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This Date in College Football Belt History – January 4
Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE Copyright © 2006 Mark J. Rebilas
January 4, 2006 -The top-ranked, 12-0 Southern Cal Trojans of coach Pete Carroll were attempting to become the first Belt holder to successfully defend The Belt in 2 consecutive BSC Championship games. While the Trojans dominated Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl the previous season, this season’s opposition was a much more balanced offensive unit in the 2nd ranked, 12-0 Texas Longhorns of coach Mack Brown. All season, pundits had pointed to this game as “the” game that everyone wanted to see & amazingly it lived up to those expectations. The teams combined for 1130 offensive yards but Texas’ All-American QB Vince Young led his team from a 12-point deficit with just 6:42 to play for a 41-38 win to claim The Belt & the BCS National Championship ending the reign of the favored Belt holders at 25 games; the 2nd longest reign in Belt history. Texas forced Southern Cal to punt on their first drive but Longhorns’ CB Aaron Ross fumbled on the return & Southern Cal’s S Scott Ware recovered at the Texas 46-yard line. Four plays later, Trojans’ RB LenDale White scored on a 4-yard touchdown run & Southern Cal had a 7-0 lead. Early in the 2nd quarter, the Trojans appeared to be driving for another score when All-Pac 10 QB Matt Leinart hit Heisman Trophy winning, All-American RB Reggie Bush for a 35-yard gain but Bush tried to lateral to WR Brad Walker who was not expecting the ball. Texas’ All-American S Michael Huff recovered the ball & the Longhorns had the ball at their own 18-yard line. Texas’ PK David Pino connected on a 46-yard field goal as the Longhorns closed to 7-3. As the Trojans were driving for another score, Longhorns’ CB Michael Griffin intercepted a Leinart pass at the goal line. The play was ruled out-of-bounds on the field but replay showed that Griffin had caught the ball in-bounds before touching his toe on the goal line. Seven plays later from the Southern Cal 22-yard line, Young ran left to the Southern Cal 10-yard line & pitched the ball to RB Selvin Young who carried it the final yards for a touchdown giving Texas a 9-7 advantage. Replays showed that Vince Young’s knee had touched down before he pitched but due to a technical malfunction, it was not reviewed. The rush to beat the video review may have caused Pino to miss the extra-point attempt. Texas got a the ball back at their own 49-yard line after a short punt & RB Ramonce Taylor scored on the 4th play with a 30-yard touchdown run to push the Texas lead to 16-7. Southern Cal’s PK Marino Danelo hit a 43-yard field goal as time expired in the 1st half with Texas leading 16-10. The Trojans drove 62 yards in 7 plays on their opening drive of the 3rd quarter with White scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run to give Southern Cal a 17-16 lead. Vince Young scored on a 14-yard touchdown run after a 7-play, 80-yard drive as Texas retook the lead at 23-17. White’s 12-yard touchdown run put Southern Cal back in the lead at 24-23 with 4:07 left in the 3rd quarter. Pino missed a 31-yard field attempt as the 4th quarter started & Southern Cal drove 80 yards in 9 plays with Bush scoring on a 26-yard run to push the Southern Cal lead to 31-23. Pino connected on a 34-yard field goal as Texas closed to with 5 points at 31-26 but four plays later, Leinart hit All-American WR Dwayne Jarrett on a 22-yard touchdown pass for a 38-26 lead with just 6:42 to play. Vince Young passed for 61 yards & ran for 8 yards on the next scoring drive hitting WR Limas Sweed on a 6-yard touchdown pass but with 3:58 to play, Texas still trailed 38-33. The Trojans then went to work on the clock but facing 4th & a short 2 at the Texas 45-yard line with just 2:13 to play, Carroll decided to run for the 1st down instead of punting. The Longhorns’ defense held White inches short of the 1st down & Vince Young had a chance to win the game with 2:09 to play from his own 44-yard line. Early in the drive on 3rd & 12, Young completed a pass to WR Quan Cosby for 7 yards but a 5-yard incidental facemask penalty gave Texas the 1st down. Young then hit WR Brian Carter for a 9-yard gain, ran for a 7-yard gain, & hit Carter for a 17-yard gain for a first down at the Southern Cal 13-yard line. Facing 4th & 5 from the Southern Cal 8-yard line, Young dropped to pass but unable to find an open receiver he ran to his right the final 8 yards for the go-ahead score. Young ran up the middle to complete the 2-point conversion for a 41-38 lead with just 0:19 to play. Leinart’s final pass to Jarrett was high & the Longhorns had defeated the Belt holding Trojans. Young finished with 267 yards passing as well as 200 yards rushing while being named Rose Bowl MVP & TE David Thomas added 10 catches for 88 yards. Leinart finished with 365 yards passing with a touchdown & interception. White finished with 124 yards rushing & Jarrett added 10 catches for 121 yards for the Trojans. Southern Cal finished the season 12-1; Pac 10 Champions & ranked 2nd nationally while the Longhorns finished 13-0, Big 12 Champions & National Champions. Southern Cal had not played for The Belt again.
4 Responses to “This Date in College Football Belt History – January 4”
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Great recap, Casey. This might have been the best college football game EVER played! And possibly the best big game performance EVER by Vince Young.
Pretty sure defense didn’t win this chan’ship
Wally,
Thanks, but I can not take any credit. Our friends over at This Date In College Football Belt History send the recaps. I simply re-publish and give them credit with the link at the end.
As for the defense…I just exhaled. Here I was hoping you were finally getting it. Ah well.
Wally,
Look at it this way. Offense is like a road. There are some that reach a dead end. Others are side streets that connect busier thoroughfares. Some stretch for miles and miles. The further a road stretches, the better the chance that road will reach a body of water. At this point, the road needs a bridge to get to the other side. Now, some bridges are the like the one lane I traverse daily on Gillette Road – I admit I cuss that thing out from time to time, but that is another story. Other bridges are like Veterans Memorial over the picturesque Genesee River gorge (Let’s hear it for Rochester). Then there is the Golden Gate Bridge. You can dress up that road however you like – put in a fancy median, add some antique light fixtures, whatever you like. But if you don’t have a bridge or two, it won’t matter because you will need a tow truck when you do a nose dive. As your vehicle is being pulled from those muddy waters, you’ll be questioning: where was the bridge.
By now, I’m sure you guessed, defense is the bridge. That’s right. Your offense can go a long way, but eventually you are going to need a “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” Maybe it only happens once. Maybe the defense is as famous as the Golden Gate which over shadows the route it connects. Doesn’t matter. if you don’t have a bridge or two, your road can only go so far.
Now, you can continue to assess 21st century football by comparing numbers to the 1970s. Far be it from to tell you what to do. All I know is college and pro pigskin have decided that offense sells. You know, that whole “chicks dig the long ball” sort of mindset. So it isn’t easy to pick out the influence of defense, but it is there. Trust me it is there.
Offense wins games; defense wins championships.