SB Nation - Jamaal Charles

Postgame React: Texas 41 Wyoming 10

Peter Bean — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:59:35 -0000

More photos » by AAron Ontiveroz - AP

Colt McCoy is surprised to learn that his receivers are not eight feet tall.

The outcome was: A matter of perspective. Today's game was sort of like being invited as a guest to dine at the restaurant with the three-star Michelin rating and the prettiest view in the city, only when you get there, the waiter botches your appetizer and takes two hours to bring you the main course, and when it finally arrives, it's not the steak that you ordered but some sort of fish. As you walk out the door after your meal, you're about to start complaining to your wife about everything that went wrong, but have to stop, because you realize not only was the entree you ate as tasty as anything you've ever had, but the restaurant next door burned to the ground while you were eating.

"You know what," you have to say, "that was pretty good, wasn't it?"

It sorta depends how you look at it, right? We might look at Texas' first half of offensive mediocrity, the special teams idiocy, and the tight halftime score and conclude, "Bad Texas. Bad, bad Texas." On the other hand, we might look at the second half, the final 31-point margin, and the scoreboard in Stillwater and conclude, "A fine day to be a Longhorn, indeed."

I'm inclined to the latter view for a number of reasons, confident that our special teams are better than that, Colt McCoy is better than that, our defense is straight sexy, and the second half showed some glimpses of what might be ahead for this Texas offense. Join me after the jump for discussion of Texas' 41-10 victory over Wyoming.

The Offensive MVP was: Dan Buckner & Tre' Newton. The sophomore "tight end" finished with 6 catches for 86 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown, while the redshirt freshman tailback scampered for 62 yards on 8 carries (including a 13-yard TD run) and hauled in a reception for 15 yards for good measure. These two, of course, are the fish in our happy metaphor -- not the steak we were expecting in August, but unarguably delectable nonetheless. Let's start with Buckner. It's fair to say Buck won't be a mauling blocker for our running game like Brandon Pettigrew was for Oklahoma State last year, but I've seen enough in two games to feel good about Texas' offense being strong enough to win the Big 12. He's got terrific hands, good body control, unfair height, and a powerful, long stride that make him a terrible match up for linebackers and safeties alike. As Colt grows more comfortable with him, he's going to be a force that elevates our pass and run games alike.

As for Newton, let the debates begin: how much should he play? Everyone was impressed with the redshirt freshman, and rightfully so, but those who bagged on McGee (who left with an ankle injury) are throwing out the baby with the bathwater. McGee finished with 61 yards on 11 carries (5.5 per), caught 2 passes for 9 yards, and picked up the blitz like a champ, freeing Colt to scramble around in the first half, staring at triple-teamed Jordan Shipley for 15 seconds. So no, the case for Newton has nothing to do with the ineffectiveness of a healthy McGee, who's been perfectly solid through two games. The difference is in the fit: Newton comfortably slides through our running lanes from the shotgun more naturally than does McGee. It's not an easy thing to do, which is why a guy as obscenely talented as Jamaal Charles often looked so lost trying to figure out where to go. There's a certain feel required to guesstimating where our zone-blocking ballerinas are going to create a crease and then slipping through it with downhill force. McGee is, in his third year, starting to get good at it; Newton looks like he's been doing it all his life.

If that's right, and not a small sample size anomaly, Newton needs more carries. More downs, period. He hits the LOS well, can catch passes, and picks up the blitz. There's a lot to like here. Even if we still like the steak.

The offensive Offensive LVP was: Charlie Tanner. Sometimes, I wish I'd not included this part of the Postgame React way back when I started it, because it's hard to bag on kids who do so many things right, even if they struggle on Saturdays. And Charlie Tanner does a lot right, by all accounts a true program soldier, terrific teammate, and student athlete. Unfortunately, superior blocking is not on the list. But Mack Brown professes to have turned a corner on his philosophy about all this, so we can just be blunt about it: If it's true that the best guys must play, and that those who don't have a role to play on the team by accepting their diminished roles, then Charlie Tanner should not be a starter. When Michael Huey was healthy, David Snow was a better option at left guard. And after this week's subpar performance, I'm of the mind that Tray Allen -- who showed up to play in the second half -- is the better option, too. We can focus on the quality of the other options, or we can just point out that Charlie Tanner is struggling. Either way, experience as measured in starts made is useless when the starts made are not quality ones. Move Tanner down the depth chart. Starting now.

Update: To be fair to Tanner, I meant to mention in here somewhere that his fellow starting linemen were particularly good, either. Ulatoski still doesn't move his feet well enough to be consistently good and Hall is an underized reacher. The right side of our line was better, but overall this unit has hardly been the asset we're told the "90 combined" starts means that it will be.

The Defensive MVP was: Sam Acho and Lamarr Houston. With a fist bump to the outstanding Keenan Robinson, one of My Guys for 2009, this has to go to Sam Acho and Lamarr Houston, who were just treacherous for Wyoming all day. Acho finished with 6 tackles, 2 tackles-for-loss (1 sack) and 1 fumble recovery and was as big a mismatch as Wyoming faced all day. The difference between Acho and his fellow defensive ends -- all talented and effective in their own right -- is his discipline. Rarely will you see Acho over-eagerly shoot up the field and out of position like you might with Okafor or Kindle; he's a model DE right now.

As for Houston... well, there aren't many bigger fans of the young man than yours truly and this was perhaps his finest game as a defensive tackle for Texas. Wyoming simply had no answer for his quickness, and with tag-teammate Kheeston Randall doing a better and better job all the time of occupying blockers, Houston's being freed to make plays like few inside guys can. I love the kid.

The offensive Defensive LVP was: None. No disrespecting anyone on this unit today, as they were nasty and focused from the start, not the least bit rattled by the offense's pedestrian start. I'd love to see this unit with Christian Scott in there -- Gideon is still solid, but limited -- but even there, given this team's week-to-week talent advantages and manageable schedule, there's a lot to appreciate in #21. What's really fun about this group is that they're so much further along than they were at this time last year, and yet they still might have as much room to grow as did last year's group. Randall is a great player who's just learning how to react, instead of think, out there -- getting better every down. Acho and Kindle are already great, and have guys behind them who will be soon. My man crush on Keenan Robinson swells by the minute. Curtis Brown is putting his athletic quickness to better and better use, Thomas and Williams are All-Conference guys, Gideon is as steady as you can hope for, and Chykie just needs more every-down focus to be as good as anyone out there.

(A nod here to our special teams, which were comically bad. I could literally do nothing but laugh when Gold's punt was blocked for a touchdown. A week after I beamed that we might have the "best special teams in the country," we got this circus. An anomaly, I'm sure, but still hysterically awful.)

On the Milk Carton: Malcolm Williams. I have lots and lots of nice things to say about John Chiles and James Kirkendoll, but what do we make of Malcolm Williams' lack of meaningful production so far? Is it an opportunity thing? A Malcolm thing? A small sample thing? A Greg Davis thing? I'd like to say that part of it is a schematic thing, but you know what, I watched Colt McCoy gobble up single coverage with Limas Sweed in 2006 (12 TDs) and have to believe that's doable at some level still. I'm open to your answers, if you have any. For now, I wait and wonder.

Garrett Gilbert watch: 2-3 for 16 yards. Not much of a factor today, thanks to the sluggish start keeping Colt in the game through most of the 4th quarter. Still, it doesn't take much to see from Gilbert that he may be literally the prototype quarterback for the offense Greg Davis has developed with Colt McCoy and wants to run moving forward. His arm is plenty strong, his accuracy is otherworldly, and his football instincts are natural and well-developed. If he stays healthy, he's going to win and win big.

Texas Tech Fear Factor: 4 out of 10. (5) is the baseline. +1 for Taylor Potts threw for 467 yards and 7 TDs today; -1 for Taylor Potts will be starting his third career game in Austin; -1 for Taylor Potts will be a Texas Tech quarterback in Austin; +1 for Texas' offense being vulnerable in a shootout; -2 for Will Muschamp not letting Texas get in a shootout; +1 for Greg Davis and his offensive line; +1 for Colt McCoy trying to do too much; -1 for Texas vastly superior depth on both sides of the football.

Heading into next week I feel: Demanding. Two games down, two comfortable wins, and two performances with lots to like and a few lingering questions that need resolving for this team to achieve its goals. I'll be the first to hush someone who tries to tell me I should panic, but neither will I deny that the current level of play leaves the team vulnerable to upset.

And that's the thing, really: I'm still extremely excited about this team and its potential, but the difference between the 2009 Longhorns being excellent and Pasadena-bound may well turn on how large or small are this team's margins for error. Last year, the margins for error were very slim; we pretty much had to have Colt McCoy play perfect football or we could be beat. He was nearly perfect, and so was the team. To elevate above and beyond that this year means increasing those margins for error. I'd argue we've seen that so far on the defensive side of the ball, but not yet on offense.

Texas Tech is one such team that can beat the Longhorns on a bad day. We saw it last year and, while it seems less likely to occur in Austin, could happen this year. I'll be watching closely this week to see what Texas brings to the field against Mike Leach, looking for lessons learned from last year and from the first two weeks of the season, in which Texas has been very good, but not yet truly great.

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?.

Browse more photos »

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.

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.