McCoy, Texas make a bold statement in rout

Colt McCoy finally got a win over Texas A&M;, and No. 4 Texas put a historic whipping on a bitter rival.

The question now is, was it enough?

Was a 49-9 victory impressive enough to give McCoy a fighting chance for the Heisman Trophy and keep his team in the hunt for the Bowl Championship Series championship game?

Longhorns Coach Mack Brown thought so.

“I felt they made the statement they needed to make,” Brown said. “Starting with Colt.”

McCoy passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Longhorns, 11-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big 12 Conference, posted the largest margin of victory in the rivalry since a 48-0 Texas victory in 1898.

McCoy finished with 311 yards on 23-for-28 passing and ran for 49 more to earn his first win over the Aggies in three tries. He also got career victory No. 31, passing Vince Young to set a Texas record for starting quarterbacks, and set a Longhorns season record with 3,594 yards passing.

Texas held the Aggies (4-8, 2-6) to 245 total yards and minus-24 yards rushing. The Longhorns sacked quarterbacks Jerrod Johnson and Stephen McGee six times

Texas, No. 2 in the BCS standings, now must wait until this weekend to see if its national-title dreams are intact. The Longhorns are in prime position for at least a berth in a BCS bowl but need some help if the team that spent a month at No. 1 will be able to play for the Big 12 title and BCS championship.

A potential three-way tie in the Big 12 South Division could swing to No. 3 Oklahoma if the Sooners beat No. 11 Oklahoma State on Saturday and pass Texas in the BCS standings. Even if the Sooners lose, No. 7 Texas Tech still holds a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Longhorns going into the Red Raiders’ game against Baylor.