Texas and Big 12 Football Capsules: McCoy, Suh are AP Big 12 players of the year
AUSTIN — In a year the rest of the Big 12’s high-powered offenses stalled, Colt McCoy kept Texas moving.
The senior quarterback kept the No. 3 Longhorns on track for possible Big 12 and national championships, notched new records on his career resume and again is among the top contenders for the Heisman Trophy.
And with his team preparing to meet No. 21 Nebraska in the Big 12 championship, McCoy on Wednesday was named The Associated Press Big 12 offensive player of the year for the second year in a row. Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is the defensive player of the year.
The awards were selected by a panel of 20 newspaper reporters who regularly cover the Big 12 in the league’s seven states. McCoy joins Texas running back Ricky Williams (1997-98) and Oklahoma quarterback Jason White (2003-04) as two-time winners of offensive player award.
"The league is so strong and has so many great players that it’s pretty humbling to be named the player of the year," McCoy said. "That said, its definitely a team award and is a tribute to all of my teammates and coaches here. I couldn’t do it by myself."
After a 2008 season in which Big 12 quarterbacks seemed to set records every week and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy, McCoy found himself all alone in the spotlight in 2009.
Bradford hurt his throwing shoulder in the first game and was eventually knocked out for the season in Texas’ 16-13 win over the Sooners on Oct. 17.
McCoy overcame some early struggles of his own: he was sick, his passing numbers were down, interceptions were up and Longhorns fans and media were asking him "What’s wrong?" every week.
A bad throw and tackle against Oklahoma seemed to change everything. McCoy threw a fourth-quarter interception that could have been returned for a touchdown until McCoy made what might have been a season-saving tackle.
Even McCoy says it might be the best play he made all season.
Since that game, McCoy has looked like the 2008 version, passing for 1,791 yards and 16 touchdowns over the last six games. For the season, McCoy has passed for 3,328 yards and 27 TDs.
One week after he set the NCAA record for career wins by a starting quarterback, McCoy passed for 304 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 165 yards and a score in a 49-39 win over Texas A&M. That performance thrust McCoy back into the front of the chase for the Heisman. He was runner-up last season.
One thing missing from McCoy’s resume is a Big 12 championship and he’ll have to tangle with Suh to win one Saturday night.
Suh, 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, has been a dominant force in a Nebraska defense that has re-emerged as one of the best in the Big 12.
Suh has 15 tackles for losses with 6.5 sacks. He also has an interception and three blocked kicks. He and fellow defensive lineman Jared Crick lead the Huskers with 65 tackles apiece, and Suh could become the first lineman to lead Nebraska in total tackles in consecutive seasons.
Suh is a finalist for the Lombardi Award, the Outland, Lott and Bednarik trophies and the Nagurski award.
"As good a player as there is in college football," Texas coach Mack Brown said.
Kansas State running back Daniel Thomas is the offensive newcomer of the year after leading the Big 12 in rushing with 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns. Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith was voted the top defensive newcomer after tying a school record with 11 sacks.
Patterson agrees to new contract through 2016
FORT WORTH — Gary Patterson has always felt he has a better chance of competing for a national championship at TCU than at some other places with automatic BCS access.
With his No. 4 Horned Frogs set to play in a Bowl Championship Series game — and perhaps a national title, depending on this weekend’s games — it might be hard to argue with him. And with his name being mentioned for the Notre Dame job, Patterson agreed Wednesday to a new contract intended to keep him at TCU through 2016.
"Like all of us, you always like to prove people wrong. A lot of people thought that TCU, because of where we started 12 years ago, we couldn’t do this," Patterson said. "We’ve achieved something that all those other people talk about because they’re part of a conference and yes, they have the access right now, a little bit quicker than we do. ... We’ve now jumped over a hurdle being able to get to a BCS game."
Patterson has led TCU to five 11-win seasons the past seven years. TCU just completed its first undefeated regular season since 1938, when it won its only AP national championship.
"Like I’ve said many times, I don’t think people understand what kind of place TCU and Fort Worth is," Patterson said. "This was my first head coaching job, but it also, now going into 12 years, it’s my home."
TCU (12-0, 8-0 Mountain West) will find out Sunday which of the big-money BCS games it will play in. The Frogs are fourth in the BCS standings, the highest ever this late in the season for a team from a conference without an automatic bid.
"We don’t feel like our work is done," Patterson said. "We feel like we have a mountain to climb, a championship to win."
There is still a chance the Frogs could be the first BCS buster to play for the national championship if No. 3 Texas loses to Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game Saturday night and they stay ahead of Cincinnati in the final BCS standings. The other spot will be filled by No. 1 Florida or No. 2 Alabama, who face off in the SEC championship game.
Patterson has an 85-27 record in his ninth season at TCU. His contract had been through 2014, and the revised deal includes pay raises he and his assistant coaches. The private university doesn’t release financial details.
Patterson, 49, came to TCU as a defensive coordinator with coach Dennis Franchione after the 1997 season, when the Frogs were coming off a 1-10 season. He was promoted when Franchione left three years later for Alabama, though the school did a national search before making that move.
"We had a vision, as you can see on that pyramid," Patterson said, referring to the pyramid of goals in the team’s meeting room. "That pyramid has not changed since we started, of reaching a BCS bowl, going to a national championship and doing a lot of things. And a lot of people laughed and a lot of people shook their heads and they were just saying, well, that’s nice."
TCU wrapped up the regular season and outright Mountain West title with a 51-10 victory over New Mexico on Saturday. It was the Frogs’ seventh consecutive victory by at least 27 points, a stretch that included BYU and Utah, last year’s BCS buster.
The Frogs have a 14-game winning streak, matching the seven decade-old school record set in 1938 when Heisman Trophy winner Davey O’Brien was their quarterback.
Chris Del Conte, who took over as TCU’s athletic director only six weeks ago, said he had not been contacted by Notre Dame or any other schools about talking to Patterson.
"We weren’t going to wait until the fight came to us," Del Conte said. "I wanted to make sure they knew we wanted to keep them. That’s why we acted swiftly and quickly."
Patterson was named this week as the Mountain West coach of the year, and TCU swept all the individual awards as well. Quarterback Andy Dalton was named the league’s offensive player of the year, standout end Jerry Hughes got the defensive award and returner Jeremy Kerley was recognized for special teams.
It is the second year in a row that Patterson has gotten his contract extended. It was pushed to 2014 after last season, weeks after strong speculation that Kansas State was interested in hiring Patterson to lead his alma mater.
"As a famous coach once told me, just understand the grass is always green, but there’s no great job. Every place has its problems," Patterson said. "I’m just really excited about getting an opportunity to know where I’m at, and what we’ve been able to do. Obviously, our system works here."
-- Stephen Hawkins
Dodge returns for fourth season as N. Texas football coach
DENTON — The University of North Texas is bringing Todd Dodge back for a fourth season as its head football coach, despite a 2-10 season in 2009.
It may be Dodge’s last chance for a breakthrough, despite the former championship high school coach being under contract through 2011. Dodge is 5-31 heading the Mean Green.
In a statement issued Wednesday, North Texas athletic director Rick Villarreal said he has met with Dodge and discussed "in great detail the current status of the football program" and the expectations for it.
Villarreal went on to say he believes "that in the fourth year of the program, success on the field is imperative."
In the statement, Dodge said that while he’s "disappointed in the final record of this year’s team," he sees "signs of improvement" in a young team that returns 19 starters next season.
North Texas broke ground last month for a new 30,000-seat stadium that is expected to be completed by the 2011 season. The Mean Geen now play in 57-year-old Fouts Field.
Before going to North Texas, Dodge was wildly successful at nearby Southlake Carroll High. He was 79-1 and won four state championships his last five years at Carroll after the school moved up to Texas’ highest classification. The lone loss was by one point in a Class 5A title game.
But it’s been a tough three years for Dodge since making the rare jump from high school to the highest division in college football. Gerry Faust was the last coach before Dodge to make that move, when he coached at Notre Dame from 1981-85.
McCoy, Keenum among Camp award finalists
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Colt McCoy has a chance to repeat as the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s player of the year.
The Texas quarterback was among five finalists announced Wednesday. The others are quarterbacks Tim Tebow of Florida and Case Keenum of Houston, running back Mark Ingram of Alabama and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska.
The award is voted on by coaches and sports information directors. The winner will be announced Dec.10.
McCoy has thrown for 3,328 yards and 27 touchdowns; Tebow has 17 TDs passing and 13 running; Keenum has 4,992 yards and 38 TDs; Ingram has run for 1,429 yards 12 TDs; and Suh has 70 tackles, 7½ sacks and three blocked kicks.
Big 12
Nebraska’s Suh finalist for Walter Camp Award
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska nose tackle Ndamukong Suh is one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year Award.
The foundation announced Wednesday that Suh is joined on the finalists’ list by 2008 winner Colt McCoy of Texas, Florida’s Tim Tebow, Houston’s Case Keenum and Alabama’s Mark Ingram.
Suh is the only defensive player among the finalists.
The award is voted on by the Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors and will be presented Dec. 10.
Suh is a finalist for several other major awards, including the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award.
Neb. DE Allen sits out to rest sore toe
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska defensive coordinator Carl Pelini says he gave Pierre Allen a day off from practice to rest a sore toe.
The bum toe has nagged at the defensive end for a while, and Pelini said Wednesday that Allen probably won’t fully heal until the off-season. Allen will be ready to play in Saturday night’s Big 12 championship game against third-ranked and unbeaten Texas.
The Cornhuskers practiced for two hours in helmets and shoulder pads in the Hawks Championship Center. Pelini says the Huskers are upbeat and working hard as they close in on the game.
