2008 Texas Football: Denied A Championship Chance
In the two years that followed Texas’ magical 2005 national championship run with Vince Young, the Longhorns had been good, but not elite. In each season, they followed a 9-3 season with a minor bowl game victory. In 2008, Texas football began a two-year run of serious contention and it took a controversy at the polls to keep them out of the national championship game.
COLT COMES OF AGE
Colt McCoy took over for Young as a true freshman in 2006 and his growth precisely tracked that of the team. He was pretty good right from the outset and in 2008, took the next step into excellence. McCoy completed an astonishing 77 percent of his passes in ’08. He generated 8.9 yards-per-attempt and played with efficiency, throwing 34 touchdown passes against eight interceptions.
If that weren’t enough McCoy also carried a pedestrian running game, with his 561 yards leading the Longhorns. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting.
McCoy had a potent wide receiver duo. Quan Cosby caught 92 passes for over 1,100 yards, while Jordan Shipley added 89 more receptions at 1,000-plus yards. Chris Ogbonnaya came out of the backfield and added 540 receiving yards.
The high-octane, precision passing game led the way for an offense that ranked fifth in the nation in points scored.
Texas wasn’t elite defensively, but they were pretty good. Brian Orakpo was an All-American defensive end, recording 11 ½ sacks. Sergio Kindle was a playmaker at linebacker, with 10 sacks. The Longhorn D finished a respectable 18th nationally for points allowed.
SETTING THE STAGE IN SEPTEMBER
Texas was ranked #11 to start the season. They quickly blew out two mediocre opponents, Florida Atlantic and UTEP, by a combined score of 94-23 and moved to #7.
Rice was a good team, en route to nine wins and a bowl victory, but they were no match for the Longhorns in a 52-10 rout. That was a common final score for Texas in September—it was the result against Florida Atlantic and also the final in a win over a so-so Arkansas squad.
The ‘Horns moved into the Big 12 portion against another average opponent, this time Colorado, and cruised to a 38-14 win.
It was a good start. Texas was 5-0 and up to #5 in the polls. Now it was time to find out how they stood up against stiff competition. A brutal four-game stretch against ranked opponents would begin with the Red River Rivalry in Dallas.
RED RIVER SHOOTOUT
Oklahoma was ranked #1 in the country, with an offense even more explosive than Texas. Sooner quarterback Sam Bradford would win the Heisman Trophy. And this classic rivalry would see the points flow freely.
Texas didn’t start out fast and trailed 14-3 in the second quarter. Shipley turned the momentum by returning a kickoff for a touchdown. Trailing 21-10, the Longhorns had an offensive burst in the final five minutes of the first half, scoring ten points and cutting the lead to 21-20.
After both teams traded touchdowns, McCoy led a drive deep into OU territory. A field goal nudged Texas out to a 30-28 lead, although in a game like this, it hurt not to get in the end zone. The ‘Horns quickly fell behind 35-30.
What Texas was doing was something that was out of character. They were controlling the line of scrimmage. They won rush yardage 161-48 with Ogbonnaya going for 127 yards. In the meantime, McCoy was on his way to going 28/35 for 277 yards and no mistakes. Shipley and Cosby each had 100-plus yards receiving.
With offensive balance that Oklahoma wasn’t matching, Texas took over the fourth quarter. Cody Johnson, whose three carries on the afternoon all went for touchdowns, scored twice in the final period. The Longhorns won 45-35 and replaced the Sooners at the top of the polls.
THE BIG 12 GAUNTLET CONTINUES
There was no time to celebrate. Missouri, ranked #11, was coming to Austin. And oh, was Texas ready. The ‘Horns had a 35-0 lead by the second quarter. McCoy went 29/32 for 337 yards, no mistakes and led a 56-31 win.
A week later, seventh-ranked Oklahoma State paid a visit. This one was a battle. The Longhorns bolted to a quick 14-0 lead. But even with McCoy going 38/45 for 391 yards, they bogged down. The Cowboys were controlling the line of scrimmage and Texas lost the rushing battle 217-113. But McCoy and the passing game were enough to survive, in a 28-24 final.
The final stop on this brutal run was a prime-time trip to Lubbock. Texas Tech was ranked #6 and undefeated, hoping to use this game to show they belonged in the discussion with the more traditional Big 12 powers. In an epic game, Texas clung to a 33-32 lead in the closing seconds. The Red Raiders had driven into field goal range and finished the job with a 28-yard touchdown pass with a second to play.
The ‘Horns had fallen from the ranks of the undefeated and were down to #5 in the polls.
THE COST OF A LOSS
Texas’ poll position was a much bigger problem in 2008 than it would be today, and even bigger than it would have been just six years later when the sport went to a four-team playoff format. In 2008, only the top two teams were selected to play for the national championship.
What’s more, the race in the Big 12 was jam-packed. The conference was split into divisions. The South, where Texas resided, was also home to Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State—the four best teams in the league. Tech was undefeated, and the other three had one league loss. The Longhorns needed some help.
WHEN VOTERS BREAK THE TIE
Texas could only take care of their own business. They blew out lowly Baylor 45-21. But on the same day, Texas Tech beat Oklahoma State, a situation that worked against the Longhorns in what was becoming a convoluted tiebreaker situation.
A week later, Texas cruised by a pretty good Kansas team 35-7. The Saturday prior to Thanksgiving, the Longhorns had a bye. They watched Oklahoma blast Texas Tech. It was a result Texas had to have, but now the tiebreaker was really getting interesting.
The Longhorns, Sooners and Red Raiders were in a circular tie—one loss each, all against each other. The Big 12 rule was that in this situation, the league would default to whomever was ranked higher in the final polls.
To further dramatize the stakes, it was apparent that the Big 12 South was going to produce the #2 team in the nation. Everything, from the conference to the national picture, was in the hands of the voters.
Texas made their final case as best they could on Thanksgiving Night, blowing out subpar Texas A&M 49-9. The problem is that Oklahoma was routinely dropping 60-plus points on people and they were playing marquee games down the stretch.
The ensuing Saturday saw OU win a 61-41 shootout with Oklahoma State. Again, it was an outcome Texas had to have—a Sooner loss would have just meant a two-way tie with Texas Tech and losing the head-to-head tiebreaker. But it wasn’t going to work out the way the Longhorns hoped.
Voters chose Oklahoma. Texas settled for a Fiesta Bowl bid against Ohio State.
ONE LAST STATEMENT
Both the Longhorns and Buckeyes had something of a chip on their shoulder in Tempe. Texas wanted to show that a mistake had been made. Ohio State had been hammered in the previous two national title games, and no one believed they could win outside the Big Ten. Two high-profile teams taking it seriously produced a hard-fought game.
Defenses were in complete control in the first half and the Longhorns trailed 6-3. McCoy got rolling in the third quarter, running for one touchdown, and throwing for another. With a 17-6 lead, Texas was in firm control.
But they couldn’t salt away the game by running, getting pounded in the trenches to the tune of a 203-54 rush yardage differential. Ohio State scored twice in the fourth quarter and took a 21-17 lead.
It was time for McCoy and his receivers one more time. The quarterback finished 41/58 for 414 yards. Shipley caught ten passes. And Cosby was dynamic, with 14 catches for 171 yards. Texas reached Ohio State’s 26-yard line, but the clock was down to 0:16 left, and the ‘Horns needed a touchdown.
Cosby capped his great night with a 26-yard TD reception. Texas had prevailed 24-21, sealing a top 5 finish in the final polls.
A GREAT TWO-YEAR RUN
Texas concluded 2008 convinced they had been robbed of a chance to win a national championship. They would get another chance in 2009, with McCoy again leading the way. They made it all the way to the national championship game before falling to Nick Saban’s Alabama. This two-year run that began in 2008 were the last truly great teams head coach Mack Brown produced in a tenure that lasted through 2013.