fits and starts, but was wholly unreliable and (to put it in coachspeak) inconsistent. The idea that Colt couldn't be the featured player in our offensive scheme arose from my attempt to build a schema encompassing Colt's stellar freshman campaign with his sophomore season that was... well... sophomoric. Hear me out:

In comparing the 2007 offense with an approximate ideal (say, 2005), it seemed like what 2007 lacked (early on) was an elite component that could almost impose its will on the defense. Vince Young and the running game were going to be successful against your defense until you threw just about everything into stopping him, and when you did that, VY was going to throw a touchdown to Limas Sweed in the corner of your end zone for the winning score. That's the simplest way to put pressure on the defense: Be so ridiculously good at one thing that the defense can't worry about anything else. Once the defense shows its hand, then you know exactly what the corresponding best strategy is. You get in a rhythm, and before you know, it's 50-0 at halftime.

2007, however, lacked an identity. Davis thought that he could give Colt enough options on every play that he would always have something open, something available, and that would create the ability for the offense to impose its will on the defense. It's kind of the opposite of 2005, in that instead of being ridiculous good, Colt needed to be ridiculously smart. The defense wouldn't be able to take away the one thing we did so well, because we would do just about everything well. This is when the announcers started talking about "playing the accordion" with the defense - sucking the defense in close with the short game, then bombing them long when they forgot about Limas Sweed. Then the bad news: Big Sweed was injured before the season and Colt, while a highly intelligent quarterback, was overwhelmed with his options, it didn't help that the line picked up the blitz like a group of freshmen at Notre Dame and no major adjustment was found for these shortcomings until the near disaster against Nebraska. Colt failed as the identity of our offense and we floundered somewhat until we figured out that Jamaal Charles was faster than he was fumble-prone (and just about everyone else, too). Then our offensive identity reverted to the 2005 plan: JC got ten yards a carry no matter what, and when they put eight or nine men in the box to stop him, we let Colt do his thing.

So the conclusion from 2007 was: Colt McCoy cannot "start" our offense. 2005 was started by VY, 2006 was started by an epic offensive line, and 2007 should have been all about Jamaal Charles all year long. Colt can't be the guy that the defense gameplans for all week, and then can't stop anyway. He's not going to get the defense to run dime while we still have a TE and a RB on the field so that we can run the ball. He's just going to have to mop up after Jamaal Charles. Oh great, JC went pro, now we're going to lose 5 games in 2008!

Wrong: Colt McCoy plays essentially a series of perfect games in 2008 from FAU all the way to Missourri. We're still on the 2005 side of the offensive spectrum, but this time, the thing we do ridiculously well is the short passing game. Colt completes 80% of his passes while leading 15-play drive after 15-play drive, despite being by far the main concern of every defense he faces. Not only does Colt McCoy start our offense, he is our offense. He leads the team in rushing to go along with setting just about every serious passing record in the history of Texas football. He comes within one of any number of plays in Lubbock from playing in the National Championship game. Colt McCoy completely reinvented himself and destroyed any notion that he couldn't be the "star" quarterback at the University of Texas.

The best example of this is probably the Oklahoma State game. Gundy (or more correctly, his defensive coordinator) developed an immensely complex and well-conceived gameplan for shutting down Colt McCoy. We won't go into details here, but suffice it to say that the Cowboy defense used more disguised coverages than a pedophile wearing an Optimus Prime costume. Incredibly Unsurprisingly, Colt rose to the challenge and again shattered any doubts, completing 38 of 45 pass attempts (84%) for 391 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception, with 22 of those 38 completions resulting in first downs.

For my money, that's one of the most dominant performances by a single facet of our offense ever, especially considering just how bad we were at running the ball (3.5 ypc for just over 100 yards that game, Colt led the team with 41 on 10 carries) even when the defense was wholly focused on McCoy. Sure the 2005 offense as a whole was better, but that's mostly a product of Vince's improved passing ability. Vince was a good college passer, and any defense that sold out to stop the run as much as OSU sold out to stop McCoy would have found out the hard way that Texas had a solid left jab to compliment that monster right. McCoy then, by the same metaphor, barely had a left arm to speak of. Despite having almost no threat to keep OSU honest, the Texas passing attack rolled up almost 400 yards on better than 80% completions. That's just sick. Texas' rushing offense in 2005, complimented by a successful passing attack, may have been more dominant, but I don't think it ever needed to show it like McCoy did against OSU.

So, yeah. Can't start the offense?

Who needs a left?

Colt McCoy Can't be the Leader of this Team

This one goes back to a comment made by PB in a Morning Coffee before the Holiday Bowl. We found out somehow that Colt's favorite workout song was "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy", and while Peter was partly kidding, he raised a valid point that Colt may have trouble connecting with the team if he thinks Kenny Chesney is a testosterone boost (check the comments in the MC post for better suggestions). I completely agreed. The song choice had little to do with it, really, but it highlighted the perception of McCoy at the time. Was Colt viewed by his teammates as a leader after such an inconsistent season in the backfield? Was he the kind of guy who gets ticked off and dedicates himself? Or was he content to remain in a comfortable little world listening to pretty men in cowboy hats croon about their perceived plowing prowess while he chucked INTs? Some of us feared the latter.

Wrong: Colt probably improved as much as anyone ever has in one offseason. Not only did the mistakes disappear, but Colt had become a creepy-good, bordering on perfect robo-QB. The team has rallied around him, adopting him as Colt "MyBoy", while he reciprocated the respect by passing every bit of praise he received to his line, his receivers, the running backs, the defense, and the coaches. He's even got Mack Brown telling the team to appreciate McCoy as the most accurate passer in the history of college football. Now Vince got a lot... a lot of praise from Brown while he was here, but I can't recall Brown telling the team anything like: Listen, you've got to play your ass off for Vince, 'cause it damn sure won't be his fault if we don't win the National Championship. (Yes that's what he said in coachspeak)

Colt's proven us wrong here twice: He's proven that he can become a leader on the team, sure, but he's also done something that no one ever considered: Colt means as much to this team as Vince meant in 2005. The team (and Mack Brown) knows that Colt can take them as far as they're willing to go. They're going to fight for him every step of the way, and they won't stop until they've given Colt his ultimate dream:

A sexy tractor ride in the Rose Bowl Parade.

What?

I meant a championship. Because the one thing that has been thrown around about Colt that he hasn't yet proven wrong is that he can't win a championship. If you're still in that camp, then I'd like to offer you one last chance to change your mind before you are proven wrong, once again, by one of the greatest players in college football history.

Whether you think he is or not.

Ten Questions for Texas Football: (4) Impact Breakouts

Peter Bean — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:38:32 -0000

Can you believe we're just two days from kickoff? Outstanding.

Less outstanding, I'm on question four of ten, which means I'm either going to zip through much shorter answers or (more likely) this thing's going to be Five Questions for Texas Football. Regardless, on we go.

Previously in 'Ten Questions': (1) The 2009 Narrative, (2) We're Texas, (3) Lessons from 2008.

After the jump: Beets, bourbon, and high impact breakouts.

4. Whose breakout seasons would provide the most team benefit?

Every so often a study is released showing that people with a diet rich in _____ are 20% less likely to develop mesothelioma, and for a while we all go out and consume more oatmeal, or mackerel, or beet juice, or whatever it is, even though we always thought mesothelioma was some disease you could only get from watching Jerry Springer while nursing a craving to sue the pants off of somebody, and though even the stench of beet juice makes us cringe so hard that our blood pressure rockets off the charts and into the arms of Lipitor. It happens all the time, and there will be a new study out before you know it, telling you one more thing you need to do to live forever.

What if it were bourbon?

Now we're talking.

We've spent some time scouting breakout players already, but today's discussion is focused on finding the bourbon: While a breakout season from any Longhorn will be a boon, I've got my eyes on these six guys as players whose breakout seasons would be especially exciting and rewarding. Like being told to drink bourbon every day.

Eddie Jones, DE Everyone's expecting an Orakpo-esque senior season from the quick and powerful Sergio Kindle, there's excitement about what Sam Acho will do in a full-time role, and fans are frothing at the mouth about Alex Okafor's potential. It's enough to make it easy to overlook just how much depth and talent Texas actually enjoyed at DE last season and underrate how important it will be for Jones to start becoming the player fans thought he could become when he signed as a five-star prospect from Kilgore. Fans are rightfully focused on the situation at tackle, but there, too, the value of Jones is relevant: the more opposing defenses are dealing with another army of disruptive talent at defensive end, the less the pressure on the interior linemen. So is Jones ready to break out? He's on at least one of my lists, so I'm hopeful. His play in Lawrence last year led me to believe he's on the cusp.

Michael Huey, RG What does it say about your offensive line when the player many fans are most excited about is back up center/guard David Snow? A lot more than '90 returning starts' ever could. I've grabbed a seat on the Snow bandwagon, too, and wonder whether Charlie Tanner really has what it takes to hold him off. (And if he doesn't, whether the offensive coaches are as committed to the Best Players Will Play philosophy as is Will Muschamp.) But even if Snow's good enough to replace one of the two starting guards, the other must stay, and for my money it's Michael Huey, much more so than Tanner, who has the potential to be a strong contributor this season along the line. Another Kilgore product, Huey is both strong and talented -- enough so that I thought he'd hold the starting job last year when Tanner missed three games injured. He didn't, but entering his third year in the program, I'm hopeful this is the season the execution matches the talent. Texas would benefit tremendously if it is.

Tray Allen, OT/DT Like Eddie Jones, Allen was a five-star prospect out of high school; unlike Jones, he didn't get a redshirt year and has spent his first two seasons on campus underwhelming fans as a backup. Fair enough, but fans at this point need to realign their expectations to focus on team needs: Set aside whatever disappointment you may harbor that Allen's not a dominant starting tackle and just consider how valuable it would be if he does take a step forward this year and provides for the '09 Longhorns (1) strong back up play at LT for Adam Ulatoski and (2) helpful depth as an emergency DT. Setting aside that the team is going to need Allen to have a strong senior season to compete for the Big 12 title in 2010, the need for depth on this year's team is upon us. While Allen may usefully be deployed as an emergency DT -- should it come to that -- the coaches understand that its his development as an offensive tackle that's most crucial.

Fozzy Whittaker -OR- Tre Newton, RB They bring different skill sets to the table, but I don't know that it matters too much whether one or the other has a breakthrough campaign. What does seem apparent, however, is that Texas would benefit enormously from one of them emerging as a complementary threat to Vondrell McGee. This is not, for the record, a knock on McGee, of whom I expect good things. Instead, these two players represent additional value-added to this offense that will be important to lessening the load on Colt McCoy. Maybe Colt goes all super-robot again, completing every single pass and leading the team in rushing, but we'd rather not have to count on that if we don't have to. My personal preference would be to see Whittaker get healthy, stay healthy, and find his groove in live action, but I'm more and more convinced that Newton can provide a different, but similarly valuable, boost from the position.

Malcolm Williams, WR For obvious reasons, I'm not going to name any names at the tight end position, so let me conclude by noting that a big season from Malcolm Williams might be the single most valuable breakthrough to Colt McCoy and the 2009 Texas offense. We all know about his outrageous athleticism and impossibly long gait. What we don't yet know is whether he's ready to spend his junior season being for Colt McCoy what Limas Sweed was during his own junior season. If he is... yeah. Sit down, Big 12.

Huh. Just one defensive player named... Make of that what you will.

Who are your impact breakthrough players for 2009?

Beyond The Boxscore: Colt McCoy, Texas, and Big Play Scoring, 2008

Peter Bean — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:25:33 -0000

At about this time last summer, I decided to look closely at Texas' scoring drives during the 2007 conference season. I was motivated by the loss of Jamaal Charles, Limas Sweed, and Jermichael Finley to the NFL -- concerned that without its top three big playmakers, Colt McCoy and the 'Horns might have trouble putting six on the board.

With Charles, Finley, and a half-season of Sweed in 2007, a Texas touchdown drive in Big 12 play averaged 7.2 plays, covered 67.2 yards (at 9.3 yards per play), and tallied six points on a scoring play averaging 20.0 yards. Drives that ended in field goals averaged 9 plays and covered 54 yards (6.0 yards per play), with an average field goal distance of 38.9.

How would Colt McCoy fare a season later, without any proven playmakers? Find out after the jump.

First, a few notes on the data below: Garbage time drives are ignored; the drives charted below represent only those when Texas left McCoy in the game, and appeared to be attempting to move the football. All McCoy rushes are treated as rushes, whether a scramble or designed run. Sacks are charted as pass plays. The non-conference games are not included. Totals and notes follow the charts. Charts? Oh, yes: charts.

@ COLORADO

Quarter	Score	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Result	Score (Yards)	Player	Yds/Play (Drive)	Longest Play
1	Tie	3	0	3	69	TD	PASS (65)	OGBONNAYA	23.0	PASS, 65
1	+7	10	5	5	80	TD	PASS (16)	SHIPLEY	8.0	PASS, 23
2	+14	8	2	6	66	TD	RUSH (13)	OGBONNAYA	8.3	PASS, 16
3	+21	4	2	2	18	TD	RUSH (1)	JOHNSON	4.5	PASS, 10
3	+21	4	4	0	71	TD	RUSH (4)	JOHNSON	17.8	RUSH, 51
AVG		5.8	2.6	3.2	60.8		2 Pass (40.5)		10.5
							3 Rush (6.0)

4		8	4	4	16	FG	FG (46)	LAWRENCE	2.0	RUSH, 6
AVG		8	4	4	16		46.0		2.0

1	+14	7	2	5	42	INT			6.0	PASS, 15
2	+14	3	3	0	9	PUNT			3.0	RUSH, 5
2	+14	5	2	3	9	PUNT			1.8	PASS, 9
3	+21	12	5	7	38	PUNT			3.2	PASS, 11
3	+28	1	0	1	0	INT			0.0	N / A
AVG		5.6	2.4	3.2	19.6				3.5

OKLAHOMA (DALLAS)

Quarter	Score	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Result	Score (Yards)	Player	Yds/Play (Drive)	Longest Play
2	-11	12	4	8	80	TD	RUSH (1)	JOHNSON	23.0	PASS,19
3	-8	12	6	6	89	TD	PASS (2)	SHIPLEY	7.4	RUSH, 30
4	-5	8	4	4	74	TD	RUSH (1)	JOHNSON	9.3	PASS, 37
4	+3	6	3	3	80	TD	RUSH (2)	JOHNSON	13.3	RUSH, 62
AVG		9.5	4.3	5.2	80.1		1 Pass (2.0)		8.5
							3 Rush (1.3)

1	-7	10	4	6	57	FG	FG (26)	LAWRENCE	5.7	PASS, 25
2	-4	5	1	4	51	FG	FG (33)	LAWRENCE	10.2	PASS, 36
3	-1	4	3	1	42	FG	FG (28)	LAWRENCE	10.5	RUSH, 18
AVG		6.3	2.7	3.6	50.0		29.0		7.9

1	-4	5	1	4	13	PUNT			2.6	PASS, 15
1	-4	3	0	3	-3	PUNT			-1.0	PASS,10
3	-1	3	0	3	0	PUNT			0.0	PASS,6
AVG		3.7	0.3	3.3	3.3				0.9

vs MISSOURI

Quarter	Score	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Result	Score (Yards)	Player	Yds/Play (Drive)	Longest Play
1	Tie	12	7	5	94	TD	RUSH (6)	MCCOY	7.8	RUSH, 20
1	+7	9	3	6	82	TD	RUSH (9)	OGBONNAYA	9.1	PASS, 38
2	+14	6	2	4	43	TD	PASS (32)	WILLIAMS	7.2	PASS, 32
2	+21	3	3	0	41	TD	RUSH (10)	OGBONNAYA	13.7	RUSH, 26
2	+28	9	3	6	92	TD	PASS (13)	SHIPLEY	10.2	PASS, 23
3	+25	10	3	7	77	TD	RUSH (2)	MCCOY	7.7	PASS, 17
AVG		9.8	3.5	6.3	71.5		2 Pass (22.5)		7.3
							4 Rush (6.8)
3	+32	3	1	2	3	PUNT			1.0	PASS, 10
3	+25	3	1	2	9	PUNT			3.0	PASS, 16
AVG		3	1.0	2.0	6.0				2.0

vs OKLAHOMA STATE

Quarter	Score	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Result	Score (Yards)	Player	Yds/Play (Drive)	Longest Play
1	Tie	11	3	8	93	TD	PASS (14)	SHIPLEY	8.5	PASS, 18
2	+7	9	6	3	91	TD	RUSH (14)	MCGEE	10.1	PASS, 16
2	+7	9	3	6	80	TD	PASS (17)	COSBY	8.9	PASS, 20
3	+7	10	5	5	84	TD	RUSH (3)	MCCOY	8.4	PASS, 29
AVG		9.8	4.3	5.5	87.0		2 Pass (15.5)		8.9
							2 Rush (8.5)

1	Tie	9	2	7	34	PUNT			3.7	PASS, 22
2	+7	5	0	5	43	HALF			8.6	PASS, 34
3	+7	2	0	2	5	INT			2.5	PASS, 5
4	+4	15	6	9	68	FUMBLE			4.5	PASS, 16
4	+4	7	5	2	26	DOWNS			3.7	PASS, 20
AVG		7.6	2.6	5.0	35.2				4.6

@ TEXAS TECH

Quarter	Score	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Result	Score (Yards)	Player	Yds/Play (Drive)	Longest Play
3	-16	6	3	3	58	TD	PASS (37)	WILLIAMS	9.7	PASS, 37
4	-9	1	0	1	91	TD	PASS (91)	WILLIAMS	91.0	PASS, 91
4	-6	11	6	5	80	TD	RUSH (4)	MCGEE	7.3	RUSH, 21
AVG		6.0	2.0	2.0	76.3		2 Pass (64.0)		12.7
							1 Rush (4.0)

2	-19	5	3	2	3	FG	LAWRENCE (43)		0.6	RUSH, 9
2	-19	10	1	9	72	FG	LAWRENCE (25)		7.2	PASS, 44
AVG		7.5	2.0	5.5	37.5		34.0		5.0

1	Tie	1	1	0	-2	SAFETY			-2.0	RUSH, -2
1	-5	7	2	5	5	PUNT			0.7	PASS, 7
2	-12	3	2	1	8	PUNT			2.7	PASS, 6
2	-19	3	1	2	7	PUNT			2.3	PENALTY, 5
3	-16	5	2	3	14	PUNT			2.8	PASS, 10
3	-9	2	0	2	-12	PICK-6			-6.0	N / A
3	-16	9	3	6	38	PUNT			4.2	PASS, 11
AVG		4.3	1.6	2.7	8.3				1.9

vs BAYLOR

Quarter	Score	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Result	Score (Yards)	Player	Yds/Play (Drive)	Longest Play
1	Tie	9	2	7	65	TD	PASS (35)	COSBY	7.2	PASS, 35
1	+7	11	4	7	70	TD	PASS (1)	SMITH	6.4	PASS, 15
2	+7	5	1	4	73	TD	PASS (26)	COSBY	14.6	PASS, 26
3	+14	8	6	2	75	TD	PASS (40)	COLLINS	9.4	PASS, 40
3	+21	13	10	3	65	TD	PASS (15)	SHIPLEY	5.0	PASS, 15
AVG		9.2	4.6	4.6	69.6		5 Pass (23.4)		7.6

2	Tie	8	3	5	33	FGA	Miss FG (44)	LAWRENCE	4.1	RUSH,18
4	+28	8	2	6	64	FGA	Miss FG (20)	LAWRENCE	8.0	RUSH, 28
AVG		8.0	2.5	5.5	48.5		32.0		6.0

1	+14	3	0	3	1	INT			0.3	PASS, 1
2	+7	3	1	2	1	PUNT			0.3	RUSH, 1
2	+14	2	0	2	3	INT			1.5	PASS, 3
AVG		2.6	0.3	2.3	1.7				0.6

@ KANSAS

Quarter	Score	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Result	Score (Yards)	Player	Yds/Play (Drive)	Longest Play
1	Tie	9	4	5	71	TD	RUSH (14)	MCGEE	7.9	PASS, 16
2	+7	7	5	2	67	TD	RUSH (4)	MCCOY	9.6	PASS, 19
3	+14	10	6	4	60	TD	RUSH (10)	OGBONNAYA	6.0	PASS, 22
3	+14	8	3	5	73	TD	PASS (9)	COSBY	9.1	RUSH, 25
3	+21	2	1	1	37	TD	PASS (36)	COLLINS	18.5	PASS, 36
AVG		7.2	3.8	3.4	61.6		2 Pass (22.5)		8.6
							3 Rush (9.3)

1	+7	5	3	2	23	FUMBLE			4.6	PASS, 9
1	+7	6	1	5	10	PUNT			1.7	PASS, 7
2	+7	6	3	3	17	PUNT			2.8	PASS, 8
2	+7	4	1	3	4	DOWNS			1.0	PASS, 4
3	+14	3	1	2	4	PUNT			1.3	RUSH, 4
4	+28	7	5	2	30	PUNT			4.3	PASS,16
AVG		5.2	2.3	2.9	14.7				2.8

vs TEXAS A&M

Quarter	Score	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Result	Score (Yards)	Player	Yds/Play (Drive)	Longest Play
1	Tie	12	9	3	80	TD	RUSH (14)	MCCOY	6.7	PASS, 20
2	+7	9	6	3	48	TD	PASS (20)	COLLINS	5.3	PASS, 20
2	+11	9	1	8	78	TD	PASS (9)	COSBY	8.7	PASS, 18
3	+18	5	2	3	80	TD	RUSH (16)	MCCOY	16.0	PASS, 36
3	+25	6	3	3	68	TD	RUSH (1)	JOHNSON	11.3	PASS, 68
AVG		8.2	4.2	4.0	70.8		2 Pass (14.5)		8.6
							3 Rush (10.3)

1	+7	12	5	7	43	FGA	Miss FG (36)	LAWRENCE	3.6	PASS, 13
AVG		12.0	5.0	7.0	43.0		36.0		3.6

1	+7	5	1	4	6	PUNT			1.2	PASS, 8
AVG		5.0	1.0	4.0	6.0				1.2

OHIO STATE (FIESTA BOWL)

Quarter	Score	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Result	Score (Yards)	Player	Yds/Play (Drive)	Longest Play
3	-3	15	9	6	80	TD	RUSH (14)	MCCOY	5.3	RUSH, 14
3	+4	9	5	4	85	TD	PASS (7)	COSBY	9.4	PASS, 20
4	-4	11	1	10	78	TD	PASS (26)	COSBY	7.1	PASS, 26
AVG		11.7	5.0	6.7	81.0		2 Pass (16.5)		6.9
							1 Rush (14.0)

2	-3	11	2	9	57	FG	FG (27)	LAWRENCE	5.2	PASS, 20
AVG		11.0	2.0	9.0	57.0		27.0		5.2

1	Tie	3	1	2	7	PUNT			2.3	RUSH, 7
1	-3	7	2	5	32	PUNT			4.6	PASS, 13
2	-3	8	0	8	27	DOWNS			3.4	PASS, 22
2	-3	6	0	6	76	INT			12.7	PASS, 37
3	+4	6	1	5	13	PUNT			2.2	PASS, 17
4	+8	9	4	5	37	PUNT			4.1	PASS, 13
4	+2	3	0	3	3	PUNT			1.0	PASS,3
AVG		6.0	1.1	4.9	27.9				4.6

TOTALS

Type	Plays	Rush	Pass	Yards	Yards/Play
TD	331	155	176	2885	8.7
FGA	81	28	53	438	5.4
FAIL	199	63	136	648	3.2

DRIVE AVERAGES

Type	Plays	Yards	Yards/Play	Average Score Distance
TD 2008	8.3	72.1	8.7	16.4 yd TD
TD 2007	7.2	67.2	9.3	20.0 yd TD

FG 2008	8.1	43.8	5.4	32.8 yd FGA
FG 2007	9.0	54.0	6.0	38.9 yd FGA

DISCUSSION

The downside to seeking quantitative answers to important questions? You have to chart the damn numbers. Not so fun.
On the bright side, the above presents a really interesting look at the role of big plays in scoring drives.
What's the same? Like two years ago, as the yards per play go up, the chances of the drive ending in six points shoot up with it. This is intuitive, of course, but it's helpful to see the dramatic jump in average yards per play from a failed drive, to a drive that results in a field goal attempt, to a drive that ends in the end zone. It's just incredibly difficult to sustain drives long enough to score without the aid of a big play or two.
Interestingly, Texas touchdown drives last year averaged 1.1 more plays than 2007 (8.3, up from 7.2). In 2007, Texas' scoring drives averaged fewer plays, covered fewer yards, and featured a touchdown scoring play that was, on average, 20% longer. Losing their three big play talents, we might have hypothesized that for Colt McCoy to thrive in 2008, he'd need to sustain longer drives, featuring more plays, and better red zone scoring. He (and Texas) did just that.
If you're interested in the numbers: Texas had 8 touchdown drives of 1-5 plays (15 in 2007); 21 touchdown drives of 6-10 plays (16 in '07); and 11 touchdown drives of 11-15 plays (6 in '07).
What might we hypothesize about the upcoming season from the above? From my vantage point, the Texas offense is poised to explode. We already know what McCoy can do; this season he need only find a possession machine to replace Cosby, while his big play possibilities should improve with a talented and experienced receiving corps from which to choose. If the running game merely improves from 'barely adequate' to 'kinda good,' Texas will decimate most Big 12 defenses.
There's more to be said about the data above, but I'll hand this over to you for now, as I need to publish this thing and get on with my day. Your thoughts?
UPDATE: One other interesting note I forgot to mention: note how Texas' TD drives featured a much better run-pass balance than did their other drives. Even when UT didn't run it especially well, that they ran it at all seemed to help McCoy and the offense. Something to keep in mind for 2009.