McCoy fumbles four times, but Texas still routs Arizona State in Holiday Bowl

 

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• Stepson of Texas' coach in wild Holiday Bowl play

Bowl Overview

It was over when... Tight end Jermichael Finley fell on quarterback Colt McCoy's fumble in the end zone to give Texas a 35-13 lead late in the third quarter. Gameball goes to... Texas' rushing offense, defense. The Horns pounded out 306 yards on the ground and held the Sun Devils to 22 rushing yards. Stat of the game... 10. The Longhorns have won 10 or more games in seven straight seasons, which is the third-longest streak in major-college history. Complete Bowl Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	23	27
Total Yards	327	474
Passing	305	174
Rushing	22	300
Penalties	6-50	9-74
3rd Down Conversions	5-14	8-19
4th Down Conversions	2-3	1-2
Turnovers	5	1
Possession	23:41	36:19

Air/Ground Leaders
Arizona State Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Carpenter 18/36 187 2 2 Sullivan 7/14 118 1 1	Texas Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT McCoy 21/31 174 1 0 Cosby 0/1 0 0 0
Arizona State Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Nance 18 48 0 9 Woods 3 20 1 18	Texas Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Charles 27 161 2 48 McCoy 16 84 1 30
Arizona State Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Jones 8 107 2 32 McGaha 9 79 1 20	Texas Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Cosby 1 55 0 55 Jones 6 47 0 18

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				ASU	TEX
	TD	13:39	Derek Lokey 2 Yd Pass From Colt Mccoy (Ryan Bailey Kick) Drive: 8 plays, 49 yds, 1:21	0	7
	TD	07:08	John Chiles 4 Yd Run (Ryan Bailey Kick) Drive: 2 plays, 57 yds, :13	0	14
	TD	01:30	Jamaal Charles 15 Yd Run (Ryan Bailey Kick) Drive: 2 plays, 71 yds, :30	0	21
SECOND QUARTER				ASU	TEX
	TD	12:36	Chris Mcgaha 7 Yd Pass From Rudy Carpenter (Thomas Weber Kick) Drive: 10 plays, 80 yds, 3:54	7	21
	TD	04:43	Colt Mccoy 9 Yd Run (Ryan Bailey Kick) Drive: 9 plays, 69 yds, 4:09	7	28
	FG	00:35	Thomas Weber 32 Yd Drive: 4 plays, 9 yds, :17	10	28
THIRD QUARTER				ASU	TEX
	FG	11:49	Thomas Weber 46 Yd Drive: 11 plays, 38 yds, 3:11	13	28
	TD	03:33	Jermichael Finley Recovered Fumble In End Zone (Ryan Bailey Kick) Drive: 2 plays, 32 yds, :53	13	35
	TD	02:49	Michael Jones 22 Yd Pass From Rudy Carpenter (Thomas Weber Kick) Drive: 5 plays, 50 yds, :44	20	35
FOURTH QUARTER				ASU	TEX
	FG	12:55	Ryan Bailey 21 Yd Drive: 12 plays, 77 yds, 4:54	20	38
	TD	11:03	Vondrell Mcgee 28 Yd Run (Ryan Bailey Kick) Drive: 4 plays, 39 yds, 1:24	20	45
	TD	08:55	Michael Jones 10 Yd Pass From Danny Sullivan (Thomas Weber Kick) Drive: 6 plays, 78 yds, 2:08	27	45
	TD	03:42	Jarrell Woods 3 Yd Run (Thomas Weber Kick) Drive: 9 plays, 65 yds, 1:35	34	45
	TD	02:24	Jamaal Charles 32 Yd Run (Ryan Bailey Kick) Drive: 3 plays, 44 yds, 1:18	34	52

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- As wacky plays go, this one certainly earned a spot in Pacific Life Holiday Bowl lore.

What made it downright bizarre is that the central character wasn't a player.

Texas fans will remember Colt McCoy leading the No. 19 Longhorns (No. 17 AP) to a 52-34 win Thursday night over the Arizona State Sun Devils (No. 11 BCS, No. 12 AP) in the first meeting between the schools and their successful coaches.

No one will forget Chris Jessie, the stepson of Texas coach Mack Brown, inadvertently becoming part of the game.

With the Longhorns leading 21-0 and the Sun Devils driving early in the second quarter, ASU's Rudy Carpenter dropped back to pass and was hit by linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy. The ball squirted backward, toward the Longhorns' sideline.

Ten for Texas
Beating Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl gave Mack Brown and his Longhorns their seventh straight 10-win season. Texas' run is now third in FBS (formerly Div. I-A) history.
Streak	School	Years
14	Florida St.	1987-00
8	Miami (FL)	1985-92
7 *	Texas	2001-06
6 **	USC	2002-07
6	Florida	1993-98
* Active streak
** USC's streak has already been updated for the 2007 season.

Jessie, a member of his stepfather's football operations staff, stepped about a yard onto the field and was motioning toward a player when he reached down and appeared to touch the ball with his left thumb. Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller slapped the ball away from the sideline and defensive end Aaron Lewis recovered and returned it to about the ASU 44.

After a 12-minute review, officials reversed the play. They ruled that Jessie touched the ball, which is illegal interference, an unsportsmanlike foul. The ball reverted to the Sun Devils and Texas was penalized half the distance to the goal, giving ASU fourth-and-3 at the 7. Carpenter threw a touchdown pass to Chris McGaha.

Feldman: Horns Dominate
Not even one more crazy play in the Holiday Bowl could slow down highly-motivated Texas against Arizona State, Bruce Feldman writes. Story

"It was just natural instinct," Jessie said. "I thought it was a forward pass. I was looking at the ball being thrown and I was waiting for a grounding penalty. When I realized the ball was in play, I jumped back."

The gaffe didn't end up costing the Longhorns (10-3), other than some embarrassment.

"I didn't touch it, I didn't touch it," Jessie said. "The focus shouldn't be on me. That was a great game."

He said his stepfather told him "not to worry about it, the guys would pull it out."

Brown joked about it afterward.

"I was standing there. I didn't think he touched it, but it just shows you how badly our family wanted to win the game. He even got involved," Brown said.

"That's the most unusual play I've ever seen in college football," ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. "I was talking to the official and I said, in my 35 or 40 years -- it feels like 50 right now -- however many years I've coached, I've never seen anything like that."

The 86 points were the fourth-most in the Holiday Bowl's 30-year history, which is full of crazy plays and wild finishes.

Texas set team records for points in a bowl game and with its fourth straight postseason win.

McCoy led the way for the Longhorns, throwing for a touchdown, running for another and fumbling into the end zone at the end of a 30-yard run, with tight end Jermichael Finley recovering for a score.

McCoy fumbled four times. The Longhorns recovered three and ASU got the other one.

Jamaal Charles carried 27 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns for the Longhorns.

Brown and Erickson have been friends for years, but had never coached against each other. Erickson won two national championships at Miami and Brown coached Texas to the national title two years ago.

ASU (10-3) committed five turnovers, with Carpenter throwing two interceptions before leaving the game in the fourth quarter.

Carpenter had a horrible night, going 18-of-32 for 187 yards. He was sacked four times.

"I just couldn't step into my throws," Carpenter said. "They were bringing a lot of pressure and they were bringing heat. Sometimes I was trying to make some throws off my back foot and the ball is going to sail on you."

Texas cornerback Brandon Foster had a monster game, with two interceptions, a fumble recovery and a tipped pass that was picked off by teammate Marcus Griffin.

McCoy was 21-of-31 passing for 174 yards, and carried 16 times for 84 yards.

The Longhorns raced to a 21-0 first-quarter lead, including the fastest score in Holiday Bowl history. McCoy threw a 2-yard TD pass to Derek Lokey just 1:21 in. John Chiles scored on a 4-yard run, and Charles had a 15-yard scoring run.

"When you play a team like Texas, they're too good to get in that type of deficit," Carpenter said.

After ASU's score following the bizarre play, McCoy added a 9-yard TD run.

It looked like he was going to score again in the third quarter when he went zigzagging through ASU's defense. But he fumbled as he was tackled at the 3 and the ball rolled into the end zone. Finley was the third player into the pile and ended up with the ball and the TD.

Vondrell McGee scored on a 28-yard run for Texas in the fourth quarter, and Charles added a 32-yard score.