I'm starting to believe that the whole McCoy/Shipley phenomenon had more to do with Shipley than it did McCoy.

Think about it. Shipley just has a knack for getting open. He makes it easy for the QB, whomever that QB may be. He's the go to guy, and about the only receiver they had who could hang on to the ball.

McCoy or freshman QB? Makes no difference. The outcome would be the same. Either one will be locked onto Shipley as their go-to guy.

So if you think of it in those terms, it really matters not that McCoy was out of the game. Aside from his scrambling abilities, passing to Shipley was about all you could expect from him.

Alabama covered Shipley pretty good I guess, except on a few occasions, and that's when Texas scored their points.

Hell, it's not like McCoy went into the game being unfamiliar with what it's like to be sacked or intercepted. If he played the entire length of the game HE would have produced the same results as his replacement-- a few long yardage completions to Shipley and several fumble/interceptions/sacks.

This is why Alabama would have won the game regardless of who played as Texas' QB. They win or lose with Shipley. And while you can't cover Shipley ALL the time, Alabama did a fair job of covering him ENOUGH of the time.