Colt runs over the Rice defenders
Now let’s see how each position fared:
Quarterback – Overall Grade: A+
Finally [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] gets that A+. Colt had all of his talents on display. He threw with great accuracy, controlled the game, and ran with speed and power. Colt threw for 329 yards on 19/23 passing and 4 touchdowns, and added 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must see the highlight of Colt’s touchdown where he ran over two defenders before stepping into the end-zone. You don’t often see that from a quarterback. And if all of that wasn’t enough, Colt also became the new career touchdown pass leader with 62, breaking the previous mark of 60 set by Major Applewhite. All in days work for Colt.
Since the game was a blowout, [tag]John Chiles[/tag] got some decent action rushing for an impressive 72 yards on 10 carries, including a 25 yard run in the 4th quarter for a touchdown. Chiles was only called on to throw the ball once, which he completed for 12 yards.
Running Backs – Overall Grade: B+
[tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] seems to have emerged as the goto back for the Texas Longhorns. We all know Johnson has the power to run up the middle, but against Rice he also showed he has some serious speed on the outside. Johnson ended up with 67 yards on 15 carriers and 1 touchdown. [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] also got a few carriers, but turned out to be not all that effective. [tag]Chris Ogbonnaya[/tag] continues to impress catching passes out of the backfield, breaking one for a 46 yard touchdown in the 3rd quarter.
Receivers – Overall Grade: B+
[tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] had the best game of his career, racking up 155 yards on 5 catches and 2 touchdowns. On Shipley’s second touchdown of the second quarter, he was so wide open there wasn’t a defender within 15 yards. [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] was the consistent player he always is, catching 7 passes for 90 yards and a score, the only issue being the fumble near the end-zone which ended up as a touchback for Rice. Those types of mistakes can’t happen during Big 12 play. Losing Irby for the season is big, but hopefully Ullman and/or Smith can step-up continue to be a safety valve for Colt.
Defense – Overall Grade: B
Allowing 301 passing yards is obvious cause for worry with our young secondary. We still have a few games left before we hit the meat of our schedule, so hopefully that will be enough time for [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] to work his magic. Thankfully the Texas front seven is looking strong. They recorded seven sacks and dominated the line of scrimmage. [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag] ran around like a mad-man disrupting many a play, and [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] proved why he is one of the better defensive ends in the nation recording 2 sacks for 29 yards lost and 1 forced fumble. If the young secondary can improve by the beginning of October, Texas will have a very formidable defense.
The highlight of the day for the defense had to be the goal-line stand from the 2 yard line. Texas endured 11 plays and 2 pass interference calls, ending with a interception in the end-zone. Not often you see something like that.
Overall Grade: A-
Colt looks like he is on a mission and has this offense on a roll that cannot be stopped. The defense continues to look a little shaky, but luckily right now the greatness of the offense is outweighing the weakness of the defense. I actually feel pretty good right now about how things are progressing.
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