The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Colt McCoy named starting quarterback
08.28.2006 | Football
AUSTIN, Texas -- Redshirt freshman Colt McCoy (Tuscola, Texas/Jim Ned HS) has been named the Longhorns starting quarterback, head coach Mack Brown announced on Monday. McCoy will become the fourth freshman quarterback to start a game since Mack Brown arrived at Texas in 1998. He'll be the first Longhorn freshman quarterback to start the season opener since redshirt freshman Shea Morenz in 1993.
The previous three freshmen that started a game during the Mack Brown era, redshirt freshman Major Applewhite (1998), true freshman Chris Simms (1999) and redshirt freshman Vince Young (2003), combined to post a starting record of 14-4 in their first seasons. Applewhite and Young both rank among the top five on several UT freshman statistical lists and earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors.
"Greg Davis is the best there is at developing quarterbacks, and we've had a great deal of success when we've had to play freshmen here," Brown said. "He has Colt really prepared as we head into the season, and I think he'll put him in a position for our offense to continue the success we've had the last several years."
"I'm really excited about where we are at the quarterback position. All four of our quarterbacks -- Colt, Jevan (Snead), Matt (McCoy) and Sherrod (Harris) -- have worked really hard and are doing a great job for us. Colt and Jevan competed hard for the starting job, performed well and really helped each other out in the spring and throughout camp. I think we're at as good of a spot as we could expect at the position. All they need now is to get some game experience."
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound McCoy was 34-2 as a prep starter and a two-time Texas 2A Associated Press Offensive MVP. His 9,344 passing yards are tops in Texas 2A history and fourth overall in Lone Star State high school annals. McCoy led Jim Ned to the state 2A finals as a junior. He completed 536-of-849 passes (63.1%) for 9,344 yards and 116 TDs in his career and also rushed 206 times for 1,575 yards and 21 TDs. McCoy, who spent the 2005 season redshirting and learning from Davis and Davey O'Brien Award winner (nation's top QB) Vince Young, registered 10,919 yards of total offense as a prepster. He also has earned a spot on UT's Athletics Director's Honor Roll (3.0 GPA) in each of his two semesters on campus.
"Colt gained a great deal of experience during his redshirt year and has worked really hard to build on that during the spring and summer," Brown said. "He had a terrific camp and was at his best during our scrimmages. We're really excited about his progress and looking forward to seeing him in game action this week against North Texas."
Texas' freshman quarterback will benefit from the return of seven starters and several other key contributors from a record-setting offense that led the nation in scoring (50.2 ppg) and pass efficiency (160.94), ranked second in rushing (274.9 ypg) and finished third in total offense (512.1 ypg) in 2005. The Longhorns set an NCAA record for points (652) in a season and became only the fifth team in NCAA history to register more than 50 points and 500 yards per game en route to the National Championship.
"Our offense has a chance to once again be one of the best in the country," Brown said. "There has been a lot of talk about the quarterback, but we know what the rest of those guys gave us all of last year. We have some places where we'll need to step up, but we're excited about our experience we return, particularly on the offensive line, at receiver and in the running game."
McCoy will be backed up by 6-foot-3, 215-pound true freshman Jevan Snead (Stephenville, Texas/Stephenville HS), who graduated high school early and enrolled at UT last spring. A Parade All-American who was 23-2 as a prep starter, Snead threw for 7,955 yards and 100 TDs in his final two high school seasons. He completed 230-of-370 passes for 3,546 yards and 38 TDs in leading Stephenville to the state 4A semifinals as a senior. Snead also ran for 766 yards and 23 TDs that year. A two-time All-State selection, He completed 411-of-674 passes (61.0%) and added 1,384 yards and 33 TDs rushing during his final two prep seasons. Snead tallied 9,339 yards of total offense as a prepster.
"The progress Jevan has made being less than a year separated from his senior year in high school has been pretty unbelievable," Brown added. "He picked up on things quickly in the spring, came into camp in great shape and showed some great progress. We're really excited about what he can bring to our team. We'll continue to develop a plan get him some playing time."
McCoy will become UT's sixth freshman QB to start since Morenz in 1993. He follows Young (2003), Simms (1999), Applewhite (1998), redshirt freshman James Brown (1994) and Morenz (1993) as freshman quarterbacks who have started at UT in the last 14 years. Three other freshmen have started at Texas since freshmen became eligible to play in 1972. They are redshirt freshman Peter Gardere (1989), redshirt freshman Mark Murdock (1988) and true freshman Mark McBath (1976).
Texas opens the season on Saturday, Sept. 2, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium against North Texas (11 a.m./Central/FSN). The Longhorns are riding a 20-game winning streak (best in nation/second-best in school history) and a 15-game home winning streak (second-best in nation/fourth-best in school history).
