<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Freshman McCoy leads defending champ Texas into opener</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER width="1" type="block" height="1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By JIM VERTUNO, AP Sports Writer
September 1, 2006
AUSTIN (AP) -- His voice has cracked in the huddle. He hasn't taken a snap in a college game, and he's following in the footsteps of one of the greatest players to wear a Texas uniform. Now redshirt freshman Colt McCoy must prove he can lead the defending national champion Longhorns into a new season.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>And yet that name, and the way it conjures images of a West Texas gunslinging cowboy, suggests the kid was born to do it.
"What a great name for a Texas quarterback," coach Mack Brown said. "I mean, really."
It took more than his name for McCoy to earn the starting nod when No. 3 Texas opens the season Saturday against North Texas.
It took Vince Young leaving school early for the NFL. It took holding off freshman Jevan Snead to win the job in training camp.
And it took earning the respect of teammates who have learned to follow the fresh-faced kid from the small town of Tuscola, population 714, just south of Abilene.
"These guys are national champions," McCoy said. "It was a little nerve-racking at first. Once you get in there and get into the flow, know where they're going to be and how great they will block for you and know they are going to catch your passes, I feel relaxed."
That was Monday.
On Saturday, he'll trot out in front of 84,000 fans at Royal-Memorial Stadium, see his image on the gigantic new scoreboard screen and try to keep it all together well enough to run the longest winning streak in the nation to 21 games.
"Coach Brown said it's going to be the biggest crowd in Texas history," McCoy said. "It's going to be hard not to get butterflies."
His teammates say he's been cool so far.
Senior offensive lineman Justin Blalock, who chose to stay in school for another season instead of entering the draft, said he waited for McCoy to get flustered or have a meltdown in practice.
"That never came," Blalock said. "That speaks a lot for his makeup."
The country kid was bold enough to try his hand leading the team with a rap in warmups. That part didn't go over so well.
"Watching him try to rap and dance was awful," Blalock said.
Brown said he's been impressed with McCoy since he stepped on campus. For starters, he had the guts to sign with Texas when other quarterbacks wouldn't, fearing they'd get stuck behind Young for too long.
"Any time we'd bring a quarterback recruit in, Vince would not miss a pass," Brown said. "Most unbelievable thing in my life."
Texas didn't sign a quarterback for two years. The year McCoy signed, Texas was also pursuing Ryan Perrilloux, the all-everything QB out of Louisiana who was supposed to fit the Young mold of a big, athletic runner and passer.
Instead, Perrilloux signed with LSU, where he sits third on the depth chart while McCoy, who Brown jokes had toothpick arms until this summer, walks around campus getting pats on the back before his first start.
"Oh, c'mon. I've always had guns," McCoy said, referring to the arms he beefed up during offseason workouts. "I feel like everything has worked out. I prayed about it, worked hard and the chips are really falling into place."
Even though McCoy is his starter, Brown hasn't ruled out playing Snead. He said all preseason he'd like to play both quarterbacks this season.
But this week Brown wouldn't guarantee that Snead will play against North Texas, which returns 17 starters from a squad that struggled to a 2-9 finish last season.
Getting McCoy comfortable in the offense before the Sept. 9 showdown against No. 1 Ohio State is likely the higher priority.
A solid outing should erase any chance of a quarterback controversy erupting. If things get shaky some fans will want to see Snead, who was a high school all-American.
Texas and Brown have a history of juggling QBs. First came the Major Applewhite-Chris Simms dilemma in 2000-2001, and it's easy to forget that Young sat behind Chance Mock through the first half of '03. "I'm not going to be going out there playing looking over my shoulder," McCoy said. "I'm just going to go out there and play."
