College Football Old School Game of the Week: Young Leads Texas to Victory in Rose Bowl Classic over Michigan

Texas quarterback Vince Young ran for 192 yards and four touchdowns while throwing for 180 yards and one touchdown in the 2005 Rose Bowl.

The 2005 Rose Bowl matchup between the Michigan Wolverines and the Texas Longhorns came with a lot of controversy.

First, it was not the traditional Big 10 vs Pac 10 matchup and secondly, many college football experts believed that Texas had gotten the berth in the Rose Bowl only because Longhorns head coach Mack Brown basically campaigned to get the spot over the California Golden Bears, who had the same record as Texas and were a Pac 10 team.

But after the game was finished, the controversy was replaced with talk of having witnessed one of the greatest Rose Bowls of all time.

The Longhorns were making their first appearance in the "Granddaddy of them all" following their 10-1 season with their only loss being a 12-0 defeat to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Texas was led by Brown, who was in his seventh season as the Longhorns' head coach, having led Texas to its fourth straight season of at least 10 wins.

On the field, the Longhorns had a dynamic running attack which featured running back Cedric Benson, who won the Doak Walker award which is given to the best running back in the country, for his 1,774 yards and 19 touchdowns during the regular season and quarterback Vince Young who had run for 887 yards in the regular season.

With Young and Benson, the Longhorns were hoping to earn their second top 5 finish in the final rankings in four years.

On the other side was Michigan, who had won the Big 10 championship and earned a second trip to the Rose Bowl under head coach Lloyd Carr.

Carr's team was young as it featured freshman quarterback Chad Henne and freshman running back Michael Hart, but had the Fred Biletnikoff winner(the best wide receiver) in senior Braylon Edwards, who had caught 87 passes for 1,221 yards and 12 touchdowns, which included a 11-catch, 189-yard and three touchdown performance in a 45-37 triple overtime win over Michigan State(To read about that game, click on the link highlighted here:(https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2021/10/college-football-old-school-game-of_28.html).

Michigan would get the ball to start the game as Steve Breaston would return the opening kickoff 44 yards to the Wolverines' 47-yard-line.

While Michigan would not take advantage of the great field position as they punted the ball to the Longhorns, Breaston's kick return would set the tone of the rest of the game when it came to kickoffs.

Texas would start its opening possession of the game at its 20-yard-line as Benson would carry for nine yards only to hyperextend his right knee on the play which would hamper his performance for the rest of the day.

The Longhorns would end up punting the ball back to Michigan but would get the ball back at their 15-yard-line following a Wolverines punt with 5:53 left in the first quarter.

From there, the Longhorns would put together the first scoring drive as they would travel 85 yards in 12 plays, culminating with a 20-yard touchdown run by Young off a quarterback draw to give Texas a 7-0 lead with 1:41 to go in the opening quarter.

After both teams went three-and-out on their ensuing possessions, the Wolverines got the ball at the 50-yard-line as Hart carried the ball three straight times for 13 yards until Henne fired a deep pass down the left side of the field for Edwards, who made the catch in the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at seven just 73 seconds into the second quarter.

Braylon Edwards would catch 10 passes for 109 yards and score three touchdowns.

The Longhorns would get great field position to start its next drive as Ramonce Taylor returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Texas 42-yard-line as Young would lead the Texas offense to the Michigan 25-yard-line where they were faced with a 4th & 1.

Instead of attempting a field goal, Brown decided to go for the 1st down which he got when Michigan defensive end Pierre Woods jumped offsides giving the Longhorns a fresh set of downs at the Wolverines' 20-yard-line.

Three plays later, the Longhorns were in the end zone as Young threw a 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Thomas to give Texas a 14-7 lead with 4:16 left before halftime.

It looked like the Longhorns would get a chance to extend their lead after forcing a three-and-out on the Wolverines' ensuing drive but Taylor would fumble the football on the punt as Wolverines linebacker Roy Manning knocked the ball loose from Taylor, leading to a recovery by safety Anton Campbell at the Texas 34-yard-line.

Henne would complete passes of 16 yards to Breaston and nine yards to tight end Tyler Ecker before finding a wide open Edwards in the back of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown to help tie the game at 14 with 20 seconds left in the first half.

Texas would run out the clock with a run by Benson for zero yards as both teams went into the locker room deadlocked at 14 with the Longhorns set to get the ball to start the second half.

After the first five plays netted just 12 yards, Young took off on a quarterback draw as he ran down the right sideline for a 60-yard touchdown to give Texas a 21-14 lead with 12:53 to go in the third quarter.

The Wolverines would get another long return by Breaston as he returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to the 50-yard-line as Henne would throw two incomplete passes to bring up 3rd & 10 when he completed a 10-yard pass to Breaston, who then turned upfield and ran it in for the touchdown that with the extra point once again tied the game, this time at 21.

Following a three-and-out by the Longhorns, the Wolverines got the ball at their 23-yard-line as they put together a 10-play, 77-yard drive which ended with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Henne to Edwards to give Michigan its first lead of the game at 28-21 with 6:29 remaining in the third quarter.

Texas would then drive from its 23-yard-line to the Michigan 47-yard-line until Young was intercepted by Wolverines linebacker Preston Burgess, who returned the pick 23 yards to the Longhorns' 45-yard-line where he was tackled by Young.

With a chance to make it a 17-point lead, the Wolverines could not travel past the Texas 27-yard-line where Garrett Rivas came on to kick a 44-yard field goal which extended Michigan's lead to 34-21 with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

Michigan wide receiver Steve Breaston returned six kickoffs for 223 yards, a Rose Bowl record.

After an exchange of punts, the Longhorns got the ball back at the 50-yard-line as an 18-yard pass from Young to tight end Bo Scaife and a roughing the passer penalty added 15 yards to a six-yard completion to Thomas put Texas at the Michigan six-yard-line.

The Michigan defense pushed the Longhorns back to the ten-yard-line to face a 3rd & goal when Young made a spectacular play when he spun out of a potential sack by Wolverines defensive end Pat Massey and ran it for a 10-yard touchdown that helped cut the Texas deficit to three points at 31-28 with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter.

The Longhorns were able to contain Breaston on the ensuing kickoff as he ran for 24 yards to the Michigan 25-yard-line as the Wolverines would drive 60 yards in 10 plays to set up a 32-yard field goal by Rivas which extended their lead to 34-28 with 6:09 remaining.

A 31-yard return by Taylor on the ensuing kickoff set the Longhorns up at their 31-yard-line for their next possession when Young completed a 19-yard pass to Tony Jeffery then hit Thomas for 27 yards to put Texas at the Michigan 23-yard-line.

That is when Young took off again as he ran into the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown for his fourth rushing touchdown of the game that with the extra point gave Texas a 35-34 lead with 4:56 to play in the game.

Breaston would strike once again on the ensuing kickoff as his 53-yard return put Michigan at the Texas 43-yard-line as three straight runs by Hart for 18 yards would set up 3rd & 2 when Henne threw an incomplete pass intended for Edwards.

This would lead to another Rivas field goal, this one from 42 yards out, which allowed the Wolverines to retake the lead at 37-35 with 3:04 left to play.

Following a 32-yard return by Taylor on the ensuing kickoff, the Longhorns would begin its next possession at their 34-yard-line with a chance to drive down for the winning score.

The drive would begin with a nine-yard run by Young, followed by a five-yard run by Benson to give Texas a 1st down at its 48-yard-line when Young completed an eight-yard pass to Scaife which put the Longhorns in Michigan territory.

Young would then run for 14 yards and a 1st down at the Michigan 30-yard-line as the quarterback would keep it himself on the next three plays, running for an additional 11 yards to put the Longhorns at the Wolverines' 19-yard-line with less than a minute to go.

From there, the Longhorns keep it conservative as Young handed off it to Benson on the next two plays until the clock wound down to two seconds when Brown called timeout and sent in the field goal unit to win the game with a 37-yard field goal.

Carr would then call back-to-back timeouts in hopes of icing kicker Dusty Magnum, a former walk-on who had earned a scholarship since he began kicking for the Longhorns in 2001.

As Mangum waited to attempt the kick, Brown went to his senior kicker and told him "You're the luckiest human being in the world because your last kick at Texas will win the Rose Bowl."

Finally, the field goal was attempted as Magnum's kick glazed the elbow of Michigan defensive back Ernest Shazor, then just misses the hands of Wolverines linebacker Roy Manning, to wobbly pass through the uprights as time expired, giving the Longhorns a 38-37 win.

Dusty Magnum kicks what would turn out to be the game-winning field goal.

The loss was a bitter pill for the Wolverines to swallow as they would finish the season with a 9-3 record and ranked #14 in the final AP poll and #12 in the final coaches poll.

The Wolverines would get one more trip to the Rose Bowl during Carr's tenure as Michigan head coach which ended after the 2007 season, which was a 32-18 loss to USC.

As for Texas, they would finish the season ranked #4 in the coaches poll and #5 in the AP poll as the Longhorns finished the season with a 11-1 record, their best since 1983.

Young and the Longhorns would return to the Rose Bowl one year later, this time against the Trojans in the BCS National Championship Game, where Young threw for 267 yards and ran for 200 yards and scored three touchdowns, including the game-winner with 19 seconds to go, to give Texas a 41-38 win and the Longhorns their first national championship since 1970(To real about that game, click on the link highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/09/college-football-old-school-game-of_13.html).

College Football Old School Game of the Week: Michigan Knocks off Undefeated Penn State With Walk-off TD

Michigan wide receiver Mario Manningham catches the game-winning touchdown as time expires in Michigan's win over Penn State.

When most football fans think of the name Mario Manningham, they think of his incredible 38-yard catch on the first play of the New York Giants' game-winning touchdown drive in Super Bowl XLVI.
But if you ask a Michigan Wolverines football fan about Manningham, probably the first thing that will come to their mind is his heroics against Penn State in the middle of the 2005 season.The Wolverines were having an up-and-down season as they entered the Penn State game as they had gone through the first six games winning one game, then losing another as they stood with a 3-3 record and coming off a 23-20 loss to Minnesota.
The season was already considered a disappointment, considering they had returning starting quarterback Chad Henne, running back Mike Hart, and wide receiver Steve Breaston from a team that had played in the last two Rose Bowls.
With a Big 10 championship and a third straight trip to the Rose Bowl looking pretty grim, head coach Lloyd Carr and his Wolverines were just hoping to get a berth in a good bowl game as they prepared to host the undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions.
Penn State was having a bit of a renaissance after having four losing seasons in the past five years as they traveled to the "Big House" entering the game with a 6-0 record their best start since 1999.
The Nittany Lions were led by legendary head coach Joe Paterno and a roster which featured senior Michael Robinson at quarterback and a defense which featured All-American defensive end Tamba Hali and eventual Butkus award winner Paul Posulszny at linebacker.
Even though the Nittany Lions were riding high and the Wolverines were struggling, Penn State was not taking this game for granted as they had not defeated Michigan since 1996 and had lost their last six meetings to the Wolverines(the two teams did not play in 2003 or 2004).
The Nittany Lions got the ball to start the game and drove from their 20-yard-line to the Michigan 30-yard-line in eight plays until they were faced with a 4th & 1 situation.
Instead of attempting a long field goal, Paterno had the Penn State offense go for the 1st down which they got after running back Tony Hunt picked up seven yards on the 4th down play.
Three plays later, the Nittany Lions were be faced with another 4th & 1 situation, this time at the Michigan 14-yard-line.
Paterno sent in the field goal unit but kicker Kevin Kelly's 32-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right, giving the Wolverine the ball at their 20-yard-line midway through the first quarter.
The rest of the first quarter would be a punting contest as neither team would mount a serious scoring threat until early in the second quarter when the Nittany Lions drove from their five-yard-line to the Michigan 28-yard-line to set up a 45-yard field goal attempt by Kelly, which fell short to keep scoreless with 7:12 left to go before halftime.
Following Penn State's second missed field goal of the game, the Michigan offense put together it best drive of the game as a 23-yard run by Antonio Bass and a 21-yard pass from Henne to Jason Avant led to a 35-yard field goal by Garrett Rivas to give Michigan a 3-0 lead with 4:28 left in the second quarter.
The Nittany Lions would begin its ensuing possession at their own 23-yard-line but quickly drove to the Michigan 49-yard-line as Robinson completed three passes in a row for 28 yards.
But on the 4th play of the drive, Robinson lost the football after he was hit by Michigan linebacker Dave Harris, resulting in a fumble recovery by defensive back Brandon Harrison to give the Wolverines the football at their 39-yard-line with 2:31 left in the first half.
From there, the Wolverines would drive to the Penn State 18-yard-line until a sack by Hali for an nine-yard-loss forced the Wolverines to settle for a 45-yard field goal attempt by Rivas which fell short.
Robinson would take a knee to run out the clock as the Nittany Lions went into the halftime break down 3-0.

Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson threw for 239 yards on 19-of-34 passing and run for 67 yards on 17 carries.

Michigan got the ball to start the second half and drove 72 yards in 10 plays, primarily on the legs of Hart, who would carry the ball four times for 32 yards on the drive, including a two-yard touchdown for the game's first touchdown to increase the Wolverines' lead to 10-0 with 11:10 left in the third quarter.
After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Nittany Lions got the ball at their 26-yard-line and only picked up five yards on the first two plays of the drive to set up a 3rd & 5 at their 31-yard-line when Robinson connected with Terrell Golden for 56 yards that became a 63-yard play after Michigan was called for roughing the passer to set up Penn State with a 1st & goal at the Michigan six-yard-line.
However, the Michigan defense would stiffen and force the Nittany Lions to settle for another Kelly field goal attempt, which this time he made from 25 yards out to put Penn State on the board down 10-3 with five seconds left in the third quarter.
The Penn State defense would force Michigan to punt on their next possession to give the Nittany Lions offense the ball at their 37-yard-line with 12:53 left in the 4th quarter.
That is when the fireworks began as the game turned from a defensive stalemate into a track meet.
It all began on the first play after the punt as Hunt would run for 63 yards to the Michigan two-yard-line, eventually leading to a four-yard touchdown run by Robinson that with Kelly's extra point tied the game at 10 with 11:56 left in regulation.
The Wolverines would get the ball back at their 28-yard-line for their next possession but on the first play from scrimmage, Henne would fumble the football at the end of a seven-yard-run as he was stripped of the football by Penn State cornerback Alan Zemaitis who then ran it back for a 35-yard touchdown to give the Nittany Lions their first lead of the game at 16-10.
Chaos would ensue on the extra point as the Penn State holder botched the snap, only to have Kelly pick it up and run it in for a two-point conversion to increase the Nittany Lions' lead to 18-10 with 11:39 to go in the game.
After giving up 18 straight points, the Wolverines needed a spark and got it on the ensuing kickoff as Breaston's 39-yard return gave Michigan the ball at their 45-yard-line.
It would only take the Wolverines five plays to get in the end zone as Henne connected with Manningham for a 33-yard touchdown to bring Michigan to within two at 18-16.
The Wolverines went for the two-point conversion and after Hart ran it in the end zone for a succesful two-point conversion, the game was tied at 18 with 9:32 left in regulation.
The Michigan defense would force Penn State to punt on its ensuing possession, getting the ball back at their 43-yard-line after a 25-yard return by Breaston.
From there, the Wolverines would drive 28 yards in nine plays, culminating with a 47-yard field goal by Rivas to give Michigan a 21-18 lead with 3:45 left in the fourth quarter.
Then on the second play of the Nittany Lions' ensuing possession, Michigan cornerback Leon Hall picked off a Robinson pass intended and ran it back 14 yards to the Penn State 31-yard-line to give the Wolverines a chance to put the nail in the coffin with another score or just by running out the clock.

Michigan running back Mike Hart carried the ball 23 times for 108 yards and scored a touchdown while catching four passes for 40 yards.

However a holding penalty on Hall's return pushed the Wolverines back to the Penn State 41-yard-line and after three plays netted seven yards, the Wolverines were faced with a 4th & 3 at the Nittany Lions' 34-yard-line with 2:53 to play.
Perhaps persuaded by the fact that Penn State had used all three of their timeouts, Carr decided to punt the ball and try to pin the Nittany Lions deep in their own territory.
But that did not work as Rivas' punt traveled only 15 yards giving Penn State the ball at their 19-yard-line with 2:46 left and a chance to at least tie the game with a field goal.
The drive began with a 10-yard pass from Robinson to Golden, which was followed by a 29-yard pass to Jordan Norwood to give Penn State a 1st down at the Michigan 42-yard-line.
Robinson would then hit Golden again for seven yards, then ran for six yards to give Penn State an apparent 1st down, only to have it called back because of a holding penalty setting up 2nd & 7 from the Michigan 39-yard-line.
After two straight incomplete passes, the Nittany Lions were faced with a do-or-die 4th & 7 when Robinson scrambled for eight yards and a 1st down at the Michigan 31-yard-line.
After an incomplete pass  on 1st down, Robinson hit tight end Isaac Smolko for 16 yards to give Penn State a 1st down at the Michgan 15-yard-line.
After two more incomplete passes, Penn State got a 1st & goal at the four-yard-line after Hall was called for pass interference.
That is when Robinson ran it in for the go-ahead touchdown with 53 seconds left to give Penn State a 25-21 lead.
The Wolverines would get the ball back with all three timeouts left and a chance to pull out the win if they could drive for a touchdown.
Their quest would begin with good field position as Breaston returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Michigan 46-yard-line, giving Henne 54 yards and 42 seconds to drive toward the end zone.
The drive began with a 17-yard pass to Avant to give Michigan a 1st down at the Penn State 36-yard-line which was followed by a four-yard pass to Carl Tabb as the Wolverines called timeout with 28 seconds left as they faced a 2nd & 6 situation.
Following the timeout, Henne hit tight end Tyler Ecker, who stepped out of bounds one yard short of the 1st down.
Then on 3rd & 1, the Wolverines surprised the Nittany Lions by handing the ball off to Hart, who picked up 11 yards before stepping out of bounds at the Penn State 16-yard-line with 18 seconds left.
From there, Henne fired an incomplete pass on 1st down, then found Manningham for six yards to set up 3rd & 4 at the Penn State 10-yard-line.
That is when Henne fired a pass intended for Breaston in the end zone, which fell incomplete and left one second on the clock, enough time for one more play.
Henne lined up behind center, dropped back, and fired a slant pass to Manningham in the back of the end zone for the touchdown to give Michigan the 27-25 upset and hand Penn State its first loss of the season.

The last-second loss to Michigan would be the only one of the season for Penn State as they would finish the season with 11-1 record and the school's first Big 10 championship since 1994.
But since the national championship game was being played at the Rose Bowl that season, the Nittany Lions had to travel to Miami to take on Florida State, whom they defeated 26-23 in triple overtime.
As for the Wolverines, the win over Penn State sparked a four-game winning streak which ended with a 25-21 loss to Ohio State, which was followed by a 32-28 loss to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl as the Wolverines finished with a disappointing 7-5 record, but would bounce back the following year to finish 11-2.
As for Manningham, he would eventually became Michigan's leading receiver by his junior season in 2007 as he caught 72 passes for 1,174 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Manningham would forego his final season of eligibility and enter the 2008 NFL Draft where he was selected in the third round by the New York Giants.
Manningham's NFL career would only last seven seasons as he caught 211 passes for 2,849 yards and 19 touchdowns during his career, but he did etch his name in Super Bowl lore with his famous catch in Super Bowl XLVI.