LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -In their quest to take some pressure off Heisman Trophy runner-up Colt McCoy, No. 2 Texas may have found an answer in freshman tailback Tre’ Newton.
Newton led the Longhorns with 62 yards and eight carries after Vondrell McGee (11 carries, 61 yards) tweaked a sore ankle midway through Texas’ 41-10 win at Wyoming on Saturday.
“Tre did in the game what we see in practice,” coach Mack Brown said. “He’s earned the right to get more snaps. He has good hands, and every time we put him in, he makes yards.”
McCoy loves having him in his backfield.
“He’s a stud, he’s a playmaker, and when he gets his chance to go in there he’s going to play well,” McCoy said.
Plagued by penalties and overthrows, the ‘Horns managed just two field goals in their first eight drives.
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And was Newton who was doing the heavy lifting in the backfield while the Longhorns were shaking off their sloppy start with a 35-0 run and McGee was limited to watching from the sideline as a precaution.
“I thought Tre’ Newton came in and really played well,” offensive coordinator Greg Davis said. “I looked at Vondrell’s numbers at halftime, I believe he was averaging 6.1 yards a carry. What you can point to in the first half is that we were a little bit sloppy and we did not do a good job on third down. It wasn’t an individual guy situation.
“But I was pleased with Tre’ Newton in the second half. I thought he came in and hit some plays. He did a nice job, so we are encouraged by that.”
Newton, who had a 13-yard touchdown run, took a big first step in becoming one of the pressure valves that Davis is searching for.
“I think we’ll continue to take the pressure off by committee until somebody definitely steps up because they all bring a little something different to the field,” Newton said.
McCoy got off to a slow start before finishing with 30 completions for 337 yards and three touchdowns. But he misfired 17 passes for just the third time in his college career and threw an interception right at a linebacker in the first half.
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The Longhorns (2-0) uncharacteristically committed a dozen penalties and trailed 10-6 in the waning minutes of the first half. The Cowboys got their touchdown on a blocked punt return and their chip-shot field goal after a fake punt that failed.
The ‘Horns defense, on the other hand, had a fantastic day against the Cowboys’ spread offense in a tuneup for next weekend’s showdown with Texas Tech in Austin. Last year, the Red Raider’s last-minute win put a dent in Texas’ season.
“I wouldn’t say payback, we just have the attitude to play to our standards,” linebacker Sergio Kindle said. “It doesn’t have to do with last year. They won fair and square, we just have to go out and have a great performance.”
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