Greg McElroy, Colt McCoy debate 2010 national championship injury

A famous quote around Austin, for well over a decade now, is “If Colt did not get hurt.” It’s a reference to the national championship game against Alabama in January 2010 when Texas lost starting quarterback Colt McCoy early in the game. Mack Brown had to ride with a true freshman backup in Garrett Gilbert while Nick Saban went on to win his first of six titles in Tuscaloosa.

So when McCoy appeared on Greg McElroy‘s podcast, the first thing they had to talk about was the game. Texas fans are adamant the game would have gone differently if the injury had not occurred. But McCoy himself does not believe that, saying anything can happen in football.

“You can’t say what would have happened,” McCoy said to McElroy. “You never know, it’s football. The ball could bounce your way, it could also not bounce your way. You could have got behind and thrown three touchdowns to Julio Jones. Like, who knows? You never know.”

McCoy was running a speed option to the field side of the field on the 11-yard line with 11:30 remaining in the first quarter. He did not pitch it to Tre Newton and instead took a shot from Alabama defensive lineman Marcel Darrius. Immediately going to the sideline, Brown called a timeout while trainers attended to McCoy. From there, it was Gilbert’s show.

More than anything, McCoy was frustrated he did not finish out the season with his teammates and coaches. It was his fourth year as the starting quarterback and could have left for the NFL the year prior. McCoy instead came back to make a national championship run, made it to the game, and left after just three and a half minutes.

“The hardest part about not being able to finish that game was — yeah, it was hard on me but take me out of the equation,” McCoy said. “I had played for four years, those guys had never heard another play call in the huddle from somebody else.

“Think about the livelihood of coaches and how much we all cared… To have that all wiped away, personally, it was so hard. I also feel for all my teammates, coaches, and all the work we all did.”

McElroy admitted Alabama’s sideline was bummed to hear McCoy was done for the game. They wanted to beat Texas at their best and the Longhorns certainly were not at full strength without their quarterback.

Even so, McCoy does not buy into the theory that he would hoist the crystal ball had the injury not taken place, knowing anything can happen in football.