Texas loses McCoy, then the game

Texas lost its young star -- and a whole lot more.

Quarterback Colt McCoy was hurt scoring a touchdown on the fourth-ranked Longhorns’ opening drive, and his replacement struggled in a 45-42 loss to Kansas State on Saturday night that knocked the defending national champions out of the title hunt.

“One thing about Texas,” Coach Mack Brown said. “There’s never a good time to lose.”

The Longhorns, 9-2 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12 Conference, got within a field goal on Chris Ogbonnaya’s one-yard touchdown run with 1:36 to go. But Jordy Nelson recovered the ensuing onside kick and then caught a six-yard pass for a first down that sealed the win for Kansas State.

“I didn’t feel good about this one until the very end,” said Coach Ron Prince, who has Kansas State back on a winning track after losing records in Bill Snyder’s last two seasons as coach. “We were coaching our brains out down there at the very end to make this thing go the way we wanted it to go.”

Josh Freeman took a knee, and purple-clad fans streamed onto the field to celebrate their biggest win in a few years.

Freeman threw for 263 yards and three scores and ran for another touchdown for Kansas State (7-4, 4-3), which scored three touchdowns over a 3:06 span in the third quarter on its way to breaking a six-game losing streak against ranked opponents.

The Wildcats also won their third straight and guaranteed their first winning record since they won the Big 12 championship in 2003.

“Our plan was to be the best team in November,” Freeman said. “That’s the equivalent of playoff football -- be the best in November -- and we’re on our way to do that.”

Jevan Snead, who played for the first time this season, had pushed McCoy hard for the starter’s job this summer. He completed 13 of 30 passes for 130 yards and one score and was sacked five times.

Before he got hurt, apparently suffering an injured shoulder, McCoy completed all four of his attempts for 51 yards.