DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium - Austin, Texas Oct. 10, 2009 Attendance: 101,152

There’s been one constant this season for Texas: its defense has been good enough to win games by itself.  That notion was all but put to the test Oct. 10 as the second-ranked Horns sputtered their way to a 38-14 win over outmatched Colorado in a key Big 12 Conference tilt at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

The UT offense — in a rut trying to prove it could run the ball against a Colorado team that’s been porous against the rush — showed it’s not quite as multi-dimensional as fans might have thought after it produced more than 300 yards on the ground against Texas-El Paso.

Kindle and the Horns defense held Colorado to just 42 rushing yards.

“We don’t want to get in a game where we put so much pressure on Colt [McCoy] that he has to throw every play,” coach Mack Brown said. “We’d like to have some runs. Colorado was stubborn, and maybe I was trying to out-stubborn them. They weren’t going to let us run the ball.”

Trailing 14-10 midway through the third quarter, the Horns got the spark they needed when track star-turned-football player Marquise Goodwin burst through the Buffalo line and blocked a punt. Ben Wells picked up the bouncing ball and returned it for a touchdown that gave Texas a 17-14 lead.

Nearly four minutes later —after a McCoy interception on a tipped pass set Colorado up on the UT 17-yard line — Horns’ safety Earl Thomas intercepted a pass and returned it 92-yards for another Texas touchdown and a 24-14 advantage.

Then, on Colorado’s first possession of the fourth quarter, it was forced to punt. The Buffs tried to kick the ball away from Texas’ dangerous Jordan Shipley — who already had a 47-yard punt return negated by a penalty — but Shipley ran down the ball on the far sideline. He roamed to his left and roared around the corner, getting an impromptu block from the referee on Buffalo punter Matt DiLallo, and sprinted into the end zone for a 74-yard touchdown.

The Horns led, 31-17, scoring three consecutive touchdowns without the benefit of the offense. “It’s a team game,” McCoy said. “Our defense played lights out, and our special teams played really well. It was a solid team win.”

The Horns’ defense allowed Colorado to drive 66 yards on eight plays on the game’s opening possession to take a 7-0 lead. For the rest of the game, the Buffaloes managed just 61 yards on 49 snaps and amassed only 127 yards of total offense.

Colorado ran for only 42 yards on 34 carries, was just 3-of-15 on third-down conversions and actually had more penalty yards (140 on 20 penalties) than total offense. It was the second game in a row the Horns allowed an opponent less yardage than the opponent’s own mistakes cost them.

The Longhorns had a measure of success with the passing game, as McCoy hit on 32-of-39 throws for 265 yards and a pretty 39-yard touchdown strike at the end of the first half to Shipley. Texas ended up with 313 yards of total offense (it had 215 in the first half) despite running just 24 plays after halftime. “For the most part the passing game was there,” McCoy said. “We were pretty efficient and completed a lot of balls. We just have to be more consistent.”

Fozzy Whittaker rumbled around right end for 12 yards and the Horns’ final touchdown with six minutes to play, marking UT’s lone real triumph via the rush. Cody Johnson led all Texas runners with 20 yards on nine carries. “The running game was non-existent,” offensive coordinator Greg Davis said. “We probably should have thrown the ball more in some situations. Running was a focus — we talked about it and worked on it — but at the same time, we eventually did what we do best, and that’s throwing and catching the ball.”