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McCoy sparks huge Texas comeback win at Texas Tech

Oct 29, 2006 - 1:59 AM LUBBOCK, Texas (Ticker) -- Colt McCoy and Texas did not panic when faced with an early 21-point deficit.

McCoy threw four touchdowns to lead the fifth-ranked Longhorns to a 35-31 comeback triumph over Texas Tech for their 20th consecutive Big 12 Conference victory.

A redshirt freshman, McCoy completed 21-of-31 passes for 256 yards with an interception for Texas (8-1, 5-0 Big 12 South), which also has won 17 consecutive road games and 13 straight conference road contests.

"I thought (McCoy) played as well as I've ever seen him play," Longhorns coach Mack Brown said.

The Red Raiders (5-4, 2-3 South) stormed to a 21-0 first-quarter lead before McCoy took over in the second quarter, throwing touchdowns to Nate Jones, Jordan Shipley and Limas Sweed to pull the Longhorns within 24-21.

Texas Tech took a 31-21 lead into the break on a 30-yard TD pass from Graham Harrell to Jarrett Hicks, but Texas kept on charging in the second half. Selvin Young's two-yard TD run made it 31-28 midway through the third quarter, and McCoy gave the Longhorns a 35-31 lead on a 28-yard pass to Quan Cosby with 13:24 to play.

Texas came up with a pair of big defensive plays down the stretch. Ryan Palmer stopped Joel Filani a yard shy of a first down on a 4th-and-15 pass play with 6:14 to play, and after Jamaal Charles lost a fumble at the Texas 24, the Longhorns stuffed Harrell for no gain on a 4th-and-inches keeper with 4:24 left.

McCoy then iced the game with a 33-yard scramble to the Texas Tech 16 and Texas ran out the clock.

"Texas is really a good football team," Red Raiders coach Mike Leach said. "They are a team that, when you get into a battle like this, is going to swing away and they are going to do some damage. In our case, you have to withstand it and overcome it. We did some significantly good things on that. We just did not do well enough to win."

Harrell went 42-of-62 for 519 yards, three touchdowns and an interception for the Red Raiders, who have lost the last four meetings. He passed for 364 yards in the first half.

"It was a tough loss to take, we played well, we played hard," Harrell said. "I felt like we could have won this game, (but) we've got to give them a little credit. It's a tough one to take."

Texas Tech opened the scoring on an 18-yard pass from Harrell to Shannon Woods just over four minutes into the contest. Harrell doubled the advantage with a three-yard pass to Eric Morris before Fletcher Session picked off McCoy and ran 19 yards for a score and a stunning 21-0 lead with 1:04 to play in the opening quarter.

"That first half was about as masterful as I've ever seen," Brown said. "When Texas Tech is moving the ball and they're hot, they're as good as anybody in the country on offense."