Media Credit: Peter Franklin Sophomore quarterback Colt McCoy scrambles while looking for an open receiver in the Longhorns' 41-21 loss to Kansas State last week. McCoy had four interceptions in the game.

Colt McCoy wanted to get what he could from the play.

With four receivers running down field, McCoy decided to hit running back Chris Ogbonnaya on a flat route. Ogbonnaya was forced out of bounds for a 1-yard gain.

McCoy would take it back if he could, considering it was fourth-and-eight from Kansas State's 46-yard line. Instead, Texas turned the ball over on downs and that was the last anyone saw of McCoy for the rest of Kansas State's 41-21 upset over the Longhorns on Saturday.

The Texas quarterback looked reliable at the onset of the game. McCoy completed six-of-six passes and drove the Longhorns 68 yards on their first series of the game.

But for the remainder of the Big 12 Conference opener, McCoy was out of rhythm and out of sync with his receiving core.

"I felt like I had a hesitant quarterback, and you have to have that guy free-flowing out there," said offensive coordinator Greg Davis. "We made some mistakes on Saturday that we haven't made in a long time. I've got to find the right mixture, or whatever term you want to use, to get him back."

For now, we'll use the term simplification.

What Texas coaches want to do is give McCoy fewer reads to make at the line of scrimmage. Use more designed plays with fewer options so there is less room for confusion. It's not a knock on McCoy's ability, but it's something to calm McCoy's hesitation.

He doesn't really know what to call it though.

"I just think they were putting a lot of pressure, and as the game went on I just tried to hard to make plays," McCoy said. "Overall, the whole team game and whole team part of it wasn't working for us, so we'll all just need to go back to work."

There's no one that can question McCoy's willingness to learn an offensive system. You can't say it's because he's not studying defenses, because McCoy lives in the film room during the week leading up to each game.

"He's an extremely bright kid, and his idol is Peyton Manning, so you can imagine how much he studies," Davis said.

Continued...

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