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Texas overcomes sloppy performance, holds off Arkansas State

Sep 2, 2007 - 4:54 AM AUSTIN, Texas (Ticker) -- After racing to a fast start, Colt McCoy and Texas certainly did not look like a national title contender.

McCoy passed for two first-quarter touchdowns before the fourth-ranked Longhorns were forced to stave off a late rally in Saturday night's 21-13 triumph over Arkansas State.

It was the eighth straight season-opening victory for Texas (1-0), which yielded a touchdown in the final minute before benefitting from a penalty on the ensuing onside-kick attempt.

"I was trying to tell guys to keep their head up and be positive," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "I told them not to let it scare them. Everybody's pretty good if you let them stay in the game."

"We probably weren't as focused as we should have been," McCoy added. "They came here and expected to win and (almost) had the chance."

The reigning Big 12 Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year, McCoy had the heavily favored Longhorns rolling in the first quarter.

The sophomore hooked up with Limas Sweed for a 35-yard TD just 2 1/2 minutes into the contest and found Antwan Cobb for a 16-yard scoring strike with 2:49 remaining in the opening period to make it 14-3.

But the Longhorns stumbled late in the first half, as McCoy was intercepted on each of Texas' last two possessions before the break.

McCoy finished 22-of-33 for 223 yards while Sweed hauled in five receptions for 93 yards. Jamaal Charles rushed for 112 yards and a TD on 27 carries while Nate Jones chipped in 73 yards on nine receptions for Texas, which improved to 95-17-3 all-time in season openers.

"It's not pretty and it's not the best, but we're 1-0 and moving on," McCoy said.

The Longhorns took a 21-3 advantage on Charles' 10-yard TD with three minutes left in the third quarter, but the Indians (0-1) rallied to make a game of it.

After Josh Arauco converted a 28-yard field goal to draw Arkansas State within 21-6, Texas was forced to punt on its next possession.

The Indians clawed within 21-13 on Reggie Arnold's two-yard TD plunge with 55 seconds left and recovered the following on-side kick. But ASU was penalized for having too many players on one side of the kicker - nullifying the recovery - and Texas recovered the next attempt to seal the victory.

Corey Leonard completed 23-of-36 attempts for 257 yards and one interceptions for Arkansas State, which outgained the Longhorns in total offense, 394-345.

"I'd love to play Texas again," said Leonard, who was sacked five times.