The days leading up to the game featured ESPN doing a segment on Sports center where they compare the 05 Trojans to other teams. The ESPN Analysts overall stated that the 05 Trojans was the greatest team of all-time even in comparison to the 1944 and 1945 Army Black Knights, the 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers, the 1987 Miami Hurricanes, the 1988 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers(that averaged over 50+ a game), and the 2001 Miami Hurricanes a team that featured Najeh Davenport, Clinton Portis, Jeremy Shockey, Andre Johnson, Jonathan Vilma, Ed Reed, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, and Sean Taylor. Some criticized ESPN but the Longhorns used it as motivation.
On January 4, 2006, the game was played as a sold out Rose Bowl crowd got ready to watch the most anticipated game in College Football history...USC vs Texas. USC elected to receive the ball to start the game and in their opening drive, the Trojans were stopped on a 3 and out. The Trojans were forced to punt but returner Aaron Ross fumbled the ball and the Trojans got it back at the Texas 48. 4 plays and a LenDale White touchdown later and it was 7-0 USC.
Texas got the ball but both Vince and Cousin Selvin had problems moving the ball and as a result, the Trojans got it back. The rest of the first quarter would be nothing and after 1 it was USC 7 Texas 0. At the start of the 2nd Quarter, USC got the ball at their own 45. Leinart connected with Bush for 35 yards until Bush's ill-fated lateral fell into the hands of the Longhorns preventing the game from becoming a blowout early. At their own 18, the Longhorns drove down the field but only managed a field goal to make it 7-3.
USC once again got the ball back and once again drove down the field until Matt Leinart's pass was intercepted by Michael Griffin preventing the Trojans from going up by 10. Both the Young cousins went to work(with Jamaal Charles in the mix). On 1st and 10 at the Trojans' 22, Young ran for 12 yards then lateraled to Selvin who went for 10 and scored. Unnoticed was that during the play, Vince's knee had gone down but it counted anyways and it was now 9-7 Longhorns.
The Trojans got the ball back but again failed to score. The Longhorns then got it back and a Ramonce Taylor 30 yard run made it 16-7 for Texas. Most of the Pasadena crowd was shocked that the Trojans had fallen behind the way they had(most of the fans were USC fans considering that the Rose Bowl is only 10 minutes from USC's campus). As the 1st half was coming to a close, USC put together a nice little drive for insurance before halftime. Mario Danelo's field goal was good and as a result it was at halftime Texas 16 USC 10.
Texas got the ball to start the 2nd half but the drive went nowhere. Following a few Matt Leinart passes and a LenDale White touchdown, USC took the lead 17-16. The Longhorns retaliated with a touchdown of their own following another Vince Young run to make it 23-17. But once again Leinart drove the Trojans down field and again LenDale White would score to give the Trojans a 1 point lead. The 3rd Quarter would end with Young driving the Longhorns back into Trojans territory. After 3 it was USC 24 Texas 23.
The Longhorns drive ended in a miss, however, as David Pino missed a field goal. USC got the ball back and drove again to make it 31-23 with 11:10 remaining. However, the Young cousins drove the Longhorns back but again the Longhorns had to settle for a field goal to make it 31-26 with 8:33 remaining. The Longhorns defense continued to flounder and again USC scored when Leinart connected with Jarrett to make it 38-26 with 6:26 left. It appeared as if the Trojans would three-peat.
However, no one told the Longhorns offense as Young drove the team down field again to make it 38-33 with 3:58 left. The Longhorns had to stop the Trojans or else USC would be champions. SC again recklessly drove down the field. However, they faced 4th down for the first time in 2 quarters. On 4th down, the handed it off to LenDale White who was stopped short giving the Longhorns the ball with 2:09 left and 1 timeout. 1st and 10 was a loss of 2 for the Longhorns, and 2nd down was incomplete. On 3rd and 12, Young connected with Quan Cosby for 7 yards plus a USC facemask gave Texas a 1st down at the USC 46.
On 1st down, Young connected with Brian Carter for 9 and ran for 7 for a 1st down. On 1st and 10 at the 30, Young went for 17 to Brian Carter to place it at the Trojans 13. However, 1st down was incomplete. On 2nd down, Young ran for 5 to place it at the 8. 3rd down was also incomplete. On 4th and 5 at the 8, Young dropped back and rolled out to his right getting the corner of the end zone and a touchdown for Texas to make it 41-38.
USC would have one more chance with a return and a 25 yard pass to Bush. However, Leinart's 1st down pass was incomplete and time ran out giving Texas the National Championship.
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