Case McCoy: Can Texas QB Be Better Than Older Brother Colt?

Case McCoy had his first official start at Texas today, and he led the No. 23-ranked Longhorns to an impressive 49-20 win on the road against UCLA.

He was very efficient, throwing for 167 yards on 10 of 14 passing with two touchdowns. By no means are those superstar numbers, but they are still solid.

Case (of course) is the younger brother of Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. Colt was a two-time Heisman trophy finalist who holds nearly every passing record in Texas football history. Obviously, younger brother Case has the bloodlines and the raw skill to become a great in his own right.

But the question is, can he be better than Colt?

Well, let me start by saying those are huge shoes to fill. Will Case be as good or better than Colt? Probably not. Can he be as good? Absolutely.

He is the starter at Texas for the foreseeable future and is only a sophomore. Texas has the coaches and the skill players and offensive line to support Case for the next few years.

In his start today, Case showed the Longhorn faithful a familiar skill set of intelligence and accuracy. He’s got the 6-2, 200-pound frame that you like to see in a quarterback and is definitely a confident leader even at a young age.

But when it comes to comparing Case with Colt, you have to look at the body of work Colt put together during his four years in Austin. In his sophomore year, he threw for 3,303 yards and 22 touchdowns. Big numbers, no doubt, but he was also intercepted 18 times.

If Case remains the starter this year, he has a chance to be more effective than Colt was at the same point. But it’s going to take a lot to overtake Colt’s numbers from his junior year, when he threw for almost 4,000 yards and had a 34 touchdown to 8 interception ratio. That year he was the runner up to Sam Bradford for the Heisman Trophy.

A key to Case having a shot at being better than his older brother at Texas is to continually play well these next few weeks and hold on to that starting job. If he gets almost three full years at the helm, he will have a shot at leading the Longhorns to a National Championship, seemingly the only thing Colt didn’t do for them.

So, the question remains CAN, not will Case be the best McCoy? Will Case be better than Colt? Time will tell. The numbers and accomplishments seem insurmountable. But does Case have the chops? Yes. Let’s wait until we see a few more starts out of the young gun before making too many comparisons to his brother. So far, it seems as though he’s got what it takes.