Young Secures Last-Second Victory
By Danté Perez

All odds were against Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns when they faced the USC Trojans in Pasadena, California. “Do whatever it takes,” Vince Young, Longhorns quarterback, stated as he bounced around shaking every defender in sight to buy some time to win the championship. With the national title down to a final play, fourth and five yards to go, Young scrambled untouched for an 8-yard touchdown run with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter to stun the No. 1 Southern California 41-38 in the Rose Bowl on January 4, 2006.
Young did it all when facing the twin Heisman Trophy winners of 2004 and 2005 seasons, Matt Leinart (quarterback) and Reggie Bush (running back). Young throwing 30 for 40 with 267 yards and rushing for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns earned him the MVP trophy. It was the ultimate revenge for Young, the bitterly disappointed runner-up to Bush for the Heisman Trophy last month. Young capped a performance that Texas fans will remember forever by scoring his third TD and running for a two-point conversion to end Southern California’s 34 game winning streak and deny the Trojans their third straight national championship. “This was a great football game. We gave our hearts, they gave their hearts, and they came out on top,” Matt Leinart exclaimed during an interview on ESPN. The Longhorns (13-0) won their 20th in a row. USC (12-1) lost for the first time since a triple-overtime defeat to California on Sept. 27, 2003. Their 34-game winning streak is tied for fourth all-time, behind Oklahoma’s 47-game streak from 1953-57. ESPN reported that Texas coach Mack Brown took Bush aside near the entrance to the locker room and told him, “I thought it was a classy game. Nobody could stop anybody.” When the game was over, Texas players streamed onto the field with the Longhorns’ first national title since 1970. Young stood on the sideline in a sea of falling confetti with his arms raised toward the crowd, and senior tackle William Winston waved a big white Longhorns flag.
USC had the game in their hands. Scoring seven points in the first quarter, 3 in the second, 14 in the third, but came up short in the fourth quarter, scoring only 14 points. Leinart did his part in his final college game while Bush was less than his best. Leinart passed for 365 yards, and his 22-yard TD strike to Dwyane Jarrett put USC ahead 38-26 with 6:42 left. Earlier, Bush soared into the end zone on a 26-yard run, part of his 82 yards rushing. He also had 95 yards on six catches. He tried to make a play by attempting to lateral the ball, which caused a fumble and swung momentum Texas’ way in the first half. In a game that produced more than 1,100 yards, a defensive stand was key for Texas. On fourth-and-2 from USC’s 45-yard line with 2:09 left, Pete Carroll, USC’s head coach, took a gamble. He decided to try to seal the game with his persistent offense—debated by many to be the best offense ever in college football—and go for it on the fourth down. But when Len Dale White came up inches short, Wright and other Texas defenders jumped in the air and charged off the field as Young trotted on. Young stood in the pocket and passed the Longhorns to a first-and-10 at the 13. After a 5-yard scramble, he misfired on two passes to set up fourth-and-5 at the 8. The Trojans brought pressure, but Young slid away from it and looked for a receiver. Instead, he found a lane and raced to the right pylon. After scoring, the Trojans were looking toward the officials hoping that they would say that he stepped out of bounds. USC had one last chance. They were in this predicament before against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but this time they were playing against a stronger defense, one of the nation’s best. On the last play of the game, from just beyond midfield, Leinart’s pass sailed high over Jarrett’s head as time expired.
That’s how the story ended, a last-second victory for the Texas Longhorns. History was written that night on January 04, 2006 in Pasadena. The city of Austin now has the trophy that every college team wishes they had just for one year. Now the question has been asked… “Can one person take over the game when time is running out?” In this case, Vince Young did exactly that!