Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs Know McCoy's The Real Deal
October 10, 2009 | Football, B.G. Brooks
On the Longhorns' first possession, facing third-and-six at their 35-yard line, McCoy was flushed from the pocket and appeared trapped as he neared the line of scrimmage.
Just before crossing it, he pulled up and hit running back Chris Ogbonnaya, who turned the 65-yard pass/run play into Texas' first touchdown and the foundation for his 187 all-purpose yards in the Longhorns' relatively easy field trip at Folsom Field.
Although the play occurred early in the Longhorns' 38-14 win, it was pivotal in reaffirming to the Buffs McCoy's ability to break down a defense.
Arguably the best of the best in a Big 12 Conference brimming with good quarterbacks, McCoy has CU's full attention.
"He's a great quarterback, a great competitor," linebacker Jeff Smart said. "He makes a lot of plays passing, makes a lot with his feet, too. He'll be tough to contain."
But that's CU's defensive goal for Saturday's Big 12 opener at No. 2 Texas (5:15 p.m. MDT, ESPN). The unbeaten Longhorns (4-0, 1-0) opened as a 32-point favorite over the Buffs (1-3, 0-0).
Last season against CU, McCoy ran 11 times for 39 yards and completed 23 of 30 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns. On the bright side, the Buffs intercepted him twice; McCoy had thrown just one pick in 100 attempts entering the game.
Duplicating or exceeding that interception total Saturday would be of obvious benefit to the Buffs. Defending McCoy, said CU secondary coach Greg Brown, hinges on trying to keep the Texas QB guessing.
"You have to try a few different things; you don't want to stick with one technique or scheme - he's too good for that," Brown said. "He reads the field too well, he reads what's coming at him too well and understands what to do with the ball.
"So, yeah, we definitely have to change things up to try to get him somewhat slowed down."
Good luck. McCoy is averaging 286.2 yards passing per game (fourth in the Big 12) and 301.5 yards in total offense (fifth). He's accounted for 10 touchdowns (nine passing, one rushing) in an offense that leads the nation in scoring (49.5 points a game) and is second in total yardage (545.2 a game).
"They've got a lot of answers to whatever problems you're going to present them," Brown said. "When the pocket breaks down and (McCoy) starts moving, look out.
"He's one of those guys who can think on his feet and throw on the move. Bad things can happen to a defense. It's hard to find somebody who can put more pressure on you defensively."
The Buffs have reviewed last season's loss to Texas and McCoy's play in particular. In conclusion, CU linebacker/tri-captain Marcus Burton said Saturday's goal is containment: "A guy like that you're not going to stop. He's going to get things even when you contain him, and they're going to get their breaks and make their big plays.
"But the goal is to limit them, reduce the amount of what they would normally be. He'll have some breaks, but the goal is to minimize them.
"We've talked about the game last year and how we felt afterwards . . . we think we kind of shot ourselves in the foot. And again, it goes back to the whole assignment/alignment deal.
"He's coming up (to the line of scrimmage) and people are frantic, saying, 'Oh, he's going to break,' and he throws a short little out to a running back who goes 60-something yards for a score.
"So, we just have to learn how to correct those mistakes and do our assignments."
ANOTHER TAKE: CU cornerback Jimmy Smith concedes McCoy can make plays, but he was reluctant to peg McCoy's early pass to Ogbonnaya as a potential game-turner.
Instead, Smith pointed to missed first-half scoring opportunities by the Buffs, who trailed 21-0 at intermission.
"That was a good play on his part, but the missed field goal changed the game for us, I think," Smith said. "(Make them) and it would have been a different ball game."
CU placekicker Aric Goodman missed three first-half field goals. He's coming off a one-for-four performance at West Virginia and is four-of-eight for the season.
SPIRITS STILL UP: Smith, Burton and Smart contend CU's disappointing start has not resulted in sagging spirits among them or their teammates.
Smith said the Buffs remain upbeat: "Yeah . . . we feel like that going into every game. Everybody has their head on straight and is ready to go."
Added Burton: "There's tons of things involved in college football that people don't realize - people, friends, family, all the elements that go into college football.
"It's surprising to me that as young as we are, (losing) is not really affecting guys mentally. It's not getting to the point where guys are feeling overwhelmed or looking wide-eyed. It's amazing to me.
"I feel good about it. We've got a good scheme in (for Texas). I think we've looked good in practice and made a lot of improvements. I think we'll be good."
Mentally, said Smart, the Buffs "are good . . . we've been improving each week and we're going to continue to do that. Hopefully we'll come out this week and get better.
"We've got a lot of good character guys that have seen some adversity before. Those that haven't will learn from those that have. We're a resilient group; we know we're doing the right things and know that our coaches are doing the right things and eventually things are going to come together."
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM: "Explosion plays" have been the Buffs' downfall in their three losses. They've yielded 34 plays of 20 yards or longer, including 11 of 40-plus yards, and are last in the conference in scoring defense (28.0 points a game) and are yielding a conference-worst 6.3 yards per play.
Smart, CU's leading tackler (39, including 26 solo), pinpointed "a combination of things" as the cause for the big plays allowed - specifically, missed tackles and defenders being out of position.
"If we miss tackles like we did against West Virginia, it'll be the same this week," he said.
CU also would like to slow Texas on its opening possession. The three teams to beat the Buffs have driven 80, 91 and 77 for touchdowns on game-opening drives.
In their four most recent meetings, the Longhorns have outscored the Buffs 181-41 in winning all four.
NO PEEKING: Texas coach Mack Brown says he isn't concerned about his team possibly looking ahead to its Oct. 17 rivalry game with Oklahoma in Dallas.
"I don't worry about it . . . this is an older team and every year we deal with this," Brown said. "It comes up because Oklahoma is like a bowl game in midseason. Our team is excited (to play CU) . . . the game's on ESPN, we expect 101,000 plus in the stadium and they had last weekend off.
"They're pumped to play. We expect a great game."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
