FORT WORTH, Texas — After all the passes he’s completed and all of the touchdowns and all of the eyes of Texas that have smiled upon him, Colt McCoy doesn’t need another trophy to prove that he’s a winner.

Forty-five times in his college career, McCoy has sent Longhorns fans home happy. No quarterback has ever done that.
In a moving acceptance speech Saturday night, however, it was Alabama tailback Mark Ingram who was awarded the Heisman Trophy. McCoy finished third in the voting behind Stanford’s Toby Gerhart.
Ingram thanked his parents and grandparents and expressed gratitude to everyone in Tuscaloosa from his math teacher to his strength coach.
After all of the storied players who have worn an Alabama uniform, from Bart Starr to Joe Namath to John Hannah, it probably will surprise many that Ingram is the first Crimson Tide player to win the celebrated award.
But as Ingram himself noted, the Heisman is as much about the winner’s team as it is the player.
Ingram’s rise to the top of the Heisman race seemed to parallel Alabama’s ascent to the top of the polls.
And let’s be frank. The final image of Ingram that most of America had before casting its Heisman ballot was of Ingram and the Crimson Tide celebrating their convincing Southeastern Conference title-game win over defending national champ Florida.
The final image of Colt McCoy, on the other hand, was the Longhorns quarterback throwing three interceptions against Nebraska and nearly blowing the national title shot by seemingly not paying attention to the clock.
If Ingram really wanted to thank someone, he could have looked in the front row Saturday, where Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh sat. It was Suh’s nightlong flustering of McCoy last weekend that probably cost Colt his final Heisman shot.
Ingram’s winning margin over Stanford’s Gerhart was the closest in Heisman history. Ingram finished with 227 first-place votes and 1,304 points, while Gerhart received 222 votes for first and 1,276 points. McCoy was next with 203 votes for the top spot and 1,145 points.
Trailing the top three, in order, were Suh, Florida’s Tim Tebow, Clemson’s C.J. Spiller and Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore.
Did the voters get it right?
It’s hard to argue after hearing Ingram so humbly, so graciously accept the award.
True, the list of Heisman winners has its share of knuckleheads. Did you notice Mike Rozier, Nebraska’s 1983 winner, in his “Guys and Dolls” suit?
But once he earns the famous trophy, a winner wears the Heisman label forever. And in that regard, Ingram appears to be a worthy steward.
It’s hard to tell how much effect McCoy’s sub-par performance in the Big 12 Championship Game had on his Heisman candidacy. Clearly, however, it didn’t help.
Some TV and newspaper voices were urging the public to consider McCoy’s entire body of work — the yards, the career victories, the completion percentage.
But I always thought the trophy was for one season of football, not four. And in the end, Colt’s senior season seemed to come up one signature victory short.
There was no dominant offensive player in college football this season. Ingram carried the Tide on his back in some games. Gerhart crashed the party, almost literally, and came close.
I would have had a hard time voting for either of the running backs, however, after having seen Clemson’s C.J. Spiller play.
My Heisman first-place vote would have gone to a player who did dominate the games he played in this season — Nebraska’s Suh.
His problem was that the Cornhuskers’ revival wasn’t a TV fixture south of Lincoln. The many glowing words that were written about Suh this season still didn’t do his considerable talent justice.
What if Suh’s Huskers had been a top-10 team all season?
What if Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford hadn’t gotten hurt?
For Colt McCoy and the Texas Longhorns, those questions are moot now. The winningest quarterback in college history doesn’t need another trophy, even (that) one, to be the icing on the cake of his 45-win career.
A bigger trophy awaits next month in Pasadena, Calif.
Texas and Alabama. Colt McCoy and the newly crowned Mr. Heisman.
Maybe the voters will see they voted too soon.