When it comes to statistical leaders at the University of Texas, Colt McCoy and Sam Ehlinger stand alone atop the leaderboards. McCoy is the No. 1 guy in most of those categories. Ehlinger is chasing him. As we have done throughout the season, we bring you the ‘Chasing Colt’ series. For this instance, we look at each quarterback through 45 games. The numbers may surprise you.
Quarterback Comparisons
Sam Ehlinger (29-16), Colt McCoy (38-7)
When it came to records as a starting quarterback, there is no comparison with Colt McCoy. Through the same number of games played, McCoy came out on the winning side, nine more times than Ehlinger did. While you can make an argument that Colt had the advantage with a better corp of players around him and the better coach. It is fair to say that considering the circumstances, Sam held his own.
Advantage: McCoy
Completion Percentage
When it came to throwing the ball, there has been no quarterback that has finished a season with the passing completion percentage that McCoy has. He owns the NCAA record for completion percentage in a season. He finished 2008 with a blistering 76.7 completion percentage.
McCoy-70.2
Ehlinger-62.5
Advantage: McCoy
Passing Yardage
Through the 45 games we looked at, Ehlinger threw 1,460 passes to McCoy’s 1,398. McCoy completed more passes but they are almost neck and neck in terms of total yardage. They are separated by a total of seven yards.
McCoy-11,269
Ehlinger-11,276
Advantage: Ehlinger
Passing Touchdowns
As it seems with most of these categories, they are very close in terms of numbers. Colt leads Sam in this category for passing touchdowns by a narrow margin. During the 2006-09 seasons, no player caught more touchdowns from McCoy than Jordan Shipley (33). Ehlinger’s favorite targets have been Devin Duvernay (13), Collin Johnson (12). Sam seems to spread the ball around a lot more than McCoy did, but both Shipley and Duvernay had seasons for the ages catching passes from these two passers.
McCoy-96
Ehlinger-93
Advantage: McCoy
Rushing Yards
This one isn’t much of a comparison since Ehlinger carried the ball a lot more than McCoy ever did. McCoy was credited with 366 carries compared to Ehlinger’s 549. When the Longhorns get into the redzone, it seems like it is almost a foregone conclusion that QB power is coming.
McCoy-1,314 yards
Ehlinger-1,908 yards
Advantage: Ehlinger
Rushing Touchdowns
When it came to running the football, both quarterbacks were able to show off their athleticism on designed runs or when the play broke down. Ehlinger scores a lot of his rushing touchdowns in goal to go situations. This is why he leads this category by 15 touchdowns.
McCoy-18
Ehlinger-33
Advantage: Ehlinger
Total Offense/Total Touchdowns
Whether it comes through the air or on the ground, both gunslingers could rack up the yards and touchdowns. McCoy was by far the better passer and as Cami Griffin says, “we haven’t seen a passer of his caliber since McCoy.” Ehlinger was the better runner and he was built to run the football. Overall these two quarterbacks knew how to get the job done but in two different styles. They are No. 1 and No. 2 in both categories at the University of Texas and top 10 in Big 12 Conference history.
McCoy- 12,583 and 114 TDs
Ehlinger- 13,184 and 126 TDs
Advantage: Ehlinger