Longhorns sticking with David Ash at quarterback

Case McCoy rallied Texas in the fourth quarter to beat Kansas on Saturday, but the junior is still the Longhorns' backup quarterback. David Ash will start against Texas Tech this week despite a poor outing against the Jayhawks.

McCoy led a pair of scoring drives in the fourth quarter of a 21-17 win at KU, including a touchdown pass to D.J. Grant with 12 seconds remaining to avoid the upset. But that was not enough to convince the UT coaching staff to make a switch at quarterback this week. 

"It was a staff discussion yesterday and David's body of work has been really good, he's played as one of the best quarterbacks in the country," Coach Mack Brown said on Monday.  

Ash was pulled in the fourth quarter against Kansas after throwing two interceptions and going 8-of-16 for 63 yards. In his first series, McCoy guided Texas on a seven-play, 84-yard scoring drive capped by Marquise Goodwin's 11-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14. After Kansas regained the lead with a chip-shot field goal, McCoy drove Texas 70 yards for the game-winning score. 

"It was tough, but I was real proud of Case and how he stepped up and saved the day," Ash said.

McCoy converted a crucial fourth-and-six with an 18-yard pass to Jaxon Shipley to keep the final drive alive. He finished the game 6-of-8 for 109 yards and one touchdown. McCoy hoped to be named the starter this week, but will instead continue to back up Ash. 

"I was prepared to be the starter and that's about all I'm going to say on that," McCoy said. "Bottom line is I prepare every week like I'm going to be the starter and if I get thrown into the fire again, I'm going to prepare just like I did and hopefully have the same outcome."

Ash had been reliable for Texas this season heading into the Kansas game and was ranked ninth in the FBS with a 70.2 completion percentage. But he struggled to find his receivers and had two costly turnovers with Texas in scoring position. 

"It was just a rough day, things weren't going my way," Ash said. "I just didn't think I handled it well. I got frustrated a little bit and tried to do a little bit too much. I've got to learn from it and move on. I'm done with that."

Offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin does not think he has a quarterback controversy on his hands. 

"That's not going to be a problem. We're not going to go back and forth on who is going to start. David is going to start and Case is going to prepare himself to play," Harsin said. "David has done some very good things for us up to this point. It wasn't a great game for David and he knows that. So he has to get back to doing what we did in previous games and playing at higher level."

While Ash will remain the starter, the Longhorns are prepared to turn to McCoy again if needed. 

"David knows the offense didn't produce when he was in there and it was obvious when Case came in it did [produce]," Brown said. "We would not hesitate to put Case in after Saturday, for sure." 

By Austin Laymance/Special to the Star-Telegram