Texas quarterback Colt McCoy suffered a right shoulder injury early in the first quarter of the BCS national championship game against Alabama.

The second-ranked Longhorns suffered a 37-21 loss to the No. 1 Crimson Tide.

Shortly after Alabama failed on a fake punt, McCoy kept the ball on a rushing play for no yards and was nailed in the shoulder by Marcell Dareus at the Alabama 11-yard line. McCoy was then sent to the sideline to have his shoulder worked on, and the Longhorns sent freshman Garrett Gilbert in at QB.

"When it came to the first play of McCoy, I really didn't try to hit him that hard. I didn't want to hurt him," Dareus said. "It was a part of the game. You don't think, you just react, and I just reacted to what I saw."

McCoy went back to the locker room for x-rays on the shoulder. The Heisman Trophy finalist then exited the x-ray room and was out of his pads with a dejected look on his face, one that ultimately signaled the end of his collegiate career. The x-rays were negative, but the sprained shoulder, kept McCoy out.

"He was really in pain at halftime, and he and his dad were sitting there with the doctors," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "I never even asked the doctors because I could tell, he didn't need to be back out on the field."

Gilbert, the son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert. stepped in for McCoy and had a horrendous first half, but threw two second-half touchdown passes to Jordan Shipley. The last, a 28-yarder, came with 6:15 remaining. The two-point conversion pass to Dan Buckner pulled the No. 2 Longhorns within 24-21. Texas couldn't complete the comeback.

The all-time NCAA QB leader in career wins with 45 in his 52 starts coming into Thursday's game, McCoy had yet another stellar campaign this season, completing a ridiculous 70.5 percent of his passes, for 3,512 yards, with 27 TDs prior to the title contest.

Gilbert ended 15-of-40 for 186 yards with a pair of TDs and four interceptions. He also fumbled at the most critical time, late in the fourth quarter, leading to Mark Ingram's game-sealing TD run.

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