Capital City Sports Report

Second-ranked Horns remain undefeated with 35-3 victory over UCF Knights; fans seek Baylor tickets

Following the toughest three-game stretch of the season including a pair of tough road wins against Missouri and Oklahoma State, coupled with the fact that the opponent was a non-conference foe  in the University of Central Florida with a less-than-impressive pedigree, it didn’t come as a surprise to most fans holding Texas tickets that the Longhorns would start off slow. Once the Longhorns did wake up, they cruised to a convincing 35-3 victory and a pair of Longhorns found their way into the record books.

The Texas offense led by senior quarterback and Heisman hopeful Colt McCoy didn’t score a point in the first quarter, but once running back Cody Johnson rambled in from 20 yards to finish off a four-play, 80-yard drive, the Texas offense pretty much moved up the field at will.

Following the opening score in the second quarter, Texas added a second touchdown when Johnson ran in from 13 yards to cap off an 11-play, 72-yard drive for a 14-3 lead.

In the third quarter, McCoy and the offense drove 15 plays and 87 yards finishing with a 14-yard touchdown pass from McCoy to receiver James Kirkendoll  for a 21-3 advantage.

In the fourth quarter McCoy and Shipley, who had already combined for 10 pass completions and 185 yards, connected one final time. They saved the best for last.

With less than a minute gone from the quarter, fans who are planning a trip next weekend to Waco and looking for Baylor tickets, saw the Longhorns with a first and 10 at the Texas 11. McCoy dropped back to pass then lofted a high-arcing pass to Shipley who had streaked up the right side and cut back toward the middle. The senior from Burnet caught the pass mid-stride on his hip and never looked back. Eighty-eight yards later, Shipley was in the record books.

With 273 yards on 11 catches, Shipley had set the single-game yardage record for receiving, surpassing the 22-year-old mark held by Tony Jones, who had 242 yards in the 1987 Bluebonnet Bowl against Pittsburgh. McCoy didn’t set a team record, but did set a personal best completing 33 of 42 passes for 470 yards, finishing just four yards shy of the yardage record held by, ironically enough, Major Applewhite, who is now a part of the UT offensive coaching staff.

Posted in NCAA Football