Ask Florida Atlantic now if it thinks the Texas Longhorns can take a few hits.
On the night Texas retired Vince Young’s No. 10 jersey, Colt McCoy passed for three touchdowns and ran for one as the No. 11 Longhorns rolled to a 52-10 win over Florida Atlantic that got testy when the Owls popped McCoy for three late hits.
“I did get hit out of bounds a couple of times,” McCoy said. “I compete really hard, so when I get hit out of bounds I don’t really know what’s going on - I just want to get back on the field.”
McCoy never wavered as Texas seized a 28-10 halftime lead. His third TD pass made it 42-10 and he left early in the fourth quarter with 222 yards on 24-of-29 passing. He also imitated Young with 103 yards on 12 carries.
McCoy, who stays in touch with Young and hugged him during a pregame ceremony, joined Young as the only UT quarterbacks to pass for more than 200 yards and run for more than 100 in a game multiple times. McCoy has done it twice. Young did it five times.
“Colt played as good of a game as I’ve seen tonight,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.
Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger had rankled Texas with comments suggesting the Longhorns weren’t tough and could be intimidated if hit hard enough.
When the Longhorns walked into the stadium about two hours before kickoff, senior defensive tackle and Killeen Shoemaker product Roy Miller pulled off his shirt on the field and appeared to be yelling at his teammates to get them fired up as several Owls stood nearby.
“There’s a lesson to be learned anytime you talk before a game. You learn to keep your mouth shut,” Miller said. “This team has a new mentality.”
Schnellenberger didn’t have to be asked about it.
“I know one thing - they’re a lot tougher than we are,” he said. “I don’t know if my remarks helped their team. If they did, then I apologize to my team.”
Texas had no trouble pushing around the Owls’ defense. Schnellenberger had said he wanted to get “three hats” on Texas ball carriers, but Florida Atlantic seldom appeared to have three players even close in the first half.
McCoy moved the Longhorns with ease, completing his first 13 passes, tossing TDs of 2 and 9 yards to Chris Ogbannaya and Jordan Shipley, respectively, in the first quarter. Twice he was hit hard late on the drive that ended with Shipley’s TD, and his 2-yard TD run in the second quarter made it 28-3.
The Texas defense still has plenty to work out but got better as the game wore on.
The secondary that ranked No. 109 against the pass last season started two freshmen at safety and the inexperience showed as Rusty Smith passed for 226 yards in the first half. FAU’s first two drives got inside the Texas 20-yard line before both ended in turnovers, with a fumbled snap and an interception.
Freshman Earl Thomas was burned for several big plays and a touchdown but also caused the interception with a tipped pass and blocked a punt in the third quarter to set up another touchdown.
Smith, last season’s Sun Belt Conference player of the year, passed for 253 yards and a TD to Rob Housler but was pulled in the third quarter. The Owls gained 53 yards of total offense in the second half.
Texas has scored at least 50 points in a season opener five of the last six years. The Horns rolled up 503 total yards.
“We played a near perfect opener,” Brown said.
