Many people believed the Trojans were one of the best teams of all time They featured a backfield of senior quarterback Matt Leinart and junior running backs Reggie Bush and LenDale White Leinart won the Heisman Trophy in 2004 as the nation's top college player And Bush was the Heisman winner in 2005 But many thought the Texas quarterback deserved the award Young who finished second to Bush in the Heisman voting was a dynamic player He proved to be the difference in many games that year He was a fast and elusive runner He also threw the ball well He did all of those things against USC in the Rose Bowl Young had to be at his best to lead the kind of comeback Texas needed The Longhorns defense had trouble stopping the Trojans all night Because of that Texas trailed 38-26 with 6:42 remaining in the game But Young led the Longhorns down the field and scored on a 17 yard run The extra point made it 38-33 with 4:03 remaining It still looked like the Trojans were going to win though USC drove to the Texas 45 yard line with 2:13 left in the game It was fourth down All USC needed was two yards to keep the drive going and run out the clock The Trojans had scored on all four of their possessions in the second half So USC coach Pete Carroll decided to go for the first down instead of punting Leinart took the snap and handed the ball to White who tried to run up the middle The Longhorns sent every defender toward the line of scrimmage There they ran into White and stopped him short of the first down The Texas defense had finally stopped USC 6
Texas quarterback Vince Young eludes USC tacklers during the 2006 Rose Bowl Texas took control of the ball with a little more than two minutes remaining Young then guided the Longhorns to the USC 8 yard line The Longhorns trailed by five with 26 seconds left in the game Young stood five yards behind center waiting for the snap He needed five yards to convert on fourth down 7
WHAT A CAREER During his three year career at Texas Vince Young did just about everything a player could do He led the Longhorns to a perfect 13-0 record in 2005 to win the national title He won the Maxwell Award as the nation's top player He won the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top quarterback But he fell just short of winning the Heisman Trophy finishing second to Reggie Bush of USC Taking the snap Young looked into the end zone for an open receiver Many in the crowd of 93,986 held their breath waiting for him to throw Instead Young saw an opening around the right side He pulled down the ball and eluded one USC defender behind the line of scrimmage He then outran another defender into the right corner of the end zone for the go ahead touchdown Young then scored on a two point conversion to stretch the lead to 41-38 with 19 seconds left USC didn't have time to counter Texas held on to win its first national title since 1970 Young's touchdown run was an exclamation point on an outstanding night He finished the game with 267 passing yards and completed 30 of his 40 passing attempts He also rushed for 200 yards on 19 carries Young was voted the Most Valuable Player MVP of the game but he was not the only star for the Longhorns Running backs Selvin Young and Ramonce Taylor combined for 57 rushing yards and two touchdowns Senior tight end David Thomas caught 10 passes for 8
Young slips between two USC defenders to score the game winning touchdown in Texas's 2006 national championship victory over USC 88 yards And wide receiver Limas Sweed added eight receptions for 65 yards The game would be the final one for Young as a Longhorn He decided to enter the National Football League NFL Draft a few weeks later But Texas fans will always remember what he did against USC in the Rose Bowl on 4 2006 9
