No. 2 Longhorns race past Wyoming after slow start

LARAMIE, Wyo. — It wasn't just the lung-searing altitude that bothered Colt McCoy and No. 2 Texas in the first half of the Longhorns' first trip to War Memorial Stadium, alt. 7,200 feet.

The weight of expectations were bogging them down, too.

McCoy warmed up after a shaky start and Texas overcame spotty special teams play and a sputtering first half to beat Wyoming 41-10 on a cold and breezy Saturday.

"I think I was trying to do too much, try to make something happen that wasn't there," McCoy said of his slow start. "I fumbled once, the ball slipped out of my hands, made a stupid throw on a crossing route. I saw the (defender) and threw it right to him. It's just all mental and those things have to pass.

"The way we responded in the second half was a tribute to our team."

Texas coach Mack Brown said the Longhorns had so much fun last year because nobody expected them to have a great season. This year, everybody does and he senses his players not enjoying the game as much.

"We all expect to score every play and that's just unrealistic," Brown said.

The Longhorns (2-0) uncharacteristically committed a dozen penalties and looked ready to be lassoed until taking a 13-10 lead just before halftime when McCoy executed the one-minute offense to perfection and finally got Texas into the end zone.

After sucking wind all day, the Longhorns finally exhaled.

"I just feel like once our offense gets hot, it's going to stay hot," Longhorns defensive end Sergio Kindle said.

McCoy completed 30 of 47 passes for 337 yards and three TDs with an interception. He missed 17 or more passes for just the third time in his career, including a dozen in the first half, when he was intercepted by linebacker Weston Johnson.

"I looked at his numbers at halftime and I felt like he was pressing — and gosh, he was 17 of 29 for 166 yards passing and a touchdown," Brown said. "So, our standards are pretty high for him and he understands that. But I thought he had more fun the second half, too."

In a nice warmup for Texas Tech next week, the Longhorns' defense held the Cowboys (1-1) out of the end zone and limited them to 3-for-17 on third down in helping to secure the Longhorns' 15th straight non-conference win, tying a school record established in the 1940s.

"I thought our defense pitched a shutout," Brown said. "... But we've still got a lot to work to do and it's fun when you can win 41-10 and still feel like you've got a lot of things to fix."

Texas had a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown and also a fake punt that didn't work and led to Wyoming's other points and a fake field goal that failed.