Young’s amazing effort leads Texas to Rose Bowl triumph

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, January 05, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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Even Vince Young looked amazed.

After he bolted through the Southern Cal defense on a busted play for the touchdown that gave his No. 2 Longhorns an epic victory over the No. 1 Trojans in the Rose Bowl Wednesday night, the junior quarterback just stood next to the end zone for a moment, football in hand, as if uncertain what to do next.

Moments later, he followed a crushing surge from his offensive line for the two-point conversion that made the final score 41-38. USC still had a chance to win, but Matt Leinart's final pass sailed out of bounds beyond Dwayne Jarrett's reach as time ran out on the game, Leinart's storied career and the Trojans' 34-game winning streak.

As for the Longhorn defense, it only stopped Southern Cal once in the second half, but that turned out to be enough. With the Trojans up 38-32 with 2:09 left, Texas stuffed LenDale White inches short of a first down to give Young the ball one more time. He didn't waste the opportunity.

His first pass to Tyrell Gatewood on that final drive lost two yards, however, and his second was incomplete. Then Trojan All-American Darnell Bing was called for a face-mask penalty on a 7-yard completion to Quan Cosby to hand the Longhorns a first down. Two passes to Brian Carter, sandwiched around Young's 7-yard run, put the ball on the USC 13. Three plays later, it was fourth and five with 19 seconds left -- the season.

Young dropped back to throw, found Carter, Limas Sweed and tight end David Thomas (10 catches on the night) all blanketed by defenders, then broke containment to his right, scoring just inside the pylon as Longhorn nation waved their "hook 'em" signs hard enough to dislocate all their fingers.

It was a personal vindication for Young, bitterly disappointed that Southern Cal's Reggie Bush beat him out for the Heisman Trophy. With 200 yards rushing and 30 of 40 passing for 267 yards, the 6-5, 230-pounder from Houston certainly turned in a Heismanesque performance in Pasadena. Bush, dogged throughout by Texas defenders, finished with 80 yards rushing, 94 yards receiving and a touchdown. He also turned the ball over on an ill-advised lateral when USC had the chance to go up 14-0 in the first quarter.

But if Bush didn't quite live up to the hype, the Trojan triumvirate of Leinart, White and Jarrett made up for it. Leinart finished 29 of 40 passing for 367 yards, White rushed for 123 yards and three touchdowns, and Jarrett caught 10 passes for 124 yards.

In the end, though, the night belonged to a player the commentators were hard put to describe. To whom do you compare Vince Young? Michael Vick? Bigger. Donovan McNabb? Faster.

"He just ran all over the place on us," said Trojans' coach Pete Carroll afterward. "We couldn't stop him."

Young even fooled the officials on Texas' first touchdown, lateraling to roommate Selvin Young for an 11-yard score although replays clearly showed that Young's knee was down when he made his pitch. The Longhorns were in such a hurry to get the extra point off before a possible review that David Pino pushed it badly wide right.

That made it 9-7, Texas, with Young's score and a career-high 46-yard field goal from Pino counterbalancing White's first touchdown run. Ramonce Taylor put Texas up 16-7 on a 30-yard burst in the second period, and Mario Danelo's USC field goal made it 16-10 at halftime. Then the floodgates opened and all that eagerly anticipated offense poured out.

It could be argued that the real stars of the game were the offensive lines. Texas' frontmen didn't allow a sack of Young, while the Trojan "O" line opened huge holes for White to charge through.

Mack Brown's Longhorns, 13-0 and the Big 12 champions, now own the nation's longest winning streak at 20. Pac 10 representative Southern Cal, 13-1, lost an opportunity for its third BCS national title in a row.
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