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How McCoy lost the Heisman (and not because of an interception)

Posted by NorthDallasSooner on December 14th, 2009 under Football

I’ve been debating myself on what to write about the Heisman outcome. I thought McCoy was going to win, but mostly as a “lifetime achievement award” type of thing. I wouldn’t have had any problem with it if he had won, just as I don’t have any problem with it that he didn’t.

I did wonder if Gerhart might slip in, given his performance against a shitty ND team, but knowing that more people still watch shitty ND than anyone else.

I suppose the conventional wisdom is that McCoy didn’t win because of either the three interceptions against Nebraska, or the combination of five interceptions between Oklahoma and Nebraska, the only two good defenses he saw all year. That’s a safe assumption. It’s the kind that guys like Robert Smith (you know, guys that don’t really watch college football) take easy comfort in and propose as genius thinking. As I’ve thought about it, I don’t think this is the case.

Many of the guys at Barking Carnival cite an anti-Texas bias. I doubt it. The media adore Mack Brown.

It occurs to me that McCoy lost, and I do mean lost, the Heisman on the last offensive play of the Nebraska game. You’ve seen it a thousand times. Seven seconds….Rolls right….No one open….Lofts (really lofts) it out of bounds…The clock runs out….It’s reviewed…The review gets it right…Lawrence kicks game winner….

Then something remarkable comes to the fore. McCoy admits that he didn’t know the rules regarding when the clock stops on a throw out of bounds. He says he thought it stops when the ball crosses the sideline. Huh? Who thinks THAT?

So, at the end of it all, a star QB, with the game in his hands, makes an incredibly risky at best, irresponsible at worst, decision in the waning seconds when he doesn’t know the rules. Another 2/10s of a second in the air and the game is over. He got lucky.

And it may very well have cost him the Heisman Trophy.

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14 Responses

  1. dick said:

    December 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm

    yes, that play was so bad that it was probably the biggest fuckup of the year even though it turned out to not affect the game. but I would say that Suh’s domination in a “one on one” battle against McCoy killed Colt’s chances more than anything. Tons of people, and rightfully so, probably couldn’t bring themselves to put McCoy above or that much higher than Suh.

  2. HenryJames said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 6:58 am

    I think it was beauty that killed the beast.

  3. Horn Fan said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 7:59 am

    If Colt had become our Chris Webber, I don’t think I could have kept on living..

  4. Gene Claude said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 8:49 am

    As a relatively independent observer, I have to say that play, and his bizarre short-bus commentary afterward, seriously diminished my respect for McCoy as a leader of men and, possibly, as a sentient member of Homo sapiens. Just bizarre.

    The whole series of plays was strange, and that was the maraschino cherry of imbecility on the sundae of idiocy. And having intently watched Gary Pinkel-led teams for years, I feel uniquely qualified to make that statement. I half expected a fake field goal attempt.

  5. Soonervino said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 8:50 am

    The 60 minute verbal adoration of Suh by the broadcasting crew had to help him/hurt Colt for the first 59:59. I agree that he absolutely lost it at :01.

    I recently had a distributor GM tell me “I fully expect to lose your line”. And he did. But all I could think was, even if you do expect to lose it, you don’t tell the supplier that!.

    Same with Colt. Even if he didn’t know the rule (I didn’t but I’m not a D1QB), you don’t admit to it.

  6. ghostofagroundgame said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 9:14 am

    I still think that if either James Kirkendoll doesn’t drop what should have been a long TD, or Buckner managed to hold on to the ball rather than allowing it to be wrestled away and Colt proceeded to lead the team down the field for a game-sealing TD then McCoy wins the Heisman rather easily. Of course if either of those things happens then there is almost no way we ever even get to the ball being thrown out of bounds.

  7. Travis said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 9:17 am

    To change everybody’s mind and to show that his career can’t be tarnished by one dumb play, all he has to do is win 1 game…. Thats it… win one more and he will never pay for a meal in austin for the rest of his life.

  8. HenryJames said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 9:58 am

    The nearest Cracker Barrel is in Round Rock.

  9. Gene Claude said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 10:34 am

    It isn’t just that Colt didn’t know the rule, I actually find that moderately excusable, it was this:

    “When we got the play call with 15 seconds left,” McCoy said. “I wasn’t worried about the clock. I figured we had a second or two left. When I saw them rush the field, I thought there was no way.

    “It was close but at the same time, I was trying to get Hunter back in the middle of the field.”

    Really? You had 15 seconds? You weren’t worried about the clock? You figured a second or two left was just fine?

  10. phi gam90 said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 10:34 am

    I still don’t think Colt is the best player on his own team. That honor belongs to Jordan Shipley. Colt had a really bad game against Nebraska and if Nebraska had any kind of offense it would have cost Texas a chance at the National Championship. Colt lost it on that game and Ingram won it with his game earlier. It made everyone forget his no show against Auburn the week before.

  11. Travis said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    Yea there is no question if colt had just a decent game against nebraska, it would have been his… but he completely screwed up, those 2 picks in the first 6 minutes killed him.

    I am fine with him not winning it, but the fact that ingram won over gearhart , with the stanford kid winning the doak walker and leading the nation in TD’S and than ingram is just a joke.

    Has there ever been a guy that couldn’t even win the best running back in the country but still found away to get the heisman?

  12. Gene Claude said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    How is leading the nation in TDs that impressive of a stat for RBs? Isn’t that a function of opportunity more than talent? Hell, didn’t Jorvorskie Lane have a zillion rushing TDs one year?

    I don’t think it is evident at all that Gerhart was a better RB this year than Ingram.

  13. phi gam90 said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 5:52 pm

    Gerhart lead the Nation in rushing as well as TD’s. He didn’t win it because other than the ND game, nobody saw this kid play. Hell, they kick-off at 10:00 at night every week. 1,700 yards in a college season is pretty impressive!

  14. ponderos said:

    December 15th, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    Maybe he didn’t win it because he just wasn’t as good this year?

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