Faurot Field - Columbia, Mo. Oct. 24, 2009 Attendance: 71,004

Thanks to the Bowl Championship Series and the need to impress computers and poll voters nearly as much as winning on the field, the college football season in the 21st century has become something of a beauty pageant in helmets and shoulder pads, with the aspiration to look pretty always at the forefront.

That’s why Texas coach Mack Brown emphasized the need for the Horns to make a statement when they played Missouri Saturday. Consider that mission accomplished as the third-ranked Longhorns dominated every facet of the game in a 41-7 Big 12 win on a chilly night at Faurot Field in Columbia.

McCoy completed 26 of 31 passes as he continues to find his rhythm.

“Everybody loves style points,” Brown said. “It’s not going to be pretty all the time. You never know when pretty’s going to show up, but when it does, hug it and enjoy it.”

Pretty showed up Saturday, and the Horns and their fans enjoyed it. There was little doubt about the outcome of this game from the opening possession as the Horns scored early and often to quiet the sellout homecoming crowd of 71,004, the largest crowd at the stadium since its reconfiguration in 1995. The stands were less than half-full early in the fourth quarter as Texas’s performance — and rain that began late in the game — sent the Tiger homecoming faithful home-going.

Thanks to a season-best performance by UT quarterback Colt McCoy, a renewed and varied running game and an in-your-face defense that gave the Tigers little hope, the Horns remain undefeated.

Texas entered the game leading the nation in scoring with 42 points per game, but as any fan will tell you, the Horns have been sluggish in the first half of all but one of their contests in 2009. Not on this night. The Horns engaged instantly against Missouri, scoring on their first three possessions and roaring out to a 35-7 halftime lead.

“Our offense hasn’t been starting well, and our defense hasn’t been starting well,” Brown said. “A key tonight was to come in with a swagger … come in excited about the game and ready to play.”

Texas has outscored Missouri 70-10 in the first half of the teams’ last two meetings (including going up 35-3 in 2008 versus a Tiger team that was much better than the one UT faced this year). In those two games, the Horns scored touchdowns on nine of their 10 first-half possessions.

“The first half was the best we’ve played all year,” said McCoy, who connected on his first 11 passes and tallied three touchdown tosses in the first 28 minutes of the game. “We were secure, and we were confident. But there are still things we can improve. Just because we played one good half doesn’t mean we’re where we should be.”

McCoy completed 26 of his 31 passes (and three were dropped) for 269 yards with one interception. He extended his school-record streak to 24 consecutive games with a TD pass — currently the longest in the nation. “Colt has had a tough year … he’s been sick, he’s been hurt,” Brown said. “We’ve got the Colt of old back now, so we’re ready to make this stretch run.”

Added McCoy: “It’s amazing what not being sick will do for you. I felt great out there.”

Eight Horns had catches in the game, led by Jordan Shipley’s seven catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Malcolm Williams nabbed five catches for 53 yards, by far his most productive game of 2009.

And six UT players — led by Fozzy Whittaker’s 36 yards on nine totes — carried the ball for the Horns. Texas gained 131 yards on the ground despite 13 yards lost on two sacks of McCoy.

Texas opened the game on fire, moving 61 yards in eight plays culminating in McCoy’s 8-yard scoring pass to Shipley. Midway through the first quarter, Whittaker used his speed and a final lunge to get to the left corner of the end zone on an 11-yard touchdown run, and on UT’s third possession McCoy hit John Chiles for a 34-yard TD and a 21-0 lead that silenced the huge Missouri crowd.

Missouri (winless in conference play) used its ground attack and a pretty 11-yard scoring pass from Blaine Gabbert to Jared Perry to move to within 21-7 in the second quarter. However, Texas rebuked any chance of a Tiger comeback by reaching pay dirt twice more before halftime, first on a 13-yard McCoy-to-Shipley pass and then when Malcolm Williams pounced on a punt that was blocked by the Horns’ Curtis Brown after a great stand by the UT defense.

Though he told a television sideline reporter that the Horns would “play the second half like it was 0-0,” Brown called off the dogs. Still, Texas added two Hunter Lawrence field goals — from 39 and 44 yards, respectively — to expand its lead and extend the final margin of victory.

“Obviously Texas is a great football team — there’s no question about that,” said Missouri coach Gary Pinkel. “They might be the best team in the country — time will tell that. At the same time I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in our football team and the way they played.”

Now that the Horns have begun the second half of their season with a flourish, they’ll face perhaps their toughest test — Oklahoma State on the road on Halloween night, a game pundits have earmarked as a potential trap game on Texas’ road to the BCS Championship contest.