Longhorns’ Colt looks like the real McCoy

The big question at Texas before this season was whether the Longhorns would be able to adequately replace Vince Young at quarterback.

Well, if touchdown passes and comeback victories are the measuring stick, then Colt McCoy is well on his way to surpassing the man who led the Longhorns to the national title last season.

McCoy, a redshirt freshman, has thrown 24 touchdown passes, only two fewer than the single-season record shared by Young and Chris Simms -- both now in the NFL.

He also has directed comebacks in four consecutive weeks and has No. 4 Texas at 8-1, and atop the Big 12 South standings.

“He is a gamer,” Texas receiver Quan Cosby said of McCoy. “That’s my definition of it. He doesn’t hit the panic button.”

That should come in handy this week against Oklahoma State because the Longhorns have gotten into a habit of falling behind the Cowboys in recent years.

Last year, Texas trailed, 28-9, before winning, 47-28. In 2004, Oklahoma State took a 35-7 lead, only to have Texas win, 56-35.

“You’d rather not have to come back,” Texas Coach Mack Brown said. “But it’s better than getting beat.”

And with McCoy showing unusual poise for a freshman, there is no need to panic, even if he isn’t Young.

“I’ve always had high expectations for myself,” McCoy said. “I’ve always wanted to be the best that I could be, and right now things are falling in to place.”

Not quite over it

West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez was still fuming Friday, the day after his team lost a key Big East game against Louisville that ended a 14-game win streak and probably dropped the Mountaineers out of the national championship hunt.

What irked him most was the team’s inability to take care of the ball. West Virginia fumbled six times -- as many as it had in the previous four games combined -- losing three.

Running back Steve Slaton sat out much of the third quarter after fumbling on consecutive snaps -- miscues caused by an injured elbow that led to numbness in his hand.

“I want everybody to be mad.... I’m mad,” Rodriguez said. “I’m going to be mad for another day or two. It’s been a while since we lost. But I’ve lost before and we’ll lose again. We’ll just do things the way we know best and move on.”

Rodriguez said he didn’t think Slaton’s injury was long-term.

Slaton regained feeling in his hand and returned in the fourth quarter. He finished with 156 rushing yards.

Let the little dogs eat

An odd season in the Atlantic Coast Conference might start making a little more sense when games between Boston College and Wake Forest, and Maryland and Clemson are finished.

Boston College, Wake Forest and Maryland are tied atop the Atlantic Division standings at 3-1 in conference play and, believe it or not, Maryland is in the driver’s seat because if the Terrapins win out, they will be division champions and will advance to the ACC title game -- most likely against Georgia Tech.

But that’s a big “if.” Maryland’s final four foes are Clemson, Miami, Boston College and Wake Forest.

“It’s down to a four-game playoff to see what happens,” Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen said.

“Of course, they will be four very tough games.”

And yes, this is the same ACC that also includes Florida State and Virginia Tech.

Speaking of Miami and Virginia Tech, they play today, but at 5-2 and 6-2, respectively, it’s the first time since 1998 that the game doesn’t have either conference or national title implications.

Manningham to return

Michigan receiver Mario Manningham is expected to play today against Ball State after sitting out three games because of a knee injury.

Manningham scored nine touchdowns in six games but required minor surgery a month ago to repair his knee.

The Wolverines (9-0) averaged 33.5 points in games Manningham played but only 18 in games he missed.

He’ll work his way back into playing shape against Ball State (3-6) this week and Indiana (5-4) next week so he can be ready for Ohio State on Nov. 18.

Run it up

Auburn players, coaches and fans are scratching their heads after dropping in the BCS standings for the second consecutive week, despite victories over Tulane and Mississippi.

The Tigers (8-1) have dropped from fourth to sixth, partly because they struggled last week in a 23-17 victory over Mississippi (2-7). So, even though point differential is not used as a factor in the standings, the Tigers say they need to be more impressive this week against Arkansas State (5-3).

“We’ve definitely got to win big now,” offensive tackle King Dunlap said.

“I always want to win big, that’s how I am. I always want to punish people and win by large margins, and we really have to now if we want to move anywhere in the standings.”

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-- Compiled by Peter Yoon

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.