Colt McCoy named O'Brien Quarterback of the Week

FORT WORTH, Texas (September 29, 2008) - The Davey O'Brien Foundation has named Colt McCoy of the University of Texas the O'Brien Quarterback of the Week for week five. McCoy, a junior, led the Longhorns to a dominating 52-10 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks last Saturday in front of 97,833 fans at Royal Memorial Stadium.

"Colt is playing as well as any quarterback in the country," Texas head coach Mack Brown said in post game comments. "It would be hard to imagine anyone playing better. Colt's confidence is just oozing."

After breaking the Longhorns' school record for career passing touchdowns in the previous game against Rice, McCoy continued his quarterback prowess on Saturday in Austin. With just two incompletions, he passed for 185 yards and three touchdowns, bringing his season total to 14. He also ran for a game-high 84 yards and two touchdowns. With a 209.71 quarterback rating, he now ranks second in the nation.

"Colt is playing at a really high level," offensive coordinator Greg Davis said of the Texas quarterback after Saturday's game. "He is working during the week at a very high level."

The six-foot-three quarterback is currently in his third season as the Longhorns' starting quarterback after taking over for 2005 O'Brien Winner, Vince Young. McCoy started all 13 games in the 2007 season, passing for 3,303 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Prior to enrolling at Texas, McCoy was coached by his father, Brad McCoy, at Jim Ned High School in Tuscola, Texas. He finished his high school career with a 34-2 record as a three-year letterman at quarterback. With 9,344 yards and 116 touchdowns, he ranks as the all-time leading passer in Texas 2A history.

Texas will begin conference play next Saturday as they head to Boulder to face the Colorado Buffaloes. Following Saturday's win, McCoy is already focused on this upcoming Big 12 North/South conference match-up.

"We did what we needed to do," McCoy said when asked about Texas' win over Arkansas. "Our total mind-set is on conference play."

The O'Brien Quarterback of the Week is determined by a subset of the Davey O'Brien National Selection Committee. The subset of the committee is chaired by Verne Lundquist (CBS Sports) and consists of Dennis Dodd (CBS SportsLine), Ivan Maisel (espn.com), Joe Schad (ESPN/ABC), Dick Weiss (New York Daily News) and Kelly Whiteside (USA Today). This subset will select the quarterback of the week based on their performance during the prior weekend's game, taking into consideration individual statistics, contribution to team performance, strength of opponent, etc.

The O'Brien honors the nation's best college quarterback of the year. Currently all 119 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) quarterbacks are candidates for the award until Semifinalists are announced on October 27. Finalists will be announced November 24. The 2008 Winner will be announced December 11.

About The O'Brien Fan Vote
Fans can now register and vote for The O'Brien Fan Vote online at www.VoteOBrien.org to show their support for their favorite college quarterback. Fans will be able to choose from any of the 119 FBS quarterbacks beginning on Tuesday, September 2, leaving room for the possibility of a quarterback who is not on the Watch List to win the award. The top three quarterbacks who garner the most votes will be added to The O'Brien Semifinalist List, and the Fan Vote will then count as 5% in determining the Finalists and Winner. The 2008 Winner will be announced during The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show airing December 11 on ESPN. The recipient will be honored February 16, 2009, at the 32nd Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

About The Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award®
The O'Brien honors the nation's best college quarterback of the year and inspires student-athletes to triumph both on and off the field. By recognizing and honoring athletes who excel in both sports and academics while exhibiting strong character and leadership, The O'Brien aims to help instill a lifelong moral fiber in each candidate. The O'Brien is overseen by the Davey O'Brien Foundation, which was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. The Foundation has given away more than $750,000 in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life. For more information, visit www.DaveyOBrien.org.