2006 Rose Bowl

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The 2006 Rose Bowl Game, which was presented by Citi, was the final game and national championship of the 2005-2006 Bowl Championship Series (BCS), the 92nd Rose Bowl Game, and was played on January 4, 2006, at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. The game matched the only two unbeaten NCAA Division I-A squads: Big 12 champion and defending Rose Bowl champs Texas and defending national champion and Pac-10 titleholder Southern California. Although the game saw a back-and-forth contest, it was ultimately won by the 2005 Texas Longhorns, 41-38. Texas's Rose Bowl win was the 800th victory in school history.^[1] The Longhorns end the season ranked third in the all-time list of both total wins and winning percentage (.7143).^[1]

1 Pre-game buildup
2 Game summary
3 Analysis and aftermath
4 Quote
5 See also
6 References
7 Sources

[edit] Pre-game buildup

Southern California entered the game with a 34-game winning streak, the longest active streak in Division I-A, having won the 2005 BCS Championship as well; Texas brought the second-longest active streak, having won 19 straight games, and also entered as Rose Bowl defending champion, having defeated Michigan in 2005. The game also featured 2004 Heisman Trophy-winning Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart and 2005 Heisman Trophy-winning Trojans running back Reggie Bush, as well as Longhorns quarterback Vince Young, who finished second to Bush just weeks before the game. The game was also the first to have matched teams ranked first and second in every iteration of the BCS standings. The game, often referred to as The Granddaddy of Them All, took on extra significance, and in the weeks preceding the contest was widely referred to by analysts as "the greatest championship game ever", given both the talent of each team and the expected competitiveness of the game. In previous weeks, ESPN suggested the 2005 USC Trojans to be the greatest college football team ever, comparing them to the 2001 Miami Hurricanes, 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers, and other great teams of the past.

[edit] Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Tot
Texas	0	16	7	18	41
USC	7	3	14	14	38

[edit] First quarter

Southern California received the opening kickoff and managed just three yards against a Texas defense that was especially stout early in the game. Aaron Ross fumbled the ball on the ensuing punt return, committing the first of four Texas fumbles on the day (although the only one that would be lost), and the Trojans recovered. A 23-yard Leinart pass to senior wide receiver/running back David Kirtman, who caught three passes for 61 yards on the day, set up a four-yard touchdown run by running back LenDale White, a bruiser who outrushed his speedy counterpart, Bush, on the day, gaining 124 yards on 20 carries. Kicker Mario Danelo's extra point gave Southern California the early seven-point lead. The teams twice exchanged possessions to end the first quarter, as each defense held the opposing offense in check.

[edit] Second quarter

On the second play of the second quarter, Reggie Bush exploded for 35 yards off a Leinart pass, reaching the Texas 18-yard line before attempting to lateral the ball to an uncovered teammate; the loose ball was recovered by Texas strong safety Michael Huff, who would be awarded the game's defensive most valuable player award. Young, the game's offensive most valuable player, drove his team 53 yards on the ensuing possession, twice hitting senior tight end David Thomas, who finished the day as Vince Young's leading receiver, catching 10 passes for 88 yards. The Trojans' defense tackled sophomore running back Ramonce Taylor five yards behind the line of scrimmage, forcing a fumble, which was recovered by Vince Young for an additional five-yard loss. A Texas field goal attempt was thus forced, and David Pino converted from 46 yards to cut the Texas deficit to four.

On USC's next possession, Leinart once more drove his team into Texas territory, this time to the 25-yard line, before throwing an interception to Texas free safety Michael Griffin. The turnover ended a second Trojans' drive with Southern California in scoring position. In the forthcoming Texas drive, Vince Young connected with wide receiver Limas Sweed, who caught eight balls for 65 yards on the day, for a key first down. Vince Young then led his team with his legs, as he would often do in the game, capping the drive by running 10 yards before lateraling to open running back Selvin Young, who ran for 12 more for the touchdown. Television replays suggested that Vince Young's knee was down before he pitched the ball to Selvin Young, ending the play; the play was not reviewed, however, and the game continued with an extra point attempt by Texas. Had the play been reviewed by officials, and the touchdown negated, Texas still would have maintained possession, earning a fresh set of downs at USC's 11-yard line. Pino missed the extra point attempt, and Texas took the lead by just a two-point margin, 9-7.

A defensive stop on USC's next possession series and a 15-yard punt return gave Texas the ball near midfield, and, once again, the Longhorns capitalized with Vince Young finding Thomas for 14 yards on one play, and Taylor running 30 yards for a touchdown on another. The subsequent Pino extra point took the Longhorns lead to 16-7. A Leinart pass to wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, the top Trojans receiver of the day with 10 catches totaling 121 yards, a quarterback keeper of 14 yards, and a Bush 12-yard run took the Trojans to the Texas 13-yard line with 40 seconds to play in the half. However, two sacks by defensive tackle Frank Okam pushed Southern California back 13 yards and forced the Trojans to use two timeouts. Consequently, a Danelo 43-yard field goal allowed USC three points, and the half ended with Texas still ahead, the score then 16-10.

[edit] Third quarter

The Trojan defense came back strong from the halftime break and forced a punt on the Longhorns' opening drive of the third quarter. During the following USC drive, Leinart hit Jarrett for three passes totaling 35 yards, and White added the final 17 yards over two carries, capping the seven-play, 62-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run, his second of the game The touchdown put the Trojans ahead by one, 17-16.

Behind the running of Jamaal Charles, who finished the game having carried the ball five times for 34 yards, and Vince Young, who ran the ball 19 times for 200 yards in the game, Texas quickly answered on their possession. Vince Young scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns from 14 yards out, and Pino's successful extra point attempt moved the Longhorns back ahead, 23-17.

The lead changed hands once more with 4:07 to play in the third quarter, as Leinart hit tight end Dominique Byrd for two of his four catches and 21 of his 32 yards in the next drive and set up the next score: White muscling it in from 12 yards out to record his third rushing touchdown of the game and 57th of his career, setting a Southern California record.[1]

The Longhorns reached Southern California territory on the ensuing drive, with a 45-yard run by Vince Young constituting most of the work, but ultimately the Trojans forced a field goal attempt from the USC 14-yard line, and, on the first play of the fourth quarter, David Pino missed a 31-yard kick that would have put his team ahead by two.

[edit] Fourth quarter

Behind the precise throwing of Leinart, who, despite his singular interception, finished the day with otherwise stellar numbers, completing 29 of 40 passes for 365 yards and one touchdown, the Trojans drove 80 yards over nine plays in 3:36. Reggie Bush recorded his only touchdown of the game on a 26-yard run to end the drive. (Although he finished the game with 95 yards on just six catches, Bush was contained much of the day in rushing by the Texas defense, gaining 82 yards on 13 carries; however, he managed to average 20.2 yards over five punt returns.)

On the strength of two Vince Young throws to wide receiver Billy Pittman, who caught four passes for 53 yards on the day, the Longhorns drove to the USC 17-yard line. A Vince Young fumble on third down, however, stopped a Texas push to convert a first down, and Texas settled for a Pino 34-yard field goal that brought the Longhorns to within five, 31-26.

A 33-yard Leinart pass to Kirtman on their subsequent possession rendered 48 yards with a roughing-the-passer penalty against Texas. This set up a 22-yard scoring toss from Leinart to Jarrett, and a successful extra point attempt gave USC its biggest lead of the game, 38-26.

As Texas took the ball trailing by two scores with just 6:42 to play in the game, Vince Young accounted for all 69 yards of a Longhorns' scoring drive that took just 2:39 to complete, rushing for 25 (including a 17-yard touchdown run) and completing five passes for the rest. (For the game, Young completed 75 percent of his passes — 30-of-40 — for 267 yards, with no passing touchdowns, and no interceptions.) A successful Pino extra point attempt again brought Texas to within five with 3:58 to play.

Though the Longhorns' defense yielded one first down on the subsequent Southern California drive, it held the Trojans, who turned to LenDale White on a third down at midfield only to see him lose the ball and have it recovered by wide receiver Steve Smith, just two yards short of a first down. After a Texas timeout stopped the clock with 2:13 to play, Trojans coach Pete Carroll elected to give his number-one ranked offense, which had averaged 50.0 points on the year, an opportunity to convert a fourth down-and-two at the Texas 45-yard line. However, White managed to gain slightly more than one yard, and Southern California turned the ball over at the Longhorns' 44-yard line with 2:09 to play in the game.

During the next and final Texas drive, the Longhorns were faced with a third down-and-twelve and converted for a first down at the USC 46-yard line after a completed pass for seven yards and a Trojans face-mask penalty. From there, Vince Young hit little-used wide receiver Brian Carter twice for 26 yards to move the ball to the USC 13-yard line. Facing 4th down and 5 yards to go from the 8-yard line, Young notched his third rushing touchdown of the game with 19 seconds to play, giving his team a precarious one-point lead. However, Young successfully reached the end zone again on a Texas two-point conversion, and gave his team the 41-38 lead. The lead held as Leinart took the ball with only eight seconds left and was unable to drive the Trojans past the Texas 43-yard line before time expired. The loss was only the second of Leinart's college career.

[edit] Analysis and aftermath

Though the Trojans converted on 57 percent of third downs on the day (to only 27 percent for the Longhorns), they were unable to gain two yards on the Texas defense when such gain likely would have ensured a Trojans victory. They also hurt themselves with two turnovers in Texas territory early in the game. Mack Brown, previously maligned for his inability to win big games, thus ended the fourth-longest winning streak in Division I-A history — and the longest since a 35-game streak by Toledo ended in 1971 — and, behind Young, who accounted for 839 yards of total offense in his two Rose Bowl appearances, won the first national title for Texas since 1970. In winning the BCS national championship game, the Longhorns assured themselves of a first-place ranking in the USA Today coaches' poll, and their achievement was confirmed when AP polling sportswriters unanimously voted Texas number one on January 5, 2006; Southern California finished second in each poll. On January 11, 2006, Vince Young would be announced as the winner of the Manning Award, given annually to the nation's top quarterback and based in part on bowl results, unlike any other major college football award.

Four players who participated in the game went on to become top ten picks in the 2006 NFL Draft: Reggie Bush (2nd overall, New Orleans), Vince Young (3rd overall, Tennessee), Michael Huff (7th overall, Oakland), and Matt Leinart (10th overall, Arizona).

Also Taitusi Lutui, Fred Matua, LenDale White, FB David Kirtman, Winston Justice, Cedric Griffin, David Thomas, Frostee Rucker, Dominique Byrd, Darnell Bing, Jonathan Scott, LaJuan Ramsey, and Rodrique Wright were drafted in the next six rounds.