• Video: Postgame press conference:




ARLINGTON, Texas — In theory, Texas still has a chance to win the national championship.

In theory, Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy still has a chance to win the Heisman Trophy.

In practice, I say good luck with both of those.

Whispers about how good No. 3 Texas really is have grown louder for a couple of weeks. Those turned into shouts of doubt after UT eked out a 13-12 win against Nebraska on a last-play-of-the-game field goal.

Texas, a 14½-point favorite, was supposed to run up a big score Saturday night to impress poll voters.

McCoy, now 45-7 as a starting quarterback, was supposed to be the talented veteran who would expose Nebraska's defense, which critics say had feasted on backup quarterbacks much of the season.

Neither happened, by a long shot.

Frankly, Texas was lucky to win. And McCoy was lucky to survive after being sacked nine times and throwing for only 185 yards.

“I'm glad I'm sitting up here,'' McCoy said on the interview stage, “because I'm not getting hit.''

McCoy, the Big 12 offensive player of the year, was asked what he thought of Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh, the Big 12 defensive player of the year who had 4½ of those sacks.

“We're best friends,'' McCoy said, wryly.

Texas wouldn't have had any friends if it had wasted one more second trying to kill the clock at game's end to set up the field goal.

UT coach Mack Brown said he tried to call time before the snap, but the official didn't hear him.

McCoy said the play, a shotgun rollout, came in with 15 seconds left on a running clock. He said he looked for Jordan Shipley on an out-and-up route. But when it was covered, he heaved it out of bounds. And the clock rolled to 0:00.

“I wasn't worried about the clock,'' McCoy said. “I figured we would have one or two seconds left.

“When I saw everybody rushing the field, I thought, ‘There's no way. We've got one or two seconds left.' It was close.''

Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle said he wondered if the clock would be reset.

“It's never good when you have something that is in somebody other than your team's hands,'' Kindle said. “Hopefully, we were thinking the Lord stopped the clock on one and that the ref stayed true to his morals.''

It wasn't a bad call. The replay folks got it right.

But that doesn't diminish what the scare from Nebraska might do to the Longhorns' psyche come bowl time.

Brown was in full spin mode afterward, especially about McCoy.

“Colt played great,'' the coach said. “He was tough and never got frustrated.''

If that doesn't get your hooey meter screeching, try this from Brown about McCoy's final two drives.

The first ended with McCoy throwing an interception. On the second, which led to Hunter Lawrence's 46-yard field goal, McCoy had a 19-yard completion, was sacked for a 2-yard loss, ran for a 1-yard loss and threw an incompletion.

“Everybody wants a Heisman moment, and I thought that was it,'' Brown said with a straight face. “He's got 45 wins. I think that's his 12th fourth-quarter comeback.''

I went into the game thinking I would vote McCoy first for the Heisman. Not now. A man named Suh gets my vote. McCoy, who often looked rattled, may not make my top three.

I will agree with Brown on one significant point.

“To be an undefeated team at 13-0, you have to win in different ways,'' he said. “You've seen Alabama block field goals in the last second.''

Texas, 10 days ago, rolled on offense and struggled on defense in a 49-39 win against Texas A&M. On Saturday night, the opposite happened, but the Longhorns still won.

“This team has been one of those that figures out a way to win and trusts each other,'' Brown said. “They are very patient. They know they are going to win.''

Congratulations to Texas on getting to 13-0. I mean that. It truly is an outstanding accomplishment in this era of college football. But don't look back, Longhorns. Nebraska is making up ground fast.

Contact the writer:

444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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