COLLEGE STATION, Texas — With all due apologies to Mr. Oscar Hammerstein:
Fish gotta swim . . .

Birds gotta fly . . .
Colt’s gotta run.
From here on out, I promise not to rewrite any more Broadway classics, and while we’re making resolutions, Texas coaches can vow they’ll never again make another history-making quarterback into something he’s not.
On a cool Thanksgiving night ripe with the potential of an upset, Colt McCoy pulled Texas’ season from the fire and made his best case yet for the Heisman, all in one rollicking, record-setting performance.
And he had to be in top form in a 49-39 win at Kyle Field, too, because Texas A&M’s Jerrod Johnson was, for one game, anyway, nearly his equal.
In the first half alone, Johnson completed 13 of 15 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns. And it wasn’t as easy as that sounds. To give you an idea, at one point on the third touchdown drive he shrugged off a direct hit from a blitzing Curtis Brown as if it were no more than a hug from a crazy aunt.
And as good as Johnson was, McCoy was simply better.
In the first half, McCoy accounted for all but 57 of Texas’ 398 yards. He passed for 222 and three touchdowns and ran for 119 more, including a 65-yard burst up the middle, where he outran a safety and a linebacker and a closing cornerback, not to mention the Heisman campaigns of Tim Tebow and Mark Ingram.
If Heisman voters were still on the fence so late in the process — and this one was — McCoy made an emphatic argument Thursday. And just in time.
Unlike the last few seasons, when candidates emerged early and often, it hasn’t been a good year for headliners. Halfway through, McCoy didn’t look anything like the quarterback who made a hard run at the Heisman last year.
Erratic and out of sync with a virtually new set of receivers, he was also hemmed in by a game plan designed to keep him from running so much.
Frankly, I don’t find much fault with Mack Brown or his offensive coordinator, Greg Davis. For one thing, it’s a little embarrassing when your quarterback leads the team in rushing. This ain’t the single wing.
More important, McCoy took a beating last season. The toll chips away at any quarterback’s effectiveness.
And if McCoy were knocked out of so much as one game?
TCU might get its wish after all.
But the problem with reining in a quarterback’s instincts is that you wind up with Tony Romo sitting on a bench, head in hands, with DeMarcus Ware whispering encouragement in his ear.
Romo needs the adrenaline rush that you don’t get from simply driving the bus.
Texas learned with Vince Young to shape the offense to his talents and not force anything on him. All he did as a result was lead the Longhorns to a national title.
And McCoy? Since Texas took the chains off, he’s been as good as ever.
In the last five games going into Thursday’s, McCoy had completed 76.9 percent of his passes for 1,487 yards and 12 touchdowns with two interceptions, a 171.9 rating. He led Texas to scores on 30 of 47 possessions.
And when Texas needed him most as the Aggies carved up Will Muschamp’s third-ranked defense, McCoy responded like champions do.
His signature moment: Facing a second-and-10 from his own 22 after the Aggies had cut his fourth-quarter lead to three, McCoy darted and bumped and sidestepped 43 yards.
Three plays later, he threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Williams.
Before it was over, McCoy would account for five touchdowns, 304 yards passing and 175 rushing. And Texas would need every inch of it.
Few could have imagined going into Thursday night’s game that the Longhorns, three-touchdown favorites, would require so much of its quarterback. A Heisman-worthy effort, is all it was.