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| Texas quarterback Vince Young runs in for the game-winning touchdown in the legendary 2006 Rose Bowl. |
The game lived up to the hype and more as those who saw the 2006 Rose Bowl consider the game to be the greatest college football game ever played.
The Trojans entered the game #1 and on a 34-game winning streak, as they looking to make history by becoming the first school in the AP era to win three straight national championships.
Led by 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart at quarterback and 2005 Heisman Trophy Winner Reggie Bush at running back, along with 1,000 yard running back LenDale White and 1,000 yard reciever Dwayne Jarrett, the Trojans were being considered as the greatest team of all time as nine of their 12 victories by 17 points or more as well as offense that averaged exactly 50 points per game, with the least points that USC scored in a game was 34 in their infamous 34-31 win over Notre Dame when Bush helped push Leinart into the endzone for the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds.
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| USC head coach Pete Carroll entered the 2006 Rose Bowl with a chance to claim his third straight national championship. |
But the Trojans' opponent in the Rose Bowl was no slouch in the #2 Texas Longhorns, led by Heisman runner up Vince Young at quarterback who had accounted for 3,619 yards of total offense(2,769 passing and 850 running) and 35 touchdowns(26 passing, 9 running) in leading the Longhorns to a 12-0 regular season and Big 12 championship.
Like I said, Texas was no slouch as its offense averaged 50.9 points per game and had nine of its 12 victories by 20 points or more, with the Longhorns' closest call coming in the second game of the season as they traveled to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes, which the Longhorns won 25-22.
Plus, the Trojans were no stranger to the Rose Bowl, having played the year before against the Michigan Wolverines, winning the game 38-37 on a 37-yard field goal by David Mangum as time expired as Young accounted for 372 yards of offense(180 passing, 192 running) and five touchdowns(one passing, four running).
So with the Trojans and the Longhorns dominance during the 2005 regular season, the expectations were sky-high for a great game.
Little did anyone know that the game would exceed the hype.
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| 2005 Heisman Trophy Winner Reggie Bush entered the game having over 2,500 all-purpose yards and scoring 18 touchdowns during the regular season. |
The Trojans got the ball start the game at their 12-yard-line, but did not get a 1st down on their opening possession, so they were forced to punt, only to get the ball back when Texas returner Aaron Ross lost the football when he was hit by USC safety Scott Ware, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Trojans linebacker Kaluka Maiava to give the Trojans the ball at the Texas 46-yard-line.
Five plays later, USC had scored the first touchdown of the game as White punched it in from four yards out to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead just two-and-half minutes into the game.
The Longhorns begin their first drive from thier 20-yard-line and drove to the USC 48-yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-1.
Texas head coach Mack Brown decided to go for the 1st down, but the gamble backfired as running back Selvin Young was dropped for a three-yard loss by the same man who had caused the Texas fumble on the previous punt return, Scott Ware, to give the Trojans the ball at the Texas 49-yard-line.
Leinart and the Trojans drove to the Texas 17-yard-line until they faced a 4th-and-inches where USC head coach Pete Carroll decided to forgo the field goal and go for the 1st down.
But unlike the Notre Dame game where Leinart got a push from Bush, the quarterback was stopped short of the 1st down, allowing the Longhorns to dodge a major bullet as they still trailed 7-0 midway through the opening quarter.
Texas would punt on their ensuing possession, giving the ball back to the Trojans who took over at their 17-yard-line and drove 28 yards to their 45-yard-line when the second quarter began.
On the second play of the quarter, Leinart fired a screen pass to Bush, who made the catch and then proceeded do what he did best and that was make people miss for a big play.
But inexplicably at around the Texas 20-yard-line, Bush tried to lateral the ball to wide receiver Brad Walker, who was probably surprised at Bush's lateral, could not catch the lateral, which resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Texas safety Michael Huff at the Trojans' 18-yard-line(double-click to play)
From there, Young led the Longhorns down to the Trojans' 16-yard-line as Vince completed two passes for 36 yards and had two runs totaling 26 yards to drive Texas to the USC 16-yard-line when disaster nealry struck for the Longhorns when running back Ramonce Taylor was stripped of the ball, causing a fumble that was recovered by Young back at the USC 29-yard-line.
Young's recovery allowed for David Pino to come on and kick a 46-yard field goal that put the Longhorns on the scoreboard as they trailed 7-3 with 10:38 to go before halftime.
The Trojans started their next possession at their 27-yard-line and drove to the Texas 25-yard-line until Leinart lofted a pass toward the end zone that was intercepted by Texas safety Michael Griffin, giving the Longhorns the ball back at their 20-yard-line.
The Longhorns drove to the USC 22-yard-line when Young ran to the left side and was about to be tackled at the 12-yard-line when he like Bush earlier in the game, lateraled the ball, only this time to have his teammate in Selvin Young make the catch, and then ran in for the Longhorns' first touchdown of the game.
However, replays showed that when Vince's knee was down before he pitched the ball to Selvin, yet the replay officials could not review the play in time, allowing the touchdown to stand.(again, double click to play).
Perhaps in a hurry to make the sure the replay review didn't happen, Pino missed the extra point, keeping the score 9-7 with less than five minutes to go before halftime.
After forcing the Trojans to go three-and-out, the Longhorns drove 51 yards in four plays, with Taylor atoning for his earlier mistake by running in for a 30-yard touchdown that increased the Texas lead to 16-7 with 2:34 left in the first half.
With little time left before halftime, the Trojans went to a no-huddle offense on their next possession as they drove from their 20-yard-line to the Longhorns' 13-yard-line until Leinart was sacked twice by Texas defensive tackle Frank Okam, pushing USC back to the Texas 26-yard-line where they had to settle for a 43-yard field goal by Mario Danielo to cut the Texas lead to 16-10 as the first half came to a close.
The Longhorns got the ball to start the second half but promptly went three-and-out, punting the ball back to the Trojans who took over at their 38-yard-line.
That is when Leinart got caught fire as he completed all four of his passes on the drive for 44 yards, three of those completions to Jarrett for 35 yards, leading to a three-yard touchdown run by White that with the extra point put USC back on top, 17-16 with 10:36 left in the third quarter.
Texas responded with a seven-play, 80-yard drive as Young accounted for 59 of the 80 yards on the drive, including the last 14 coming on a touchdown run that gave the Longhorns the lead again, 23-17 just two minutes after the USC touchdown.
The Trojans would strike back with as they drove from their 26-yard-line to the Longhorns' 12-yard-line thanks to the left arm of Leinart as he completed six of seven passes for 62 yards until the Trojans were faced with another 4th-and-1.
Again, Carroll decided to for the 1st down, but this time he had Leinart hand the ball off to White, who burst through the line and ran in untouched for his third touchdown that with the extra point put USC in the lead again, 24-23 with over four minutes left in the third quarter.
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| USC running back LenDale White carried the ball 20 times for 124 yards and scored three touchdowns. |
But the Longhorns would once again threaten to retake the lead as a 45-yard run by Young put Texas at the USC 20-yard-line.
However, the Trojans defense stiffened and allowed only six more yards, forcing a 31-yard field goal attempt by Pino, which he hooked wide right, keeping the Trojans in the lead as the fourth quarter began.
From there, the Trojans drove 80 yards in nine plays, with the drive culminating in a 26-yard touchdown run by Bush to increase the USC lead to 31-23 with 11:10 left in regulation.
On Texas' ensuing possession, Young would lead the Longhorns from their 31-yard-line to the USC 17-yard-line when disaster nearly struck again for Texas on 3rd-and-5 when Young was stripped of the ball by USC defensive end Frostee Rucker, only to have Texas guard Kasey Studdard recover the fumble, allowing for Pino to come on and make a 34-yard field goal to cut the Trojans' lead to 31-26 with 8:46 left in the 4th quarter.
The Trojans took over at their 19-yard-line but were at the Texas 31-yard-line in two plays, thanks to a 33-yard pass from Leinart to Jarrett that became a 48-yard-play when Texas linebacker Robert Killebrew was called for roughing the passer.
Then after a nine-yard run by White, Leinart connected with Jarrett again, who made the catch at the two-yard-line, then stretched out to complete the 22-yard touchdown to give USC its biggest lead of the game at 38-26 with 6:42 to play.
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| Matt Leinart would complete 29 of 40 passes for 365 yards and throw one touchdown pass. |
That is when Vince Young put the Longhorns on his back on as he accounted for all 69 yards on the Longhorns' ensuing possession, with 44 of those yards coming through the air on five-of-six passing and the other 25 on the ground, including the last 17 on a touchdown run to cut the USC lead to 38-33 with just over four minutes to go.
For the Longhorns to win the game and the national championship, their defense would need to do something they hadn't done in the second half and that is stop the Trojans offense as USC had scored four touchdown on thier four possessions in the second half.
After a 30-yard kickoff return by Bush put USC at their 34-yard-line, White ran for two yards, which was followed by a 11-yard pass from Leinart to Jarrett for a USC 1st down at the Trojans' 47-yard-line.
White got the call again on 1st down and ran for three yards, which was followed by an incomplete pass, then a near-disaster on 3rd-and-7 as White lost the football after a five-yard-run only to have wide receiver Steve Smith recover it, but still two yards short of a 1st down.
Facing a 4th-and-2 at the Texas 45-yard-line, many assumed that Carroll would punt the ball and try to pin the Longhorns back, giving Young a longer field as the Longhorns needed a touchdown to win.
But Carroll decided to go for the 1st down and he chose White to be the man to go for the 1st down as Bush stood on the sideline.
Leinart took the snap and handed it off to White, who was stopped a half-yard short of the 1st down, giving the Longhorns the ball at their 45-yard-line with 2:09 left and two timeouts in Texas' pocket.
The drive got off to an auspicious start as Young completed a pass to Taylor that lost two yards, which was followed by an incomplete pass on 2nd down.
Then hit Young found Quan Cosby for a seven-yard gain, five yards short of the 1st down, but a incidental face mask penalty was called on USC safety Darrell Bing, giving the Longhorns five more yards and a 1st down as well as not having to go for it on 4th down.From there, Young found Brian Carter for a nine-yard completion, which was followed by a seven-yard run by Young for a 1st down, and then another pass completion to Carter, this time for 17 yards to give the Longhorns a 1st down at the USC 13-yard-line with 45 seconds to go.
But after two incomplete passes and a five-yard run by Young, the Longhorns were faced with a 4th-nad-5 at the eight-yard-line with 26 seconds to go.
The national championship had come down to one play.
In the shotgun, Young took the snap, took a step back, and then ran to the right side where he was not touched as he went in for the go-ahead touchdown to give the Longhorns a 39-38 lead with 19 seconds to play.
Knowing an extra point would only give his team a two-point lead and leave the Longhorns vulnerable to a game-winning field goal, Brown decided to go for the two-point conversion to make a three-point game.
Inexplicably, Carroll used his final timeout even though the clock was stopped, meaning that if the Trojans would have no timeouts when they got the ball back.
Young ran it in for the two-point conversion to make it a 41-38 lead as the Trojans would need a miracle in order to win their third straight national championship.
Hoping to avoid a long return by Bush, the Longhorns squibbed kick the ensuing kickoff which was fielded by USC linebacker Rey Maualaga who went down at his own 31-yard-line, giving Leinart 16 seconds to pull off a miracle.
Leinart hit Bush on a shovel pass, who then proceeded to run into Texas territory as he ran out of bounds at the Longhorns' 43-yard-line with eight seconds left.
That is when Leinart took the snap and proceeded to scramble for a few seconds, before firing a pass intended for Jarrett at around the 25-yard-line.
But the pass went over Jarrett's head as time expired, giving the Longhorns the 41-38 and their first national championship in 35 years.
Some of the performances in this game were mind boggling as Leinart threw for a then Rose Bowl record 365 passing yards while Jarrett caught 10 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown and Bush complied 279 all-purpose yards on 24 touches(82 running, 95 receiving, 102 returning).
But the Trojans could not stop Vince Young who finished the game by accounting for 467 yards of total offense, 267 through the air on 30-of-40 passing and 200 on the ground on 19 carries and scoring three touchdowns.
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| Vince Young celebrates after leading the Texas Longhorns to their first national title since 1970. |
Young was released by the Titans in the summer of 2011 and was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, where he started three games, before bouncing around the NFL for the next three years before ultimately retiring from the NFL in 2014 and then attempting a comeback with the Canadien Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2017, which ultimately failed.
Still, his legacy with the University of Texas is still intact as his number #10 was retired in 2008.
As for Carroll and the Trojans, they would still complete for the national championship despite the losses of Leinart, Bush, White, and Jarrett as they would go 34-5 over the next three seasons and win three straight Rose Bowls, before a 9-4 season in 2009 which turned out to be Carroll's last at Southern Cal, as he resigned to take the head coaching job with the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL.
But the worst was yet to come for USC when in June 2010, the NCAA put the Trojans on probation after an investigation revealed that Bush had received improper benefits starting in December 2004 which included a rent-free home for his family.
The Trojans' penalties including no bowl games for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, a loss of 30 scholarships, and Bush having to vacate the 2005 Heisman Trophy as well as USC having to vacate its last two wins of the 2004 season, including their win in the National Championship Game, and all 11 of their wins from the 2005 season.
Despite all this, no college football fan will ever forget the 2006 Rose Bowl as it was truly one of the greatest games of all time.
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| Texas Head Coach Mack Brown holds the national championship trophy after his Longhorns' 41-38 win over the Trojans. |
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