2006 BCS Championship

Jan. 4, 2006, Rose Bowl Stadium
Texas 41, USC 38

PASADENA -- In the 2005 Rose Bowl Game, Vince Young had a legendary performance – 372 yards of total offense, five touchdowns and led his team to a fourth-quarter comeback for a win.

In 2006, he seemed to transcend legend.

The spectacular Texas quarterback not only surpassed many of his own numbers from 2005, he led his team to a second-straight comeback Rose Bowl Game victory, this time in the Bowl Championship Series national championship game, and he single-handedly outperformed two-time defending national champion and No. 1 USC’s two Heisman trophy winners – Matt Leinart the year before and Reggie Bush in 2005-2006.

When asked whether Young’s 2006 performance that led his Texas team to a 41-38 victory over USC and a national championship was the greatest individual performance he’d ever seen against him, USC Head Coach Pete Carroll responded, “Yes, without question, that was the best by one guy and a team – I won’t take away from the Texas football team – he’s an extraordinary football player.”

Young, earning Player of the Game honors for the second consecutive year, ran and threw for a Rose Bowl Game-record 467 yards of total offense – he completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards and averaged an astounding 10.5 yards per carry as he rushed for an even 200 yards and three touchdowns, two of those coming near the end of the fourth quarter to author a comeback that will forever live as one of the greatest in Rose Bowl Game history.

The teams broke the Rose Bowl Game record for combined total yards (1,130) and put together the second-highest scoring affair in history.

After USC took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, Texas came alive in the second, scoring 16 points to USC’s three – a last-second field goal – to take a 16-10 halftime lead.

USC’s LenDale White, who led USC in rushing, going for 124 yards and three touchdowns, scored his second to start the third quarter, which Young answered with his first a few minutes later. Then USC and White responded, followed by Bush’s only one of the day from 26 yards in the fourth quarter, a prodigious tight-wire scamper down the right-hand sideline capped by a memorable dive into the end zone.

After a Texas field goal, USC scored again, this time on a Leinart pass to Dwayne Jarrett, who fought off two tacklers to lunge into the end zone. That put USC up 38-26.

It was then that Young went to work. On the ensuing drive, he calmly took his offense 69 yards in just 2:39 and capped it with a 17-yard touchdown run.

The Trojans were then forced into a 4th-and-2 situation at the Texas 45-yard line. They went for it. First down meant a win; a failed attempt meant the uber-capable shoulders of Young have another shot.

The Longhorns defense held, and Young took the ball with 2:09 remaining. As the USC faithful who traveled across town feared, Young did what Young does when it matters: He drove his team into scoring territory and, well, scored. He took a quarterback draw on 4th and 5 into the end zone from 8 yards out with 19 seconds left. Game over. Thus ending a 34-game USC winning streak and earning Texas its first national championship since 1970.

Scoring Summary:
USC: White 4 yd run (Danelo kick); UT: Pino 46 yd field goal; UT: S. Young 12 yd run (Pino kick); UT: Taylor 30 yd run (Pino kick); USC: Danelo 43 yd field goal; USC: White 3 yd run (Danelo kick); UT: V. Young 14 yd run (Pino kick); USC: White 12 yd run (Danelo kick); USC: Bush 26 yd run (Danelo kick); UT: Pino 34 yd field goal; USC: Jarrett 22 yd pass from Leinart (Danelo kick); UT: V. Young 17 yd run (Pino kick); V. Young 8 yd run (Pino kick)

MOPs: Vince Young and Michael Huff (Texas)