Texas and Big 12 Football Capsules: McCoy, Tebow begin busy week on awards circuit

NEW YORK — Colt McCoy never thought for a second he had thrown away Texas’ chance to play for a national championship. Though he admits if he had known the rules better, he might have avoided cutting it so close at the end of the Big 12 title game.

Tim Tebow, meanwhile, is still smarting from having Florida’s national championship hopes dashed by Alabama. No, he hasn’t gone back to watch the Crimson Tide’s 32-13 victory against the Gators yet.

The two star quarterbacks were in Manhattan on Tuesday, starting a busy week on the awards circuit as finalists for the Campbell Trophy, which Tebow won as college football’s top scholar-athlete.

Both will head to Orlando, Fla., for Thursday’s college football awards show and be back in New York on Saturday night for the Heisman Trophy presentation.

After that, McCoy and the second-ranked Longhorns have a national championship game to prepare for against No. 1 Alabama on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif. Tebow and the Gators have to settle for the Sugar Bowl against No. 4 Cincinnati.

Texas almost ended up watching the BCS title game, too.

The Longhorns (13-0) needed a field goal on the last play of the game to beat Nebraska 13-12. But on the second-to-last play, McCoy nearly let the clock strike zero on a rollout that had college football fans gasping late Saturday night.

He said when he checked the clock, there were 11 seconds left, so he knew he had enough time to run a play. The rollout was designed to pick up another 5 yards or so with either a run or pass. But when Nebraska got pressure, he quickly decided to throw the ball away.

And that’s when his knowledge of the rule book — or lack of knowledge — cost him.

McCoy said he thought the clock would stop on a ball thrown out of bounds as soon as it passed the first-down marker. Not the case. The clock runs until the ball hits something.

McCoy lobbed a long pass over the bench area and it hit a rail near the stands. The clock struck :00. Nebraska began to celebrate.

"When I saw them rush the field, the first thought was find the (official in the) white hat because I know there’s time left," he said. "I thought 2 seconds."

It turned out to be 1. Still enough for Hunter Lawrence to make a 46-yard field goal that sent Texas to the Rose Bowl to try to win its first national championship since 2005.

"It was close, you’ve got to admit that," McCoy said. "It was probably closer than you wanted it to be, but understanding everything that goes on I was not worried about it.

"I walked off to the side and told Coach (Mack) Brown, I said, ‘I bet we have 2 seconds left.’ He said, ‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’ But he was real nervous at the time."

As harrowing as the narrow escape was for the Longhorns, their Saturday went far better than Florida’s did.

Tebow and the Gators were dominated by Alabama and had their 22-game winning streak stopped.

"Does it still hurt and is it frustrating? Yeah, absolutely, because we put a lot of work into it," Tebow said. "You know our goal was to win the SEC championship and have an opportunity to go to Pasadena and play for it all and hoist up that crystal ball. That was our dream. We wanted to do it and we fell a little short. And that hurts."

McCoy and Tebow came into this season as big favorites in the Heisman Trophy race. Along with last year’s winner, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, it seemed practically inevitable they would return to New York for this year’s Heisman handout.

But going into Saturday’s festivities, neither Tebow nor McCoy is considered the favorite among five finalists. The others are Alabama’s Mark Ingram, Stanford’s Toby Gerhart and Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh.

Tebow seemed resigned to the fact that he will probably not become the second two-time Heisman winner.

"I think it would be tough based on that last game and that last loss. It would be probably tough, probably a long shot," he said. "But it’s just an honor that I’m a finalist and have an opportunity."

McCoy’s final game didn’t do much to boost his Heisman hopes, either.

"When I left I told my teammates, ‘Who knows what’s going to happen?"’ he said. "Thought I had it won after the (Texas) A&M game, but you faced some obstacles and difficulties in the championship game, but you find a way to win and I told them that’s the most important thing."

McCoy and Bradford became good friends after getting to know each other during awards week last year. As a former winner, Bradford has a Heisman vote.

"He told me I had his vote," McCoy said.

As for Tebow’s ballot, "I’m not going to give away who I voted for," he said.

McCoy: Didn’t know rule about stopping clock

NEW YORK — Texas quarterback Colt McCoy didn’t realize the football must hit something before the clock stops when he tossed away a pass at the end of Longhorns’ 13-12 victory against Nebraska — a gaffe that nearly left his team with no time to kick the game-winning field goal.

McCoy says he thought the clocked stop on a pass out of bounds as soon as it crossed the first down marker. Had he known the rule, he says, he wouldn’t have floated a long and high pass over the bench area that didn’t touch down until it appeared to hit a railing near the stands.

After McCoy’s pass, the clock hit :00 and the Cornhuskers began to celebrate. But 1 second was put back on after officials looked at a replay, enough time for Texas to kick the winning field goal.

Big 12

Conference bowl rules cost Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Big 12 Conference’s postseason selection process has Missouri wondering how it lost out to a team with a worse regular season record.

The conference allows its bowl game partners to select any eligible team, regardless of win-loss records or head-to-head results.

That means 6-6 Iowa State advanced to the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., while 8-4 Missouri heads to the Texas Bowl in Houston for a Dec. 31 game against Navy. Missouri defeated the Cyclones 34-21 on Nov. 21.

Attempts by Missouri officials to lobby the Insight Bowl as well as the conference were unsuccessful, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported Monday. Chancellor Brady Deaton was among those seeking a better bid for the school.

"People believe that the pecking order is related to your competitiveness, and the reality is that it’s not," Missouri athletics director Mike Alden said. "Our league has to keep communicating to our fan base: ‘This is what we’ve sold. This is why we’ve done it. So please, try not to correlate where the pick is to the value of your team."’

The loss of an Insight Bowl bid will cost Missouri. The Texas Bowl provides an estimated $877,000 in travel costs, compared to roughly $1.34 million from the Arizona bowl game.

This is the third year in a row where Missouri officials are scratching their heads.

In 2008, Missouri(9-4) went to the Alamo Bowl after the Gator Bowl passed on the Tigers in favor of Nebraska (8-4) — a team Missouri had beaten by 35 points earlier in the season.

And in 2007, the Orange Bowl selected Kansas (11-1) as its BCS at-large choice over Missouri (11-2), even though the Tigers defeated the Jayhawks in the regular-season finale. Missouri instead went to the Cotton Bowl and defeated Arkansas.

This year, Missouri dropped to the conference’s eighth and final selection among bowl-eligible teams. The Independence Bowl opted for another Big 12 team with as many wins as losses, Texas A&M (6-6).

Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel called the conference selection process "frustrating" but chose to focus on the positive after learning of the Texas Bowl bid.

Besides playing a Navy team that beat Notre Dame and narrowly lost to Rose Bowl-bound Ohio State, the Tigers will return to a state that is fertile recruiting territory. The Dec. 31 game will be broadcast on ESPN rather than the less readily available NFL Network, which has rights to the Insight Bowl.

Some Missouri players acknowledged their confusion about bowl bid distributions.

"I don’t know how it works," said nose tackle Jaron Baston. "All I know is, I get a phone call and they tell me where I’m going."

Unlike the Big 12, conferences such as the Pac-10, Big Ten and ACC have more stringent guidelines when it comes to selecting teams for bowl games and place a greater emphasis on regular season records and head-to-head matchups.

Nutt to Kansas: Coach is staying at Mississippi

OXFORD, Miss. — Mississippi coach Houston Nutt said Tuesday that he "appreciates the interest" but he is not pursuing the Kansas head coaching job.

Nutt and Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone issued statements after media reports suggested Nutt was interested in the Kansas job. Nutt said he’s staying put with the Rebels after guiding them to consecutive Cotton Bowl appearances in his two seasons in Oxford.

Nutt is 17-8 in two seasons in Oxford and has guided Ole Miss (8-4) to consecutive eight-win seasons for the first time since 1989-90. The Rebels play No. 21 Oklahoma State in the Jan. 2 Cotton Bowl.

Also Tuesday, a group of Kansas players issued a statement expressing their support for the program and athletic director Lew Perkins as he conducts his search for a successor to coach Mark Mangino. Mangino resigned last week in the midst of an investigation into his treatment of players.

The two-week investigation into Mangino split both players and fans into separate camps, with some supporting and others denouncing the volatile head coach who came within two victories of the 100-year-old school record.

The statement Tuesday from a group of junior starters said they wanted to express "unwavering confidence" in the team and the athletic department.

"We are excited to start preparation for next season and trust that all other aspects of the program will be handled in a satisfactory manner," said the statement, which was addressed to Kansas fans. "We have no doubts that Lew Perkins is acting in our best interest to ensure a successful season next year and years to come."

It was signed by players Sal Capra, Drew Dudley, Chris Harris, Jake Laptad, Brad Thorson and John Wilson.

OU players: Sun Bowl another opportunity for a win

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma offensive lineman Brian Simmons knows the Sun Bowl is a few steps down from the Bowl Championship Series games to which he and the Sooners have become accustomed.

Oklahoma (7-5) has played in a BCS game six of the past seven seasons and started the 2009 campaign expecting to return again before a slew of injuries derailed those hopes. But Simmons said the Sooners should have too much pride not to be motivated when they face No. 19 Stanford (8-4) on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas.

"It would be nice to go out with a victory," Simmons said. "That last game, your last performance, sits on you awhile. Whether you’re going to the next level, whether you never play football again or whether you’re going to the next season, it’s going to sit on you until September. That last game leaves a taste in your mouth, whether you want it to be bitter or sweet. I want it to be sweet."

That’s a sentiment shared by wide receiver Ryan Broyles.

"You want to come out on an uphill slide going into next year," he said.

The Sooners have played in 11 straight bowl games, a school record, but they’ve also lost five of their last six bowls, with the only win during that stretch coming in the 2005 Holiday Bowl against Oregon.

"I know that expectations are very high," Simmons said. "I know that less than 10 wins is probably looked at as a bad year around here. But we’ve had to go through some adversities. I’m not blaming (anybody) or making excuses, but to be able to have eight wins in a season like this, I would love it."

GETTING HIS CHANCE

Running back DeMarco Murray has been a key contributor for the Sooners for three seasons, but has yet to play in a bowl game for Oklahoma.

A dislocated kneecap kept Murray out of the Fiesta Bowl after his freshman season and he missed last season’s BCS championship game with a ruptured tendon in his hamstring in his left leg.

Murray has 1,160 yards rushing and receiving this season and has scored 11 touchdowns.

"I’m fired up," Murray said about the Sun Bowl. "It feels like the national championship game to me."

LIMITED HISTORY

Oklahoma has a limited history both in the Sun Bowl and against Stanford.

The Sooners will be playing in the Sun Bowl for the third time. In 1981, they scored 30 fourth-quarter points and beat Houston 40-14.

In 1993 — playing in what then was called the John Hancock Bowl — Oklahoma jumped to a 28-3 halftime lead and cruised in a 41-10 rout of Texas Tech. Current Oklahoma running backs coach Cale Gundy, then the Sooners’ quarterback, threw for three touchdowns.

Oklahoma leads the series against Stanford 3-1, but the Cardinal’s win proved to be especially memorable. In 1980, led by quarterback John Elway, Stanford took a 31-0 lead over Oklahoma and won 31-14, ending the Sooners’ 20-game home winning streak.

SUH FAN CLUB

Simmons said he hopes Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, one of five finalists for the Heisman Trophy, wins the award.

Suh had 4½ sacks in a 13-12 loss to Texas in the Big 12 title game and is the first defensive player to be a finalist since 1997, when Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson won the award.

"I didn’t get to play him this year, because I was out, but last year, by far, he was the strongest player I’ve ever played against, ever, on all levels, offense, defense," Simmons said. "He’s a force. It didn’t shock me at all that he would have the game he did" against Texas.

Simmons said it would be nice to have another Big 12 player follow his teammate, quarterback Sam Bradford, in winning the Heisman.

"The guy makes plays," Simmons said. "You have to pay attention to him. If you don’t, he’s going to make you pay. He makes you bring out your best."

-- Murray Evans

Nebraska sells all its Holiday Bowl tickets

LINCOLN, Neb. — As snow fell across most of Nebraska, Huskers fans quickly bought up 11,000 tickets to No. 20 Nebraska’s Holiday Bowl game in sunny San Diego.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln ticket officials say the Cornhuskers’ full allotment of tickets for the Dec. 30 game against No. 22 Arizona, but the game is not yet sold out.

Nebraska fans may still be able to buy tickets on the bowl’s Web site, www.pacificlifeholidaybowl.com. Arizona’s ticket office might also have tickets available for the general public to buy online at www.arizonawildcats.com.

The Holiday Bowl will be televised on ESPN.