Texas QB McCoy stays healthy, so are Heisman hopes as senior stays off out of training room

Texas QB McCoy stays healthy, so are Heisman hopes

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas quarterback Colt McCoy has a key factor going for him in the chase for the Heisman Trophy: He’s injury-free through four games.

One month into the season and the early list of Heisman contenders reads like an emergency room admissions log.

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, last season’s Heisman winner, hasn’t played since injuring his shoulder in the first game. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the 2007 trophy winner, spent Saturday night in a hospital after a third-quarter concussion in the top-ranked Gators’ win over Kentucky.

Other contenders such as California tailback Jahvid Best have been knocked down by a poor game. He had just 55 yards in a 42-3 loss to Oregon.

The worst thing to hit McCoy so far has been the flu.

Even when he struggled with that two weeks ago, a halftime snack of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and grape Pedialyte, a children’s hydration drink, helped him recover well enough to throw the game-clinching touchdown pass in a nationally-televised win over Texas Tech.

McCoy was at full strength in Saturday’s 64-7 win over Texas-El Paso, passing for 286 yards and three first-half TDs for the No. 2 Longhorns (4-0). McCoy threw his fifth interception, which was returned for a touchdown, but now has 1,145 yards passing with nine TDs.

He could have even bigger numbers, but left the game after the first drive of the third quarter and Texas leading 50-7.

Coach Mack Brown was asked to assess McCoy’s Heisman standing at this stage of the season while others are falling down or getting hurt.

“I don’t watch the Heisman standings. That changes more than my waist size,” Brown said. “What happens now is very unimportant. It’s the body of work at the end.”

McCoy has been hurt earlier in his career. As a freshman, McCoy was knocked out of two games with a pinched nerve in his neck. As a sophomore, he was taken out of a game late with symptoms of a mild concussion, but returned to play the next week.

McCoy took out an insurance policy this season in case an injury should affect his NFL draft status next spring.

So far this season, McCoy has avoided the big hits that have popped Bradford and Tebow. He’s running less than 2008 when he was the Longhorns’ leading rusher, and he’s been sacked only three times behind an offensive line has provided adequate protection.

How Tebow’s injury will effect the Heisman chase is yet to be seen. Released from the hospital on Sunday, he’ll be evaluated in the coming days to see if he can return for the Gators’ next game Oct. 10 against LSU.

While Tebow mends, McCoy also has a week off. The Longhorns’ next game is Oct. 10 against Colorado before a tough stretch of games against No. 8 Oklahoma, Missouri and No. 14 Oklahoma State, all away from home.

“I think an off week is always good if you take advantage of it,” McCoy said. “If we use this momentum and use this off week in the right way, it will definitely be a big help for us.”

McCoy was so good last season, when he set an NCAA record with a 77 percent completion that, that his 71 percent this year have led to some “What’s wrong?” questions.

Brown said Saturday that McCoy had confided with him that he feels like he’s carrying the “weight of the world” on his shoulders.

“I said ‘You do. That’s part of the deal here.’” Brown said. “When you set a very high standard like he has, the expectations are just as high. Today, he went beyond those expectations again.”