SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 17, 2011
Case McCoy passed for 169 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start to lead No. 21 Texas to a 49-20 victory over UCLA on Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
D.J. Grant entered the game with only one catch but hauled in six passes for 77 yards and three touchdowns for Texas, which avenged its 34-12 home loss to the Bruins last year and beat UCLA for the first time since 1971.
McCoy gave fans flashbacks of his older brother, Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy, as he darted around in the pocket and gave himself more time to find open receivers. McCoy replaced Garrett Gilbert as the starter after Gilbert played poorly in the Longhornsกฏ 17-16 win over BYU last week.
True freshman Malcolm Brown rumbled for 111 yards and one score, leading a powerful Texas rushing attack that averaged 5.9 yards per carry and wore down the UCLA defense in the second half.
The Bruins found themselves in an early 21-0 hole after starting quarterback Kevin Prince threw three first-quarter interceptions that all led to Longhorns touchdowns.
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, who took up until gameday to announce Prince as the starter, promptly yanked him and inserted Richard Brehaut, but it didnกฏt get much better from there. Brehaut finished 8-of-19 for 151 yards, and the Bruins totaled only 12 first downs in the game.
Texas has now won 11 straight road openers by an average of 21 points per game. UCLA is 3-9 against ranked teams under Neuheisel.