Horns Beat BYU 17-16, Move to 2-0 (Slideshow)

By Tim Taliaferro in Special, Sports on September 11, 2011 at 9:03 am | 1 Comment

The Texas Longhorns overcame a 13-point deficit last night to beat BYU 17-16 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The win moves Texas to 2-0 on the season and gives some much-needed momentum to the young team.

Just like in the season-opener against Rice, the Horns’ offense started slow, registering two turnovers and three three-and-outs in its first five possessions. Quarterback Garrett Gilbert went 2 of 8 passing for eight yards and two interceptions before co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin replaced him by alternating sophomore Case McCoy and freshman David Ash.

“We weren’t off to the start we wanted to have,” Harsin said. “So we just needed to provide a spark and Case did a good job of doing that and David did a good job. We got the momentum and got going.”

McCoy went 7 of 8 passing for 57 yards, and Ash ran hard. They got help from freshman running back Malcolm Brown, who ran for 68 yards on 14 carries and showed yet again why he was one of the most highly-touted running backs coming out high school. Freshman wide received Jaxon Shipley had a pair of key catches on a long scoring drive that gave Texas a fourth-quarter lead.

But it was the Texas defense that really came alive in the second half, allowing BYU only 67 of yards of offense after halftime. The defense also produced two turnovers, interceptions by sophomore Adrian Phillips and freshman Quandre Diggs, and basically stopped the BYU run game.

What might have been the most striking scene from last night was seeing head coach Mack Brown so fired up on the field, pumping his fist, shouting encouragement, even jumping up and down with his players after big plays.

For a young team and a rejuvenated coach, it wasn’t the prettiest win. But it sure looked good anyway.

Tags: bryan harsin, case mccoy, david ash, garrett gilbert, mack brown, malcolm brown, texas football, texas longhorns