Easiest dollar I ever won, Aunt P!
(who held her nose to root for the University of Spoiled Children for some reason)
not like Ethan, who knows which team to root for...
The so-called paper of record cleans up some post game comments. I guess the word, “Baby” is too harsh for the NYT to print.
...it gave Texas its first national championship since 1970 and its fourth over all.“Don't you think that's beautiful?” Young said of the national championship trophy. “And it's coming all the way home to Austin.”
...
With enough plotlines to fill a Hollywood blockbuster, this game had it all - star power, retribution and a few stunning twists.And it all came down to one final climactic scene. With Texas trailing by 38-33 and facing a fourth-and-5 from the U.S.C. 8-yard line, Young took a shotgun snap, glanced into the end zone at his receivers, then ran untouched around the right end into the end zone. It capped a resplendent day for Young, who rushed 19 times for 200 yards and won the Rose Bowl's most valuable player award.
He also completed 31 of 40 passes for 269 yards and led Texas on a 56-yard touchdown drive in the game's final 2 minutes 9 seconds.
(first photo taken of my nephew, by my sister during last year's Rose Bowl)
Welcome back, Coach Fredo (by Bill Simmons)
11:59 -- This just in: Vince Young is awesome. He just single-handedly kept Texas alive with two crazy scrambles (including a 17-yarder for a TD to cut USC's lead to five). Sure, it's helping that USC is steadfastly refusing to keep extra defenders around the line of scrimmage to contain a guy who doesn't seem like he can successfully throw deep, but still. Fouts sums it up best: “I've never seen anything like him in my life.”
(Me, neither. And can you put a price on a scrambling quarterback with the same name of the monosyllabic guy who played Noah Hunter on “90210”?)
12:04 a.m. -- I'll tell ya, one of these times, Jackson and Fouts are going to realize that someone fumbled in this game when it actually happened. Law of averages.
Anyway, here's the setup: fourth-and-2, 2:11 remaining, USC on Texas' 45 and leading by five, with the logical move being a punt that would force Texas' offense to drive 85-90 yards in 120 seconds with a quarterback who hasn't completed a pass longer than 15 yards all game. The decision rests in the hands of Pete Carroll. For once, he does the logical thing -- goes for the game-ending first down, keeps Reggie Bush and his Heisman Trophy on the sideline, then runs a predictable dive play with LenDale White that falls short because everyone on the planet knew it was coming (including all 11 guys on the Texas defense). Wait, absolutely none of that was logical. Texas ball.
12:09 -- And the gifts keep on coming: USC keeps Texas' drive alive with a face-mask penalty on third down, followed by an Emmy Award-winning shot of the Pete Carroll Face. That was fun. I should go put on Tony Simmons' blue Patriots jersey from the 1999 season just to complete the effect.
12:13 -- Young dances in traffic for another first down, somehow gets out of bounds and earns a “My gosh!” from Keith Jackson. He has thrown for 250 yards, rushed for another 187 and two touchdowns and caused at least 2 million Trojans fans to wonder, “Why don't we have a linebacker spying him?” Now the Horns are inside the USC 30 with less than a minute to play. Let's just start simulcasting this one on ESPN Classic.
12:16 -- Facing a game-deciding fourth-and-5 from the 8-yard line, Young lines up behind center as Jackson chuckles, “I'm too old for this.” High comedy. I'm shaking and I don't even have money on this game. The snap, some pressure, Young has to scramble ... touchdown, Texas! Wait, can I swear on ESPN.com? Because that was (bleeping) unbelievable! Vince Young, everybody! He's just joined the 200-200 club.
“You're not gonna beat him!” Fouts screams. “Invincible!”
12:19 -- In one of the most amazing random sports blunders of all time, one of the USC players is forced to call their final timeout because they don't have the right defense for the 2-point conversion. By the way, there are only 19 seconds left. “My goodness!” Fouts screams.
(Sorry, I'm hanging that one on Carroll and his staff -- would anyone on a well-coached team think that the two-point conversion mattered more than a timeout there? Come on. That's beyond awful. Poor clock management, dumb penalties, no defensive adjustments, stupid decisions leading to turnovers, wasted timeouts for no good reason ... does any of this sound familiar, Pats fans?)
12:21 -- Young runs for the 2-point conversion. I now have him ranked above every NFL QB except for Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer. Good golly. We also had this exchange right after the conversion:
-- Jackson: “Only 19 seconds to play ... clock didn't move on that play.”
-- Fouts: “That's an extra point, it's probably not going to ... ”
12:24 -- USC drives to the Texas 43 with 8 seconds left ... of course, they don't have any timeouts left ... leading to the inevitable Leinart incompletion ... game over! Your national champions, the Texas Longhorns! What a comeback!
As we see the Longhorns and their fans celebrating, ABC's cameras catch Leinart and Carroll hugging and Leinart whispering the words, “God, I wish I knew how to quit you!” All right, I made that up. But that's the only way this defeat could have been worse for USC fans.
12:25 -- Just a classic ending to Carroll's postgame interview with Todd Harris:
-- Harris: “At the very end of the game, you had a timeout, did you want to save one timeout if they had scored?”
-- Carroll (rattled): “Yeah, we had a little problem, we had to go for two right there ... but, eh, you know ... we didn't get it done.”
(In the words of Brian Fantana, “Take it easy, Champ. Why don't you stop talking for awhile?”)
12:26 -- In his postgame interview with Holly, Matt Leinart throws out a classic, “I think we're a better football team, they just made the plays in the end,” backhanded compliment before heading to the Roosevelt Hotel's pool bar with Nick Lachey. You're right, we shouldn't have played the game, Matt. That was stupid. You guys were better.
So what did we learn? Three things ...
1. Not only is Vince Young the best player in college football, his Rose Bowl performance following the Heisman Trophy ceremony ranked at least an 8.3 on the Vengeance Scale. It's nice to see an athlete back up his own words, isn't it?
2. If your season potentially rides on one first down, and you have a Heisman Trophy winning running back on your team ... well, you might want to have him on the field. It's a little unorthodox, I know. But it's probably a good idea.
3. Pete Carroll will always be Pete Carroll.
And there would be no Three-Pete. As always, one my readers (Greg in Philly) summed it up best after the game: “It was only a matter of time. And you know exactly what I'm talking about.”
Tags: Austin
